São Paulo: Luciano back, Cédric fit, Crespo’s selection headache | OneFootball

With the return of right-back Cédric Soares, who has recovered from a fracture in his right toe, São Paulo finished its preparations this Tuesday (4th) for the clash against Flamengo, which will take place on Wednesday night (5th) at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), at Vila Belmiro, valid for the 32nd round of the Brazilian Championship.

The player took part in the entire training session this afternoon at the Barra Funda training center and is included in the squad for the match in Baixada Santista. The Portuguese athlete returns after four games of absence.

In addition to Cédric’s return, São Paulo will also have right-back Maik and forward Luciano back, both of whom served an automatic suspension in the away win over Vasco da Gama in the last round.

The Tricolor’s last training session before the clash with Flamengo began with a warm-up guided by the fitness staff. Next, the players went through a technical skills circuit.

Afterwards, coach Hernán Crespo wrapped up preparations with technical drills and a small-sided game.

After the final adjustments, the squad began their trip to Santos (SP), where they will remain in camp until the match against Flamengo.

For the clash against one of the title contenders, needing a win to keep their dream of securing a spot in the next Libertadores alive, Tricolor faces some problems. Of the injured players, only Cédric is expected to actually return. And the coach has also lost Enzo Díaz and Alan Franco, both suspended after receiving their third yellow card at São Januário.

With no time for tactical improvements and coming off two consecutive wins—something that hadn’t happened since August—Crespo is not expected to make major changes to the team’s playing style, maintaining the core lineup used in recent matches.

The probable lineup to be fielded by Crespo should be Rafael; Ferraresi (Rafael Tolói), Arboleda and Sabino; Maik (Cédric Soares), Pablo Maia, Bobadilla, Marcos Antônio and Patryck; Lucas and Luciano.

According to data from the Mathematics Department at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the Morumbi club has a 36.7% probability of reaching the next Libertadores.

Tricolor occupies eighth place in the table with 44 points, three behind Fluminense, currently in seventh place.

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