Paranaense Prepares for Tough Home Stand.

By: Mauro | August 12th, 2008

Clube Atlético Paranaense vs. São Paulo FC (Estádio Joachim Américo, “Arena da Baixada”, Curitiba, Brazil)

LIVE @ 4pm on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

This match welcomes the Brazilians to this continental tournament where Atlético Paranaense, 12th place finishers in the 2007 Brasileirao, host 2007 Brasileirao champions, São Paulo. On paper, São Paulo should tear Paranaense apart but recent line up news could change that thinking.

For their opening match in the Sudamericana, São Paulo registered only one starter and the rest youth and reserve players. And it was reported yesterday that the one starter, goal keeper Rogerio Ceni, is going to be rested ahead of São Paulo’s match next weekend against Brasileirao leaders Gremio.

With the loss of Adriano, São Paulo found themselves obligated to pick up a few players to fill the hole left by the Brazilian striker and bolster their defense. Check out my entry on the Libertadores page about their transfer market dealings.

The rumor of Daniel Carvalho coming to São Paulo from CSKA Moscow in Russia came to an end when on the 28th of June, CSKA agreed to terms with Internacional of Porto Alegre for a six month loan deal.

Paranaense, on the other hand, are dealing with their own turmoil. Coach Roberto Fernandez was recently ousted at the beginning of this month after losing to Rio side, Botafogo, 0-3. But Fernandez, who was only in charge for two months, was already a replacement for Ney Franco who was sacked after only a few poor results at the beginning of the season. But this is really no surprise as 11 of the 20 teams in Brazil, have fired the coaches they started the season with. Next on the Paranaense chopping block is Tico.

São Paulo have 33 points and are currently three places behind league leaders, Gremio with 41 points, in the Brasileirao and Atletico Paranaense are in the bottom half of the table, in 16th place.

This is an undervalued match where easily one of the worst teams in the current Brasileirao is facing one of the better ones. But scratch that, since São Paulo will not be fielding their 4th place side, this match might end up being quite ugly. In fact, the Brazilian teams’ indifference to this tournament might render most of their matches unwatchable should neither side field their best starting elevens.

Bottom Line: Despite fielding a devalued side, São Paulo will still have a more organized side. Paranaense are struggling and I doubt their starting side is better and that their second side would be any better.

My Pick: 1-1. Paranaense is in no shape to keep the Paulista powerhouse from scoring but because São Paulo’s youngsters don’t have a lot of time together on the pitch, it won’t be a win either.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get one here.