Lucas and Oscar duo: main hope, only played together in Paulistão | OneFootball

São Paulo fans began 2025 with a very clear expectation: what would the team look like with Lucas and Oscar playing together. But, well, that's not what has happened so far.

With its two main players dealing with a series of injuries, especially throughout the second half of the year, the Morumbi club went through the Brazil Cup and Libertadores tournaments, where it was eliminated in both at the quarterfinal stage, without the presence of its idols.

In practice, they have played together in only 21% of São Paulo’s 52 matches this season. In other words, on average, only one in every five games featured the highest-paid stars of the squad on the field at the same time.

In fact, Lucas and Oscar haven’t played together for Tricolor for quite some time: more precisely since March 10, during the elimination to rivals Palmeiras in the semifinals of the Campeonato Paulista.

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From that point on, one or the other was always in the medical department with an injury. That night, Lucas Moura felt pain in his right knee, beginning a long treatment period. Months later, Oscar would also face a serious problem: fractures in three lumbar vertebrae suffered during a derby against Corinthians in July.

Lucas Moura played 11 times in the Paulista Championship, as well as four matches in the Libertadores and another four in the Brasileirão. After several setbacks, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in August and began a longer recovery process.

Oscar took part in 12 matches in the Paulista, six in the Brasileirão, two in the Libertadores, and one in the Brazil Cup. At 34 years old, he required conservative treatment after his back injury and only recently returned to training with the group.

During the period when both were on the field together, São Paulo recorded five wins, three draws, and three losses. Even without much brilliance, the presence of Lucas and Oscar gave the team a different weight. And they would certainly have brought an important edge to Tricolor in the most crucial knockout matches of the season.

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