False alarm: without Covid, the Corinthians are with the best it has against Boca for the Libertadores

Beyond its history, the Copa Libertadores it won against Boca and had the second biggest twist in Brazil, the Corinthians who will face Xeneize on Tuesday are far, far from their best time. Although they already have experienced players with a past in European leagues, the concrete thing is, in name, they seem to be nothing more than Sebastián Battaglia’s team. And what’s more, he came from living busy days, after losing the classic with Palmeiras, with his DT isolated by Covid and rumors that a suspected outbreak of coronavirus on campus.

On Monday it was confirmed that Vitor Pereira, the team’s coach, has tested positive for Covid and for this reason he will not be going to the Timao bench.

The former coach of Porto, Olympiacos, 1860 Munich and Fenerbahce, among other foreign clubs, was preventively isolated and, while awaiting the results of the counter-test, did not participate in the final training session before the match against Boca. In case his team is not with him, his teammates Luis Miguel and Felipe Almeida will replace him..

But in addition to Pereira there are other Timao protagonists who have been in doubt for Tuesday’s game. Among them was goalkeeper Cassio, both of whom saved the final of 2012 Cup against Boca and on Saturday he left the starting line-up in the warm-up against Palmeiras due to a flu-like illness.

This Monday, Cassio has trained normally and everyone is indicating that he will be in the game against Xeneizea team he also faces in the round of 16 of the 2013 Libertadores.

The Corinthians, with substitutes, came from a 3-0 defeat in the São Paulo classic against Palmeiras and now he is third in Brasileirao, one point behind leaders Santos and Mineiro. The defeat, however, raised intense criticism of the coach and caused a bad climate for a week that became thicker when the rumor of a possible outbreak of Covid among players.