Muricy Ramalho knows his team have a hard week ahead, as they kick off their Copa Libertadores campaign in Colombia as well as playing two state championship games in Brazil.

The Tricolor Paulista currently lie third in the Campeonato Paulista championship and will face Noroeste Bauru in that competition on Sunday as their first of three games in seven days.

They will then play their first game of the Copa Libertadores away to Atlético Nacional on Wednesday before returning to São Paulo to face up against Mirassol on the Sunday.

Muricy knows that his team are in for a tough week and knows that it is likely to have a detrimental effect on the players.

"The next week will be hard for us," he told Placar.

"We have the trip to Medellín that will take something out of us before we face Mirassol. This was clearly already planned, but the players will still suffer from it."

With the travelling involved likely to take a toll on some of the players, Muricy understands that there is likely to be a need to rotate certain players during the three matches.

"We have that to think about playing the footballers who are the best prepared. If someone is not going to be 100%, it is unlikely they will play. Therefore, I will talk with my doctors and the physios. Whoever is in best shape will play," he affirmed.

Finally, Muricy confirmed that the club have sent scouts over to Colombia to prepare a report on Nacional ahead of their tie and he is hoping they can put the information to good use on Wednesday.

"We cannot speak about them if we know nothing. We have been observing Nacional over the last month. The information will not win us the game, but it will certainly help," he concluded.