New Brentford signing Christian Eriksen feels in a "very good place" as he closes in on a competitive return to football after his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
The 29-year-old Denmark international midfielder has not played since the incident during his nation's 1-0 loss to Finland on June 12.
Brentford signed Eriksen in January on a deal until the end of the season following his release from Inter in December, where he was ineligible for professional football in Italy after being fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) device.
Eriksen had been training with his former club Ajax and has now linked up with his new Brentford teammates although it is unclear when he will debut with manager Thomas Frank stating it will take a "few weeks".
"Condition-wise and strength-wise I am in a very good place, it’s just the football touch that needs to come back and get up to speed," Eriksen told the Brentford website. "We’ll see how my body reacts but I feel very good.”
Eriksen added: "It is the longest I have been without playing football - by far. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any injuries really. To be without football for six or seven months is a very long time.
"It’s been very difficult. You have to let it heal and not do anything and then I started the rehab programme. Then I touched a ball and I’m on a football pitch, smell the grass, football boots, then everything starts coming back. The excitement to be in the stadium and be with the team."
Eriksen also said he initially thought he would never play football again after the incident at Euro 2020 but was convinced by doctors otherwise two days later.
“On the way to the hospital I told [wife] Sabrina I may as well leave my boots here,” Eriksen said. “It changed two days later. It was in the moment. I recognised what happened to me later on that night and the next few days.
"Then all the tests started and all the knowledge started to come in and all the questions were being asked ‘Can I do this? Can I do that?’ and listen to the doctors.
“Then after that it slowly took off in a way that if I can do tests with a doctor along the way then I can slowly get back to playing football. There were a lot of tests to see how the heart reacted to physical training again and luckily nothing came out of that and everything was good.
“Then, every month I could push it and then I could play. But the thing was hearing from the doctors that even with an ICD there are no limits, it just depends on the diagnosis and how you feel about it."
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday.
Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou.
The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou.
Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork.
But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross.
Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University.
Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak
Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter.
The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio).
Al Ittihad 1-0 Al Ahli: Al Shehri nets winner as Blanc's side match leaders Al Hilal
Saleh Al Shehri scored the only goal of the game as Al Ittihad edged Jeddah rivals Al Ahli to go level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal.
Al Shehri turned in a cross from Moussa Diaby in the 42nd minute to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 1-0 lead in the derby, while Diaby was denied the chance to double that advantage in the closing stages by the woodwork.
Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli thought they had scored an equaliser through their captain Franck Kessie in the 59th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Al Ahli had also gone close in the 51st minute when Ivan Toney rounded Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, but his strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Abdulelah Al Amri.
Blanc’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.06 with four of their 12 efforts on target, while Al Ahli ended with an xG of 1.01 with three of their shots on target.
Al Ittihad have collected 24 points from nine matches - the same as defending champions Al Hilal who will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Friday.
Al Ahli, meanwhile, find themselves 13 points adrift of the summit in 11th place with just one win from their last five matches.
Tottenham host Man Utd in headline EFL Cup quarter-final tie
Tottenham will host Manchester United for a place in the EFL Cup semi-finals as the last-eight ties were confirmed on Wednesday.
Ange Postecoglou's side inflicted Manchester City's first defeat of the 2024-25 campaign with a 2-1 victory at home in the fourth round.
Timo Werner and Pape Sarr were both on target for Spurs, whose next test in the competition will come against United, who smashed Leicester City 5-2 to reach the next stage.
That victory marked Ruud van Nistelrooy's first game in interim charge after Erik ten Hag's dismissal on Monday, though Sporting's Ruben Amorim is expected to soon be appointed at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag ended a six-year trophy drought for United when winning the EFL Cup in 2023, leaving the possibility for Amorim to follow suit should he arrive and guide his side past Tottenham.
Arsenal will also meet London rivals Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in another quarter-final tie.
Mikel Arteta's side eased past Preston North End in the fourth round, while Palace stunned Aston Villa with a 2-1 away win after Daichi Kamada's second-half winner.
Staying in London, Brentford sneaked past Sheffield Wednesday on penalties and will visit Newcastle United, who battled to a 2-0 home win over Chelsea to reach the last eight.
Defending champions Liverpool edged to a 3-2 win over Brighton, earning a quarter-final trip to Southampton after Russel Martin's side snatched a late 3-2 win over Stoke City on Tuesday.
All quarter-final clashes are set to be played across the week of December 17.
EFL Cup quarter-final draw in full:
Tottenham vs Manchester United
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Newcastle United vs Brentford
Southampton vs Liverpool
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