🎥 São Paulo end drought, knock out Bolívar, face Boca next

The quarterfinal stage of the 2026 Copa Sudamericana will indeed feature a major “Libertadores showdown.”

After Boca Juniors crushed Paraguay’s Recoleta 7-1 on aggregate, São Paulo did its part against Bolívar this Tuesday (18) in front of 42,087 fans.

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It won 3-1 at MorumBIS, advancing 4-2 on aggregate.

It was the end of a six-match winless run after 21 games without scoring at least three goals. 

The focus now shifts to a turnaround in the Brazilian Championship.

Check out the highlights soon. 

Well-worked move and SPFC take the lead

Dorival’s team’s mission was to overcome its own inconsistency, control the action, and then let its greatest quality shine through.

All it took was one precise passing sequence and players competently “attacking the space” for the Tricolor to go in front.

Iago played it to Danielzinho, and Luciano scored his 114th goal for the Tricolor. 

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Iago had a good chance to extend the lead, SPFC did drop back at times, but it went into halftime deserving its advantage.

A scare and… Calleri gets them!

The Tricolor fans went through some tense minutes.

The chance Luciano failed to take soon proved costly after the Tricolor defense failed to stop Asprilla from receiving the ball unmarked and leveling the score (61′).

But the relief did not take long to come. Echeverría intercepted the ball with his left hand, which resulted in a penalty.

And the revitalized Calleri converted it (68′).

Peace of mind finally came thanks to Sabino in the air (76′). 

What now❓

São Paulo will face the already mentioned Boca Juniors in the Sudamericana quarterfinals. 

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The matches will be played between September 8 and 17.

A possible semifinal opponent would be River Plate, Santa Fe, Independiente Olimpia, or Vasco.

The Tricolor will be back in action on Sunday (23), when it visits Chapecoense.

It is now nine rounds without a win in the Brazilian Championship.

It currently sits 13th and will face 20th place next. 

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