Sao Paulo reaches final

Defending Libertadores Cup champions Sao Paulo are still trying to repeat, as they reached the final of this year tournament with a 3-0 home win (4-0 aggregate) over Mexico's Chivas Guadalajara on Wednesday. It's the sixth time the Brazilian side has reached the final of the continental competition.

The match in front of 68,000 fans at the Morumbi Stadium began with Sao Paulo creating a few chances and Chivas soon gaining control of the game. The visitors wasted three great chances to open the score, including a penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni just before the half-hour mark. Shortly after that, Ricardo Oliveira found Leandro to give the locals a 1-0 lead. Before the first half was over, Mineiro - who scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 2005 Club World Championship final - scored with a nice shot from outside the area. Fans were sure the team had advanced to the final, and that it would be just a matter of time before confirming the victory. To make it even clearer, Ricardo Oliveira headed the ball into the net just two minutes after halftime to make it 3-0 and seal the win. Chivas still tried to go forward, but Rogerio managed to keep the shootout.

Sao Paulo can play Internacional or Libertad in the finals. If Inter defeats the Paraguayan side tonight in Porto Alegre, it will advance to make its second ever final in the competition and the second straight all-Brazilian final in the Libertadores. Libertad, which never made the final, can advance with a win or tie with at least one goal scored. A scoreless draw takes the match into a penalty shootout to determine Sao Paulo's opponent.

Inter has a slight advantage from playing at home, but should Libertad manage to score first in the game, the gauchos could see themselves panicking. After all, a goal by Libertad would give them the advantage of playing for the draw, and Inter would have to score twice. Some very nervous times ahead of the locals tonight, but in the end they should still prevail.