Nicolás Otamendi and many others give Benfica a real headache | OneFootball

The number of players who will be absent from the Benfica squad is 17. As determined, the upcoming international break will leave Benfica reduced to a minimum, which will complicate the Eagles' preparations for upcoming sporting commitments. Among the 'absentees' are Otamendi and Lukebakio.

According to the newspaper A Bola, yesterday, November 7, revealed the last six names that will be unavailable for José Mourinho's options in the coming days. Among the significant absences are Dodi Lukebakio, Ricjard Rios, and António Silva - who will join Roberto Martínez's squad.

In total, José Mourinho will be without about 17 players from the main Benfica squad and several others who are regulars in training. Besides the three aforementioned players, the Special One will also be unable to count on Franjo Ivanovic, Amar Dedic, Anatoliy Trubin, Georgiy Sudakov, Vangelis Pavlidis, Andreas Schjelderup, Leandro Barreiro, Nicolás Otamendi, Gianluca Prestianni, Rafael Obrador, João Rego, Gonçalo Oliveira, João Veloso, and Diogo Ferreira.

Given this situation, José Mourinho will be forced to alter the training models following the match against Casa Pia, to make them suitable for the number of available players. After this depletion, it is safe to say that the 62-year-old coach will have to call up several youth players to join the training sessions alongside Fredrik Aursnes, Tomás Araújo, and Enzo Barrenechea.

It should be noted that before the third international break, Benfica will take to the field this Sunday, November 9, for another round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, hosting Casa Pia. The match is scheduled for 8:30 PM at Estádio da Luz and will be exclusively broadcast on BTV.

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