'I don’t know' - Porto coach admits he's unsure of the availability of Zaidu for Barcelona clash
Published: November 28, 2023Porto manager Sérgio Conceição has admitted that he's unsure of the availability of Zaidu Sanusi for Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League clash against La Liga giants Barcelona at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona.
The Super Eagles left-back was part of twenty four Porto players that left for Catalonia on Monday.
Zaidu missed Porto's last domestic fixture against Montalegre in the Taça de Portugal because he was recovering from injury.
The defender partially trained with the group in Porto's final workout before the trip to Barcelona but Conceição has stressed that the Nigeria international is not guaranteed minutes against the Spanish club.
Conceição has suggested that he will wait until the last minute before deciding whether Zaidu will be involved against Barcelona.
In quotes relayed by Portuguese sports daily A Bola, Conceição told reporters at the pre-match press conference: "I don't know if Zaidu and Pepe are ready for 9 minutes or 90 minutes, because they did their first training session with the team today, they did the first part of the training.
"I will decide, every hour that passes is important, if one of them cannot make a contribution…. We talk about Pepe, he is an always important player, on and off the field, that's why he accompanies us."
Porto are looking to secure their fourteenth qualification for the knockout rounds of the Champions League..
Sanusi has started two of the four matches contested by the two-time European champions in this season's competition.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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