Unbelievable: São Paulo hit by 71 absences, Lucas and Oscar lead | OneFootball

São Paulo’s year has come to an end, and we can finally tally exactly how many players missed games due to injuries, knocks, or even more serious medical issues that plagued several members of the squad in 2025.

Right in January, the start of the season already hinted at what was to come, with injuries announced for goalkeeper Young (right foot sprain) and Luiz Gustavo (fractured left toe). In the final of the Copinha, Hugo Leonardo, a midfielder who was set to be promoted to the professional team, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, had to undergo surgery, and spent the entire year recovering.

ALL THE INJURED PLAYERS

These three absences paved the way for a total of 71 throughout the season, involving 31 different players, five of whom have already left Tricolor: Erick, Ruan Tressoldi, Henrique Carmo, Igor Vinícius, and Lucas Ferreira. The data is from Anotações Tricolores.

The other 26 athletes were: Young and Leandro Mathias (goalkeepers), Alan Franco, Arboleda, Ferraresi, and Rafael Tolói (center backs), Cédric Soares, Maik, Enzo Díaz, and Wendell (fullbacks), Luiz Gustavo, Hugo Leonardo, Alisson, Pablo Maia, Marcos Antonio, and Luan (defensive midfielders), Rodriguinho, Lucas, and Oscar (midfielders), and Ferreirinha, Calleri, Lucca, Ryan Francisco, André Silva, Dinenno, and Luciano (forwards).

Among these, those who suffered the most medical setbacks were the players from whom the most was expected this year, Lucas Moura and Oscar, the major signing by the board for the 2025 season. Each had six instances where they had to leave the pitch to recover.

THE GREAT HOPE THAT DIDN’T PLAY

Lucas’s case was the most symbolic, as all his injuries were due to the same problem in his right knee, which began after the semifinal loss to Palmeiras in the Paulistão, back in March. On the 29th of that month, the club announced trauma to the right knee of their number 7, which sidelined him for ten matches.

In May, after attempting to return to play, Lucas was diagnosed with a strain of the posterior capsule of his right knee, resulting in another 15 matches out of action for Tricolor.

The new comeback didn’t go as planned, and in August Lucas Moura missed a game due to load management and then another four after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove fibrosis from his right knee. The pain persisted, and the attacking midfielder was not performing as expected.

In October, he missed another match for specific training, and finally in November he was sidelined for good due to the endless pain in his right knee, which remained unresolved by the end of the season. He missed 36 games due to physical problems.

The last medical update released by the club, on Saturday (6th), stated that after medication was applied to the painful area of his right knee, the attacking midfielder remains in treatment and is also doing muscle strengthening and motor control work with physiotherapy. As reported by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, Lucas gave up part of his vacation to continue treatment at the CT in Barra Funda.

DISAPPOINTING YEAR

The other dramatic case was midfielder Oscar. At the end of March, he was diagnosed with a minor injury to the back of his left thigh, which kept him out for just one match. However, he returned while still injured, as he himself admitted, to try to save the job of the embattled coach Luis Zubeldia, and aggravated the injury, which then sidelined him for another ten matches.

It didn’t take long for a new injury, an edema in the back of his left thigh, to be diagnosed in May. When he returned, he suffered more bad luck, fracturing three lumbar vertebrae in a play during the derby against Corinthians in the Brasileirão. That meant another 16 matches out.

After a gradual return, yet another muscle injury, this time to his left calf, kept Oscar out of six more matches. Finally, when the number 8 was preparing to return in November, he fell ill during medical exams at the CT, was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, which could even end his career. In total, he missed 41 matches.

The situation with the four center-forwards for the season was also alarming: Calleri, Ryan, André Silva, and Dinenno all had serious knee problems, with the first two needing surgery that ruled them out for the rest of the season.

André chose not to undergo surgery, but was another who lost the season from August onwards, due to injury and a strain of the ACL in his right knee. And the Argentine Dinenno had a minor operation to treat pain in his right knee at the end of the season.

In the unbelievable Tricolor injury list, cases such as Rodriguinho’s facial trauma and broken nose, Wendell’s ruptured plantar fascia, and the most serious, Luiz Gustavo’s pulmonary thromboembolism, highlighted the incredible variety of problems at the club.

Still not fully understanding what happened this year, São Paulo started a ‘witch hunt’ and fired some health department staff, including a doctor and a physiotherapist, some of whom had been with São Paulo for over 30 years.

See below for all absences due to injuries and medical issues at Tricolor in 2025:

Image: Anotações Tricolores

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