João Moutinho hailed in Spain: “He lacks the media credit he deserves” | OneFootball

Braga host Freiburg this Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final. The newspaper MARCA highlighted João Moutinho’s consistency and his number of appearances in UEFA competitions:

“The career of João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho (Barreiro, 1986) has probably not received the media recognition it deserves. If it were cycling instead of football, he would already have won the ‘jersey’ for consistency”, it reads.

João Moutinho surpassed the records of Luka Modrić and Xavi Hernández and drew level with Paolo Maldini by reaching 174 matches in European competitions:

“So consistent has the SC Braga midfielder been that, in the second leg of the quarter-final against Real Betis (2-4), he became the midfielder with the most matches (174) in UEFA competitions, surpassing names such as Luka Modrić (173) and Xavi Hernández (173). Moutinho also drew level with Paolo Maldini (174) as the fourth player with the most appearances in Europe and, in the first leg of the semi-finals against Freiburg, he could overtake him. If he does, only Iker Casillas (188), Pepe Reina (192) and Cristiano Ronaldo (197) will be ahead of him”.

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