Alarm at FC Porto. Farioli explains situations of Zaidu, Moura and Martim

O FC Porto reached, this Saturday, that was the most loose victory of the new sports season of 2026/27, by taking the best on Estoril, by 4-0, in play to count for the tenth day of the I League, which was resolved to the ‘balleia’ of the goals signed by Victor Froholdt, Borja Sainz, André Silva and Gabri Veiga, respectively, at 6, 64, 70 and 73 minutes.

However, not everything was a ‘sea of roses’ for Francesco Farioli, who, not only could not count on Martim Fernandes and Francisco Moura, but also saw Zaidu Sanusi submit physical complaints, so he had no choice but to replace him with João Souza, at the interval. At the press conference that followed the final whistle, he himself explained what happened.

“Martim woke up this morning with fever, so he did not have the conditions to go to play. As for Zaidu, it is premature to make a definitive assessment in the early hours. You'll be reassessed tomorrow. This was mainly a precautionary substitution, opting to preserve the player. Tomorrow, we will have a clearer vision”, he said.

“Like Martim, Francisco Moura has been sick for the past few hours. He did not train two days ago and yesterday he held only part of the session with the group. It was therefore an excellent opportunity to continue Souza's work after the recent game. All the elements of the squad are important and will have impact, being priority to recover the players unavailable as soon as possible.”, he added.

This means that the Italian coach runs the risk of having in the Brazilian loan by Tottenham the only ‘rooted’ side-left for the meeting of the fourth round of the league phase of the Champions League, which has initial whistle scheduled for 8 p.m. ( Continental Portugal time) next Wednesday, at the Dragon Stadium.

“The ideal would have been to close the game a little earlier”

As for the match itself, the coach of the national champions in title applauded the “approach” they had at the same time: “It was a game with difficulties because, of course, we did not have all the information necessary to prepare it properly. We had approached the need to be prepared for the unknown, and that is exactly what happened.”.

“ When we saw the initial eleven, we verified changes in the opponent players, which allowed them to approach the match with a different structure. However, we wanted to get in well. Players have shown an exemplary and quality attitude. We played very well in the last thirty meters, scored a great goal and created many occasions in the first 25 to 30 minutes”, he said.

“The ideal would have been to close the game a little earlier, but it ended up taking longer. Still, we are satisfied with the result and performance. Now, it's time to move on and start preparing the game with Napoli ", completed.

“Gabriel Mec has undeniable technical quality and unique features”

In conclusion, Francesco Farioli praised the initialed exhibition by Gabriel Mec, who launched, at 78 minutes, for the place of Pepé: “He’s been working very well. The minutes you have added are due to the evident need to manage the efforts of men in the front, but also to the merit shown in daily training.”.

“ It is necessary to contextualize, is a young person in the process of maturation, who needs to evolve physically and assimilate the mechanisms and dynamics of the team. It has undeniable technical quality and unique features in its football. We are working with him to reach the desired level as soon as possible”, he concluded.