Lucas Torreira says it hurts to lose as Fiorentina did on Sunday, despite his positive performance coming off the bench.

Lucas Torreira of ACF Fiorentina reacts during the Serie A 2021/2022 football match between ACF Fiorentina and FC Internazionale at Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence Italy, September 21st, 2021. Photo Andrea Staccioli / Insidefoto
Lucas Torreira of ACF Fiorentina reacts during the Serie A 2021/2022 football match between ACF Fiorentina and FC Internazionale at Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence Italy, September 21st, 2021. Photo Andrea Staccioli / Insidefoto

Lucas Torreira has been rotated in and out of the Fiorentina team in the early stages of his loan spell, starting three games and being named on the bench for the other three. Against Napoli on Sunday, he was introduced as a second-half substitute.

Fiorentina were already 2-1 down by the time Torreira came on, and he couldn’t turn things around despite a positive display.

The Arsenal 25-year-old made three tackles, won four of his five individual duels and completed 90% of his 20 passes in his short time on the pitch. Fiorentina finished the match on top, but they just couldn’t find the equaliser they needed.

Writing on Instagram afterwards, Torreira admitted it was a tough result to take.

“It is not the result we wanted and it hurts a lot to lose this way,” Torreira said. “Now is the time to think about the Uruguayan team and then come back with much more strength. The road is long and we must continue working.”

Torreira was called up for the Uruguay national team this time around, after he was left out over the last international break.

The midfielder claimed at the time that his difficulties with Arsenal over the summer – when he had to quarantine away from the squad during pre-season – were behind his exclusion.

Torreira will be glad to have put that behind him now, but he’ll want to get back to winning ways with club and country in the next few weeks.