Sporting want to protect their player, unlikely to feature against Porto | OneFootball

Although he returned to Rui Borges’ options against AFS in the Portuguese Cup, Nuno Santos may end up not getting any minutes in the Porto vs Sporting match, which will take place next Monday, February 9, as part of the 21st round of Liga Portugal Betclic.

In his return to competition at Alvalade, his time on the pitch ended up being longer than expected. Brought on when Sporting was leading 2-1, the opponent’s equalizer took the game into extra time, forcing the left-footer to play an additional half hour of intense competition. In the end, he showed signs of physical comfort, indicating he was not feeling any pain.

Despite this, according to the newspaper A Bola, Nuno Santos will travel north with the squad, but is not expected to play in the Dragão classic, as a precautionary measure to manage his physical load after such a demanding return. Psychologist Liliana Pitacho explained the importance of the mental component in this type of prolonged comeback.

"When there are recurring injuries and very long breaks, it’s normal for the return to competition to be accompanied by many fears and hesitations. Adapting to the new phase of competition can always be more limited due to these fears—of contact, of certain movements, of being more attentive to the physical side and any pain that may arise, rather than necessarily focusing on some in-game situations, and this can be felt in the initial phase. But, certainly, considering all the clinical resources the club has, I believe the athlete is being monitored and that the preparation for this return has also been done from a mental perspective," she emphasized.

The long break lasted about 15 months, as a result of surgery on his right knee after a complete rupture of the patellar tendon, the third serious injury of this kind in the winger’s career. The recovery process for Nuno Santos experienced several delays, after an initial return was considered for last season, but the final decision was to wait for fully safe clinical conditions, with no risk of relapse.

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