São Paulo: Lucas rested in Barueri, out of Palmeiras derby | OneFootball

Coach Hernán Crespo has defined São Paulo's lineup for the decisive derby (at least for the tricolor side) at 6:30 PM (Brasília time) this Saturday (24) against Palmeiras, at Arena Barueri, for the fifth round of the Campeonato Paulista.

As expected, the attacking midfielder Lucas was not included for the derby and is out. Crespo himself had hinted that this would happen after the defeat to Portuguesa on Wednesday (21), at Morumbi.

The number 7 suffered two serious injuries facing the green rival on the synthetic pitch, one in the second half of 2023, in a match for the Brazilian Championship, and another last year, in the Paulistão semifinal.

Managed by Palmeiras president Leila Pereira, Arena Barueri has the feared and contested surface. Besides the plan to avoid risks, since Lucas is still seeking to regain his best physical form, there's the condition that the tricolor idol comes from a sequence of matches and would need to be rested.

In this morning's training, after the warm-up process and a physical circuit supervised by the physical preparation team, Crespo led a tactical session focusing on the Choque-Rei.

The coaching staff also made adjustments in set-piece plays, as well as conducted finishing drills for part of the group.

Calleri, who also suffered a serious injury on the synthetic pitch in the derby with the rival in last year's semifinal, is included and is expected to remain among the starters after showing he is fully recovered with the two goals scored against Lusa.

After resting some names considered absolute starters in Wednesday's defeat, the trend is that Crespo will field the so-called 'full strength' against the rival.

Enzo Díaz might be a new addition. The left-back recovered from surgery performed last year, was included for the first time this season in the match against Lusa, and seems to have regained his best physical form.

There is also the possibility of Crespo returning to the three-defender formation, widely used last year and abandoned this season after the defeat in the Paulistão debut against Mirassol.

A probable São Paulo lineup might consist of Rafael; Alan Franco (Ferraresi), Arboleda, and Sabino (Dória); Maik, Danielzinho, Bobadilla (Pablo Maia), Marcos Antônio, and Wendell (Enzo Díaz); Luciano (Lucca) and Calleri (Tapia).

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