Martinelli back training on the pitch, hope for fans at crunch time | OneFootball

Fluminense defensive midfielder Matheus Martinelli returned to on-field training about three weeks after his injury. Initially, his recovery was expected to take around six to eight weeks. The good news of the player’s quick recovery encourages Tricolor fans, who saw the rest of the season under threat due to the team’s recent poor results.

At the moment, Martinelli is still not fit to train with the rest of the squad. However, he is already working with the ball and doing physical movement drills on the field, which show the strong recovery from the grade 3 injury to the anterior rectus femoris in his thigh. When the injury was diagnosed, it was expected that he would only return after the World Cup. The player was injured in the first leg against Operário, in a match valid for the fifth round of the Copa do Brasil, where the teams drew 0-0 on April 23.

The player developed in Tricolor’s youth academy is one of the key pieces in Luis Zubeldía’s squad this season and has been an undisputed starter for the club for at least three years, when he was a fundamental part of the squad that won the 2023 Libertadores. It is still too early to say when exactly the player will return and whether the recovery is in fact ahead of schedule, but the news of Martinelli’s return to the pitch gives fans hope that the team’s poor run may be coming to an end.

Now, the club from Laranjeiras, which has managed only two wins in 11 matches, faces Operário in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil tie, the same matchup in which Martinelli was injured in the first leg. The game will take place this Tuesday (12) at the Maracanã at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time. Flu, who will still be without Martinelli, needs only a simple win to advance against the opponent; in the event of another draw, the tie will be decided on penalties.

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