Lucas: ‘Worst injury’ hampered São Paulo, eyes goals before exit | OneFootball

The attacking midfielder Lucas Moura made a giant effort and just four weeks after a minor surgical procedure to remove fibrosis that was causing pain in his knee, he was already on the field helping São Paulo in the big quarter-final decision of the Libertadores against LDU, this Thursday (25).

It was just over 20 minutes of performance from the tricolor number 7, who couldn't create great plays, still obviously feeling the lack of game rhythm, as the athlete himself explained in an interview in the mixed zone of Morumbi after the elimination.

"Physically, it's obvious that I'm not at my best yet, I still need a bit of game rhythm, it hasn't even been four weeks since the surgery, the arthroscopy, but it's good to gain that by playing, game by game, but the most important thing is to be available today to help, to be able to come in, feel good, totally different from other times," he said.

"The pains I used to feel, I don't feel anymore, now it's about regaining that game rhythm, regaining the strength that's still a bit lacking in the knee, but thank God without that nightmare I went through," Lucas added.

BIGGEST INJURY OF HIS CAREER

But it wasn't easy. The club idol classified this last knee injury, suffered still in the semifinals of the Paulistão, in March, as the 'biggest challenge of his career'.

"This injury I had was the biggest challenge of my career in terms of injuries. The knee kept me out practically the entire season, Oscar, an unfortunate incident too, who went up and fell, hit his back, Calleri who tore the ligament, a very serious injury for any player," lamented Lucas.

"So unfortunately we suffered a lot with injuries, which I think all teams also suffer from, but it ended up that several starting players got injured at the same time. And São Paulo managed to reinvent itself with the youth players, with the players who arrived, with players who were already in the professional team like Rodriguinho, who has been standing out and I think we had all the conditions to turn it around today, we couldn't convert the chances we created into goals, they did and deservedly, let's say, they left with the qualification," explained the athlete.

IS HIS TIME COMING TO AN END?

Finally, the experienced tricolor was questioned about his future goals at the club, and Lucas mentioned that his contract ends at the end of the next season when talking about the goals ahead.

"The first step is to finish in the best possible position in the Brasileiro, return to the Libertadores next year, my contract ends at the end of next year, and then it's about fighting for titles. I've always said that. My goal when I'm on the field is to give my best, whatever the competition, whatever the game."

"I want to win more titles with the São Paulo jersey, I want to put more pictures on the CT wall. And that's my goal. Now the shorter goal is to regain my best form, regain the game rhythm again, help São Paulo in this final stretch and qualify again for the Libertadores and next year we will go for it," concluded Lucas Moura.

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