Crespo upbeat on São Paulo’s hopes: “It won’t be easy for them” | OneFootball

Coach Hernán Crespo remained optimistic despite São Paulo’s defeat to LDU, 2-0, this Thursday in Quito, Ecuador, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores.

The Tricolor will need to win the return match next Thursday at Morumbis by three goals in order to qualify for the semifinals in regular time, but the Argentine coach believes in a happy ending because of the performance in this first away match.

“São Paulo is alive. The score is important for them, but at the same time we are alive because we played well and created chances, we just lacked the composure to finish. The way São Paulo approached this game makes us believe. Playing at Morumbis is different, it won’t be easy for them, the fans will be there, we need the fans to push us, because we have to do something historic. We’ll try to turn this negative situation into a positive one,” said Crespo.

The Argentine coach believes that Thursday’s score does not reflect what happened in the game. For much of the match, São Paulo dominated their opponent, especially in the second half, but they were not as efficient as the home team, who managed to score in the few chances they had against goalkeeper Rafael.

“It’s clear that we didn’t deserve this result, the score was unfair. What I think isn’t important. We have to accept it. But at the same time, we are calm because we created opportunities, we had chances to score, we just couldn’t convert, but that’s part of the game. We believe, we know that in a knockout match it’s 180 minutes. The next 90 we play at Morumbis, so we have to believe,” the coach continued.

“They had the merit of capitalizing on our mistakes. Hopefully not, but 2-0 is important. I believe they finished what we couldn’t, we had two defensive errors and they took advantage. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish what we created, that’s the difference. I hope we can turn it around, I think we have enough weapons to do it, it won’t be easy, but we have to believe, because I saw a lot of positive responses, I saw the team play well. It’s not easy to play the way São Paulo played here. Their goalkeeper also had a great night, I hope he doesn’t have a night like that next week,” he concluded, without losing his good humor.

With the 2-0 defeat, São Paulo will have to beat LDU by three goals to qualify for the Libertadores semifinals in regular time. A win by two goals will take the decision to penalties. For the Ecuadorians, a draw or even a loss by one goal is enough to advance in the competition.

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