The Estoril team enjoyed a day off on Sunday after successfully completing a game against Atlético from the Liga 3. For Estoril coach Vasco Seabra, the most satisfying aspect of the match was having almost the entire squad available for selection.
To everyone's surprise, the Canaries welcomed back French players Harouna Sy and Eliaquim Mangala, with the latter even starting the game. According to A BOLA, the match was seen by the technical and medical staff as a test of Mangala's fitness.
The test was extremely successful, with Mangala not experiencing any discomfort and putting in a strong first-half performance. This is a positive sign for the Estoril officials, as the experienced defender has been struggling with muscular problems that have kept him out of competition for the past three months.
Eliaquim Mangala has not played an official game for almost three months, since he was forced to request a substitution in the match against Estrela da Amadora. Although no injury was detected at the time, the Estoril medical staff identified a high risk of injury and ordered complete rest. However, weeks went by without the player fully recovering.
Mangala's muscular limitations prolonged his absence from the team, with Estoril deciding not to take any risks and only bring him back when he was close to his maximum condition. Now, it seems that day has arrived, and as long as there are no setbacks, he should return to competition in a week's time for the match against Mafra in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup.
The question now is whether Mangala will go straight back into the starting eleven, which raises an interesting dilemma for Vasco Seabra in choosing the three center-backs. Bernardo Vital, Pedro Álvaro, and Volnei Feltes have formed the defensive line in the last eight official matches. At this point, Volnei seems to be the most likely candidate to be sacrificed, but the final decision will rest with the Canaries' coach.
