FC Porto can’t do without Froholdt for the big match | OneFootball

Froholdt is expected to return to the starting eleven at Estádio da Luz, after only coming on at halftime in Alvalade – a match in which Farioli sought to rest the Dane, who is approaching three thousand minutes this season just for FC Porto [he has another 90 for Copenhagen and 344 for the national team]. No other outfield player has been used as much by the Italian coach, and there is an obvious reason for this preference: the youngster, signed in the summer of 2025 for 20 million euros, has become the silent barometer of a team that falls apart when the number 8 is not in the starting lineup. FC Porto’s three defeats in domestic competitions [V. Guimarães, Casa Pia, Sporting] all have one thing in common: Froholdt did not start those matches.

The first warning came in the League Cup against V. Guimarães, when an injury took the Dane out of contention and FC Porto was eliminated from the final four (1-3). Later, in the league, the situation repeated itself against Casa Pia: due to workload management, he started on the bench and came on in the 56th minute, with the team already behind. The same happened in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals against Sporting, when Farioli left his “anchor” out of the starting eleven, deciding to introduce him only in the second half.

In European competition, the scenario is different: the only defeat (Nottingham Forest) had Froholdt on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, while in the draw with Utrecht the player was only brought on in the 68th minute, with the score at 1-1.

For Francesco Farioli, the challenge is to manage the fatigue of a player who has become indispensable. With the classic against Benfica just around the corner, the numbers are clear: giving up Froholdt is a luxury this FC Porto cannot afford. The player has won 87.5% of the games in which he started, having recorded only three draws and one defeat, precisely against Nottingham Forest.

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