Roberto Palacios on a Sporting Cristal dilemma: "It has to improve in finishing."

Tonight, Sporting Cristal has the mission to win and with a wide goal difference against Nacional de Paraguay. The challenge is not easy, especially considering the precision required against a team that has demonstrated solidity in their defense and goalkeeper. In the face of this, Roberto Palacios has some suggestions.

The former figure of the rimense team, in dialogue with Radio Ovación, stated that "it is not such a high result to say that it is impossible, a 2-0 does not guarantee qualification, now it is Cristal's turn here. We have to trust and improve many aspects in order to cause damage and turn this page with a great result."

Likewise, he revealed the points of the rival and how Cristal should respond. "For the international tournament, they still have a lot to improve. A modest team like Nacional, only with aerial play, caused damage to Cristal. Now Cristal has to improve in the finishing because they had opportunities to score there,” he emphasized.

"Another thing is to use the players he has, Corozo is sitting on the bench, Grimaldo is a game-changer, and Hohberg, these are players that I wouldn't leave on the bench in my team,” he even added, “Távara has a great left foot, I admire that left foot he has, but for an international tournament his ability is too slow, he's not that fast and that cost him when he played the Libertadores because they took the ball away from him very quickly and he has to improve that.”

In the first leg match, the Paraguayan team managed to contain the energy of the rimenses during the first half, and then finish with two goals from Roberto Martínez and Gustavo Aguilar in the second half. Although there were opportunities for Tiago Nunes' team, they did not manage to convert them.

"The Paraguayans don't have as much technical ability but they are tough, if you're going to dribble in the middle of the field you're not going to achieve anything, but near their area that's where things change and you have to find a way to win a foul. Cristal has to try to play in 1-2 touches, make the Paraguayans tire and find the space they need,” he advised.

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