San Lorenzo struggle for form ahead of Club World Cup
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - South American champions San Lorenzo, with the Club World Cup looming ever closer, have suffered another blow in the Argentine league with a 3-1 defeat at Newell’s Old Boys.
Newell's Argentina winger Maxi Rodriguez scored twice and laid on the other goal for striker Ignacio Scocco at the Marcelo Bielsa stadium in Rosario on Monday for their first win in five matches.
San Lorenzo, seeded to meet Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final in Morocco on Dec. 20, have won only one of their last seven matches, including a 2-0 friendly defeat by AC Milan at the San Siro last week watched by Real coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“Today (Monday) we played badly, especially in the second half. We ended up deserving to lose although the first two goals came from our mistakes,” Saints coach Edgardo Bauza told reporters.
“When this team have no finishing they lose their shape and become vulnerable… This just confirms a problem we’ve been having,” added Bauza, who steered San Lorenzo to their first Libertadores Cup title in August.
If San Lorenzo are to reach the Club World Cup final, they must beat the winners of the quarter-final between African champions ES Setif of Algeria and either host team Mohgreb Tetouan or Auckland City.
(Writing by Rex Gowar; Editing by Ken Ferris)
