José Mourinho move secures Benfica stalwart for derby against Sporting | OneFootball

Benfica will not be able to count on Nicolás Otamendi for the next Liga Portugal Betclic 2025/26 match. The captain of the red squad received his fifth yellow card of the championship in the match against Vitória de Guimarães, which ended with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

The captain of Benfica will miss the home game against Casa Pia in the Eagles’ next match in the national championship. However, Nicolás Otamendi’s decision seemed to have been premeditated, as the yellow card was given for delaying the taking of a free kick, which the center-back then left for Trubin.

But he will have a clean slate for the derby against Sporting, which will be played on December 5, two rounds from now in Liga Portugal Betclic 2025/26.

Thus, Otamendi will miss the home game against Casa Pia, and is expected to return to the team for the trip to Madeira to face Nacional. In the following round, Benfica will host Sporting, and the center-back should have no problems being available for that match.

This also means that, in the match against Casa Pia, José Mourinho will likely rely on the pairing of Tomás Araújo and António Silva. After this yellow card for Otamendi, there are only two players at risk (with four yellow cards) in the Benfica squad: Richard Ríos and Amar Dedic.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.