No rest for Lucas: São Paulo star trains hard to win back place | OneFootball

As soon as the classic match and all its controversies were finally concluded, São Paulo granted the squad three days off, as there will be a good period without games due to the FIFA Date for international matches.

The tricolor group will return to the Barra Funda training center this Thursday (9th) at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), with the resumption of training sessions led by Hernán Crespo for the continuation of the Brasileirão. In the first three days of the week, there were activities only for recovering athletes, such as Calleri, Tolói, among others.

However, a player already cleared by the club's medical department also skipped São Paulo's days off to improve his conditioning, still far from ideal. The attacking midfielder Lucas maintained his physical preparation along with his team of private professionals who have been with him for a long time, as revealed by Lance this Wednesday (8th).

The tricolor star, since his recovery from his knee injury, has also been working with his trusted team, in addition to São Paulo's professionals. According to the portal, even the confidence and motivation of number 7 have increased after his return to the field, and most importantly, without pain.

It was six months of anguish with comings and goings, attempts to return, pain, suffering, until finally Lucas returned to the field with the tricolor jersey at the end of September, in the match against LDU. Even so, since then, he has never played a full game, was rested in others, and is still eager to regain his best game rhythm.

DISAPPOINTING SEASON

Since his return, there have been only three games, with just 77 minutes in total, without goals or assists. Lucas's numbers this year are disappointing. He played 20 matches, only ten as a starter, with four goals and one assist recorded in the season.

Now, the period without games will serve for the tricolor physical preparation to improve the condition not only of Lucas but also of Oscar. Although they have recovered from their injuries and are even being listed (number 7, for example, even played against Palmeiras), it is evident that both are far from their best physical shape.

For this reason, the internal priority is to have the duo in full condition so they can finally play without restrictions until the end of the season.

Oscar and Lucas have not played together for São Paulo since March 10th, in the elimination in the semifinals of the Campeonato Paulista against the green rival. The absence of both at the same time complicated Crespo's life in the Brazil Cup and Libertadores, where the team was eliminated in both at the quarter-final stage.

For the match against Grêmio, Crespo already knows he can count on Rigoni, who served a suspension in the classic after being sent off against Fortaleza. On the other hand, he lost Pablo Maia, who received his third yellow card and is suspended.

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