2024-08-26 16:03:30
The Prince was ambitious in his presentation as coach of Sao Paulo: “The Libertadores is my obsession, I work to achieve it.”
Luis Zubeldía’s debut as Sao Paulo’s coach will take place this Thursday against Barcelona on matchday 3 of the Copa Libertadores. The Prince’s arrival at the Tricolor was completed last weekend, and this Monday he was officially presented. The former coach of Liga de Quito was ambitious in his first appearance as coach of the Brazilian team.
«I’ve taken my time to let our paths cross. In January we had the opportunity to contact each other, and for a personal reason, as I was leaving another club after winning the local and South American championships, I needed some time to prepare for the next challenge,” Zubeldía began.
«After a while we crossed paths with Sao Paulo again and I didn’t hesitate to take on this challenge because of the magnitude of the club. My goal is to take Sao Paulo to the top, hopefully it won’t take too long.” added the Argentine.
«The Libertadores, I think that the obsession of all the big teams like Sao Paulo“It’s like the Champions League for Real Madrid, for the big teams in Europe. When we won the Sudamericana, the first thing I wanted to do was compete in the Libertadores to go as far as possible and see if we could win,” he said.
Luis Zubeldía was presented in Sao Paulo. (@SaoPauloFC)
“I think it’s the obsession of all those who have ever achieved it and those who haven’t, like me, try to work to be able to win it. The Libertadores is very tough and different from the Brasileirao and you have to approach each match individually. You have to go to Barcelona focused because each game makes you stronger in the competition.“, added the Prince.
Barcelona as a rival in the Copa Libertadores
This Thursday, Zubeldía will coach his first match in Sao Paulo against Barcelona, the team he managed between 2011 and 2012. The Argentine coach spoke about what it will be like to face the Idol, showing a lot of respect for the club for everything he experienced when he was on the bench of the Toreros.
«I have a great deal of respect and affection for Barcelona, they have treated me very well. They have always wanted me to return to direct there.“With all due respect, I will be defending the colours of Sao Paulo and they will be doing their thing. I must be grateful to a club that has treated me very well,” said the 43-year-old coach.
Luis Zubeldía in a Barcelona practice with Damián Díaz in 2012.
Upon his arrival in Brazil on Sunday, the Prince had referred to what the match against Barcelona will be like: “We will discuss the details behind closed doors, we will always make decisions based on the good of everyone. The most important thing is that the team wins against a very tough rival and then we will have a series of important matches.”
Luis Zubeldía’s even record against Barcelona
Zubeldía took a few months off after leaving Liga de Quito, a team with which he won a historic double for Ecuadorian football by winning the LigaPro and the Copa Sudamericana in 2023. Sao Paulo showed interest in the Argentine and managed to close his arrival after Dorival Junior left for the Brazilian national team.
Barcelona vs Sao Paulo will be Zubeldía’s 12th match against the Toreros, in which he has a very even record. Four wins, three draws and four losses are the numbers of the Argentine coach against BSC, being the only team with which he has the same number of wins and losses.
Luis Zubeldía arrived in Sao Paulo. (@SaoPauloFC)
An important fact is that Zubeldía has not managed to defeat Barcelona since 2015, when Liga de Quito beat Ídolo 2-0 in the Ecuadorian championship. Since returning to the Albos in 2022, Príncipe has tied once and lost twice against BSC, with the memorable defeat at Rodrigo Paz Delgado in 2023 marking the end of LDU’s unbeaten run at that stadium.
Source: OLÈ.com Newspaper