It has been a long wait for Daniel Bragança to return to play since that fateful February 15, 2025, the day the 26-year-old midfielder seriously injured his left knee. 323 days later, almost 11 months since that game with Arouca in Alvalade (2-2 on the 22nd round of 2024/2025), Sporting’s number 23 returned to play: he entered in the 62nd minute of the game against Ac. Viseu (1-2 in Alcochete in round 17 of League 2). Bragança taking a deep breath for team B but he will still have to wait a few days to be an option in A. He has already felt the ball and grass and gained confidence but it shouldn’t be enough for the League Cup yet.
Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee took Daniel Bragança to the operating table in February 2025, reinstated in the main team’s work on December 8, on the eve of a game with Bayern in the Champions League and heading to Munich, the midfielder knew, however, that he still had to get used to it. This Sunday he played again: he was ordered to enter the field, he jumped with his right foot for luck and applause, lots of applause — including from Fresneda, Eduardo Quaresma, Gonçalo Inácio, Morten Hjulmand and Pedro Gonçalves, teammates who insisted on watching the secondary team’s game, as well as coach Rui Borges.
However, the question remained as to whether this round of applause could be repeated in Leiria, in the semi-final of the League Cup this Tuesday, when at 8pm the green and whites play Vitória de Guimarães. But it will still be premature to play for the main players. Rui Borges is unlikely to count on Bragança in that game, and it will also be unlikely that he will do so later if the lions go to the final. But it will certainly be in January that the coach will put him on the field for the main players.
The championship returns on the 16th, with the game against Casa Pia in round 18 in Alvalade. Then there is PSG for the Champions League on the 20th, Arouca on the 24th and Ath. Bilbao on the 28th. Bragança will count from one of them. Until then, he gains more rhythm, he could even be a starter in base and above all, he will gain confidence after such a serious injury and such a long layoff — and he already knew what that was, as he had already had the same problem with his right knee in 2022/2023.
Daniel Bragança is also almost back in team A, solving the problem of options in midfield for Rui Borges and the administration, who will not have to go to the market to reinforce this sector this winter. The number 23 is already counting down the days until he plays his 138th game for Alvalade’s A team (11 goals and 14 assists), after having already missed the last 45 — 17 last season, 28 this season.
With a contract until 2027, Bragança is now preparing for a new chapter in his career, hopefully reinvigorated. And contract renewal is a possibility that will be on the table in the near future.
