Alberto Costa pushing for return in the derby against Benfica | OneFootball

The right side of FC Porto's defense is going to go through a period of greater scarcity than anticipated. It was already known that Martim Fernandes would hardly be available before the second interruption of the championships, in early October, but now Alberto Costa also runs the risk of being out during the same interval. However, as we have found out, the player signed from Juventus is aiming for the classic match with Benfica, scheduled for October 5, as the probable date for his unreserved return to competition.

FC Porto started the season at full throttle, winning all the games played, and has already done so with notable absences in the victories over Casa Pia, at Dragão, and against Sporting, at Alvalade. After the classic, despite the announced recoveries of Pepê and Samu, the clinical picture worsened with the injuries of Alberto Costa and Eustáquio and, later, William Gomes and Luuk de Jong, leaving the right back as the position most penalized by the wave of casualties.

In the first assessment of Alberto Costa's right thigh muscle injury, the player was immediately ruled out of the options for the reception to Nacional, but everything indicates that the absence could extend up to three weeks, so his availability for the classic with Benfica is at the limit. Before that match - which closes the second microcycle of the season and precedes a new stop due to the national teams - FC Porto still has to face Nacional, Rio Ave, Salzburg, Arouca and Red Star.

Farioli already seems to be preparing reinforcement Pedro Lima to take the position: in the closed-door friendly with Lus. Lourosa (2-2), the athlete loaned by Wolves was a starter and played 90 minutes, as we found out. Nehuén was left out due to effort management, but the center back can also be an option for the right back, as the coach admitted.

In recent years, with rare exceptions, FC Porto has not had good results with loaned players without an obligation to buy. Farioli's journey is different: at Nice he had Morgan Sanson, loaned by Aston Villa, who participated in 32 games, with 4 goals and 2 assists; at Ajax he had Rugani, loaned by Juventus, who played 26 games and scored 1 goal, later returning to the Italian national team. It remains to be seen if he can now achieve a similar effect with Pedro Lima.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.