He Sao Paulowith goals from Paraguayan Damián Bobadilla and Argentine Jonathan Calleri, won 2-0 on Thursday against National In an eventful match in which they eliminated the Uruguayan team and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Libertadores Cup, where they will face the also Brazilian team Botafogo.
The clear dominance of the Paulistas was overshadowed by two long interruptions in the match, the first caused by a riot among Nacional fans and the second by the sudden fainting of Uruguayan defender Juan Manuel Izquierdo, who had to be taken out of the stadium in an ambulance and transferred to a hospital.
The team led by Argentine coach Luis Zubeldía needed a victory by any score at home to qualify for the quarterfinals after having achieved a valuable 0-0 draw away from home last week in Montevideo in the first leg of the round of 16. Their opponent in the next round will be Botafogo, current leader of the Brazilian Championship and who on Wednesday eliminated Palmeiras, who were one of the favorites for the title after having been the champion of the Libertadores in 2020 and 2021 and semi-finalist in 2022 and 2023.
The São Paulo team, three-time Libertadores champions, began attacking from the first minute and were the clear dominators in the first half, in which they had 77% of the ball possession and shot nine times at the opponent’s goal, compared to three by the Uruguayans. In addition to staying on the attack, the home team completely neutralised Nacional, who were practically unable to create any chances and only had one clear goal-scoring opportunity, with Lucas Sanabria on the right.
With dominance, São Paulo were patient in finding space and finally managed to open the scoring in the 31st minute when, after a back pass from Calleri, Bobadilla shot from outside the area and, with the ball placed in the corner, left goalkeeper Luis Mejía with no chance. São Paulo needed only two minutes of the second half to increase its lead after Calleri headed in a ball from Wellington Rato from the right inside the area.
Nacional fans clashed with police at the Morumbi stadium in Sao Paulo
After the second goal, the match had to be suspended for six minutes due to a riot in the section of the stadium reserved for Nacional fans, who clashed with the police and ripped off some of the plastic chairs. The Uruguayan players themselves had to intervene to ask the fans to calm down.
After the break, the São Paulo team decided to manage its advantage and gave Nacional more freedom, which began to play the ball more but without creating any danger, while the Brazilians played on the counterattack. In the 70th minute, in the clearest opportunity for the visitors, Pereyra hit the right post of Rafael and was prevented at the last minute from taking advantage of the rebound.
The Uruguayans, with their attack renewed after the entrance of Nico López, Nicolás Rodríguez and Diego Herazo, got closer and closer and had new opportunities in the 79th minute, with a shot inside the area by Herazo that went over the crossbar, and in the 80th minute, with a free kick by Nico López that Rafael had to work hard to stop.
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But when the National was at its best Izquierdo’s fainting in the middle of the field in the last minute of regulation time It cooled the mood and left the Uruguayans visibly worried and with almost no reaction in the 15 minutes of injury time given by the referee.
