Heads up, Sporting! Luis Suárez causing concern behind the scenes | OneFootball

AFS forced Sporting to play an extra 30 minutes to secure their place in the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, a scenario that highlighted an already existing trend: the heavy physical workload of Luis Suárez, who played the entire match.

Unable to count on Fotis Ioannidis, who is still injured, the 28-year-old Colombian striker played his 11th consecutive match without being substituted at Alvalade on Thursday night. This streak began precisely in the Portuguese Cup, during the away game against Santa Clara, and since December 18, the player has had little time to rest. On the horizon is already the classic against Porto, scheduled for Monday at 8:45 pm. After the match against João Henriques' team, Rui Borges admitted that the striker is “worn out,” a situation worsened by the incident with Antoine Baroan, in which the opposing player ended up suffering a fracture.

Given this context, the options are limited and essentially involve physical management in the gym. Among the squad of the national champions, Luis Suárez is the player with the most matches played, a total of 34, and the second with the most minutes accumulated, 2,679, only behind Francisco Trincão, who has 2,759.

Despite the physical fatigue and the emotional impact associated with the aforementioned incident, Record newspaper reveals that the message conveyed by the striker to the coach has been clear in showing his willingness to keep playing, knowing that Sporting’s Performance Unit Sporting has been closely monitoring his physical condition, particularly regarding any potential muscular issues.

Motivated to be present at Estádio do Dragão and help the team try to close the gap to Porto, the Colombian has been trying to manage his free time with periods of rest with his family. The striker has scored 25 goals this season for Sporting, a record that has earned him both internal and external recognition, as well as the attention of several clubs.

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