Arsenal loanee returns from injury to make quarter-finals & receive international call-up | OneFootball

Nuno Tavares made his return from injury to help Lazio through to the next round of the Europa League last week, before linking up with Portugal for the international break.

Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images

Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares suffered his third injury of the season in training ahead of last week’s game against Udinese, with reports confirming a muscular problem. The left-back missed out on the Lazio squad against Udinese completely, raising fears of another extended absence.

But Lazio head coach Marco Baroni subsequently suggested that Tavares would be back in the squad three days later, for their Europa League last-16 second leg match against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.

That was indeed the case, with Tavares playing 67 minutes of Lazio’s 1-1 home draw. With the Serie A side winning 2-1 in the first leg, they scraped through to the quarter-finals by a single goal.

Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images

Tavares was then benched for Lazio’s next game against Bologna on Sunday, with Baroni clearly taking care of the 25-year-old’s fitness. It was bad news for the team though, as they were thrashed 5-0 without Tavares.

On the fitness front, the good news is that Tavares has been called up by Portugal for the international break. The national team clearly believe his recent injury isn’t going to have any lingering effects.

Portugal face Denmark in their Nations League quarter-final tie over the break, playing away on Thursday, March 20th, and then at home on Sunday, March 23rd.

Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

After that, Tavares will return to Lazio, who face Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League quarter-finals and continue to push for Champions League football in Serie A.

The team are currently sixth, two points off the top four, but with the worst goal difference in the top nine following Sunday’s 5-0 defeat.

Tavares has made 26 appearances for Lazio, who have a purchase clause in the region of £7-7.5m for the Arsenal defender with a sell-on clause worth in excess of 25%.