“Renato Sanches spent exams this morning (Saturday) following the injury sustained yesterday (Friday) during the match between Losc and AS Saint Étienne. The midfield suffers froma lesion of the biceps femoris muscle of the left thigh. His unavailability is estimated at Three weeks, depending on the clinical evolution of his injury,” the northern club said in a statement posted on its website.
The absence of the 24-year-old Portuguese international, often muscle injury victimis a huge blow for the Mastiffs: Sanches had indeed been the best Lille at the end of February in the first leg lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
“We missed him tonight (Friday), he is a player who sets the tempo, who is able to organize the game, to orient it. We will do exams tomorrow (Saturday), I hope it’s not bad. It seems compromised for Wednesday (in the Champions League against Chelsea, editor’s note) but I’m waiting for the results,” said Losc coach Jocelyn Gourvennec after the disappointing draw (0-0) against Saint-Etienne.
Losc, the last French representative in the Champions League after the elimination of Paris SG against Real Madrid, hopes to achieve an unlikely feat on Wednesday against the reigning European champion.
“It will be difficult because it is Chelsea, but we have seen others (feats) in football. You can’t stop us from dreaming of a feat. I am aware that our environment considers it impossible, but it is precisely because it is impossible that we will dream of it,” Gourvennec said on Friday.
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