Sporting-Benfica took its toll and José Mourinho is worried | OneFootball

The physical condition of several players in the squad is causing some concern for the Benfica coaching staff. According to what has been learned, José Mourinho granted a day off last Monday, April 20, with the aim of giving his players some rest while also assessing those who were most worn out at Alvalade.

With the team due back in training this Tuesday, April 21, the goal is to begin preparations for Saturday’s match, April 25, against Moreirense. Thus, the Special One wants to understand which players came out of the derby ‘battered’, with some cases causing greater concern.

The case that drew the most attention was Tomás Araújo’s. The centre-back started the match against Sporting; however, he ended up being substituted in the 77th minute due to discomfort in his right calf, after having gone more than three weeks without playing. Andreas Schjelderup and Gianluca Prestianni also showed clear signs of fatigue.

With several players beginning to feel the weight of a long season, José Mourinho will take extra care in preparing for the clash with Moreirense without taking any risk of losing a key part of his tactical system at such a critical stage of the season, with second place as the main objective.

It should be remembered that the team led by José Mourinho beat Sporting at Alvalade thanks to goals from Andreas Schjelderup (27') and Rafa Silva (90+3'). With this result, Benfica moved provisionally into second place in the Liga Portugal Betclic with 72 points, but the Lions can reclaim the spot, since they have a game in hand.

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