São Paulo face tough run for Libertadores spot, rivals unbeaten | OneFootball

São Paulo is making its final adjustments at the training center because this week it returns to play in the Brasileirão, facing Grêmio on Thursday (16th) at the Gaúchos' arena. This rival was the only one among the next six opponents that Tricolor will face to be defeated in the first round of the national competition.

All the other five opponents that São Paulo will face in the upcoming rounds, excluding Grêmio, did not lose to Tricolor. And the list includes teams that are directly competing with Crespo's squad for a spot in the 2026 Copa Libertadores.

After the match in the South, São Paulo plays away from home once again, on Sunday (19th), against the sensation Mirassol, currently in a surprising 4th place with 46 points. The team from the countryside won at Morumbi in the first round, 2-0, and despite being slightly ahead in the standings compared to Tricolor, who are 8th (38 pts), they are indeed direct rivals in the fight for a Libertadores spot.

Then, finally, the team returns to Morumbi, where on the 25th they host Bahia, who defeated us 2-1 in May this year in Salvador. The Bahian team is another direct competitor with Crespo's men for a place in South America's main competition next year. Rogério Ceni's squad is in 6th place, with 43 points.

The Tricolor’s sequence continues with two more teams that beat us in the first round, Vasco and Flamengo. Still in the 12th round of the Brasileirão, again at Morumbi, São Paulo was overwhelmed by Vasco and lost 3-1, a result that ended up leading to the departure of coach Luis Zubeldía.

Will Morumbi be missed?

Next, it’s time to face Flamengo, one of the best teams in the championship, at Vila Belmiro, since their stadium will be occupied for concerts. In the first meeting between the teams, which marked Crespo’s return debut for Tricolor, the team from Rio won 2-0 at Maracanã.

Now, São Paulo visits Vasco at São Januário on the 2nd of next month, and then hosts Flamengo at Vila, at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on November 5th.

To wrap up the commitments before another FIFA Date that will close out this year, from November 10th to 18th, the three-time world champions will play once more as hosts, but again at Vila Belmiro, against Bragantino, another rival that did not lose to São Paulo.

In the first-round clash, Crespo’s second game after his return, there was an electrifying 2-2 draw, with Tricolor coming back to equalize at the end in Bragança Paulista. Today, the teams are fighting directly for a Libertadores spot, with Bragantino right behind São Paulo in the standings, in 9th, with just two points less.

With two of these three direct clashes for a spot as hosts, against Bahia and Bragantino, plus Mirassol away, Tricolor has a good chance to firmly enter the fight for qualification if they beat their rivals.

Then, after the break for the last FIFA Date of the year, São Paulo will have only five matches left to close out the Brasileirão: Corinthians (A), Juventude (H), Fluminense (A), Internacional (H), and Vitória (A).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.