FC Porto gear up for Arouca but still trained in Salzburg | OneFootball

Almost 24 hours after the 'smiling' entry into the group stage of the Europa League 2025/26 - a 0-1 victory over Salzburg (thanks to a goal scored by William Gomes, three minutes after the 90) - the main team of FC Porto focused again on the trip to Arouca.

The blues and whites held a training session on Friday morning, on Austrian soil, led by Italian coach Francesco Farioli. According to the club, the players who started in the previous game "did active recovery work, and the less used trained normally, on the field".

The only exceptions were Nehuén Pérez, who remains "under post-operative surveillance" after surgery to repair a total rupture of the Achilles tendon, and Luuk de Jong, who only underwent "treatment" due to an injury to the internal lateral ligament.

Remember that both, the Argentine international and the Dutchman, did not travel to Austria with the rest of the delegation and continued to work at the Olival training center, so, apparently, they are out of the call for the match that closes the seventh round of the I League.

The Arouca-FC Porto is scheduled for 20:00 (Portugal Continental time) on Monday, at the Municipal Stadium of Arouca, with refereeing by Fábio Veríssimo, from the Football Association of Leiria.

The duel between Arouca and FC Porto was at risk of not taking place after the board led by André Villas-Boas threatened to proceed with a precautionary measure to suspend the game, unilaterally rescheduled by Liga Portugal due to the Harvest Festivals taking place in the Aveirense village next weekend.

The uncertainties were clarified on Thursday with a statement from the dragons, in which the club criticized the decision of the entity chaired by Reinaldo Teixeira: "However, we cannot fail to point out that this decision by Liga Portugal is highly detrimental, not only to the legitimate interests of FC Porto, but also to the credibility and the very interests of Portuguese football, which are seriously compromised".

"Nevertheless, we are sure that our fans, despite the match being played on a weekday and in Arouca, will know how to unite around the team and be present in large numbers, demonstrating, once again, our strength and our unwavering commitment in defense of FC Porto", the note referred.

The team of Francesco Farioli now faces a demanding cycle of three games in seven days: Arouca (September 29, Municipal Stadium of Arouca), Red Star (October 2, Dragon Stadium) and Benfica (October 5, Dragon Stadium).

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