Good and bad news! A possible return and absence for Sporting-Benfica | OneFootball

Iván Fresneda was Sporting’s main absentee on the trip to London for the clash with Arsenal, in the Champions League. The Spanish right-back was not given medical clearance to travel, following the physical issues he showed against Estrela da Amadora, a match in which he was replaced at half-time by Georgios Vagiannidis.

With the derby against Benfica on the horizon, scheduled for Sunday, it remains unclear whether the Spain under-21 international will be available. The player has been carefully managed in recent days and, given the maximum demands of the match against their red-clad rivals, Sporting’s officials will only consider using him if he is in full physical condition — a scenario that, for now, is still not the case.

As such, Iván Fresneda’s situation will be monitored daily at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy until next Sunday, requiring particular caution from the Sporting medical team with the player at this important stage of the season.

More positive, for now, is Nuno Santos’ medical situation. The wing-back is in the final stages of recovering from a muscle injury in his left thigh and there is now greater clarity regarding his return. Everything indicates that he will miss the derby against Benfica, but, barring any last-minute setbacks, he could return to the squad for the trip to the Dragão next Wednesday, the match that will decide one of the finalists of the Portuguese Cup.

The green-and-white side take to the field next Sunday, April 19, against Benfica. The match, counting for Matchday 30 of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team managed by José Mourinho, will be played at 6:00 p.m. at the José Alvalade Stadium.

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