Sao Paulo Look to Close This Series Out at Home

By: Mauro | May 7th, 2008

Sao Paulo FC vs. Club Nacional de Montevideo (Estadio Morumbi, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Tape delay @ 10pm PST on Fox Sports Español. (BooOoOoooooOOOOooo!)

In last weeks match, they played to an awful and boring 0-0 draw. While this result probably favors the Brazilians more than the Uruguayans it’s still a dangerous result to have going into the second leg. Both teams have 3 Copa Libertadores wins in their clubs’ history.

Sao Paulo’s form has been a big question in this competition as well as in their local league where they have been nothing to write home about. They are also coming into this match after having lost in the semifinals of the Paulista State Championship against Palmeiras.

Nacional, on the other hand, can smell the blood in the water and look to upset Sao Paulo at the Morumbi. One thing that could be a sticking point here is that Parque Central, where the match was played last week, is a much smaller stadium with a smaller pitch, something that may have favored the Uruguayans (similar to Arsenal’s advantage when they played at Highbury.). This could hurt Nacional to play on a larger pitch as it may have hampered them in their away matches in the group stage.

Look for Adriano to give the Uruguayans a tough match and likewise for Richard Morales with the Nacional defenders.

Bottom Line: This one is as even as any of the ties in this round. Both teams are of similar form and this could go to penalties. My pick: 1-0 to Sao Paulo. An Adriano wonder goal saves Sao Paulo and keeps the freak show going on for one more round.

Check the CONMEBOL website for results, stats and upcoming matches.