Lucas: “Toughest injury of my career” after facing LDU | OneFootball

Lucas Moura left Morumbis looking displeased after São Paulo's elimination in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, due to a 1-0 defeat to LDU, in a packed Morumbis.

After the match, the number 7, who was brought on in the second half after recovering from an arthroscopy on his right knee, commented on the effort made in recent weeks to be available to coach Hernán Crespo ahead of schedule and categorized the physical problem as the most challenging of his career.

“This injury I had was the biggest challenge of my career in terms of injuries, practically out for the entire season, Oscar, who fell and hurt his back, Calleri, who tore the ligament... unfortunately, we suffered a lot with injuries, all teams suffer, but almost all the starting players got injured at the same time. São Paulo managed to reinvent itself with players from the youth team, with players who arrived. We had every chance to turn it around today,” said Lucas Moura.

Despite the effort, the São Paulo idol is still far from his ideal physical condition. Therefore, he could do little to try to change the course of Thursday's game. São Paulo once again dominated LDU, but was not as efficient as the opponent, who scored a goal on the only clear chance they had.

“A big blow. I think because of the expectations we had, we had every chance to turn it around, for the game we played, we were punished with two goals from our mistakes. Here we started very well and again we were punished with a goal. Football is not about merit, it's about efficiency. Obviously, there is frustration, disappointment, because we had every chance,” he continued.

“I fought hard to be able to return, I was focused on this game, I knew it was difficult to return before five weeks, thank God I recovered well, just before completing four weeks I was able to play, I felt good. Now it's about continuing to recover my best physical form,” concluded Lucas.

São Paulo returns to the field next Monday at 8 pm (Brasília time), when they host Ceará at Morumbis, for the Brazilian Championship, the only competition left for coach Hernán Crespo's team, who will have the mission of securing at least a spot in the next edition of the Copa Libertadores.

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