Breaking! Marco Silva has two absentees before Benfica v Hearts | OneFootball

Benfica completed, this Wednesday, their final training session before hosting Hearts in the first leg of the third Europa League qualifying round. The session held in Seixal was once again marked by a number of absences, at a time when Marco Silva is fine-tuning the final details for the European clash.

Fredrik Aursnes and Franjo Ivanovic missed training and are unlikely to be available for Thursday’s match. The Norwegian midfielder is still recovering from a muscle problem and is also dealing with gastroenteritis, while the Croatian forward remains under treatment for a bruise to his right foot, leaving both virtually ruled out of contention for the clash at the Luz.

In addition to that duo, Bruma and Tiago Gouveia also did not take part in training, as they remain out of Marco Silva’s plans. Meanwhile, Joshua Wynder and Jaden Umeh continue their respective recovery processes and remain under the care of Benfica’s medical department.

The positive note from the session was the inclusion of youngster Miguel Figueiredo - who could be dropped to the B team - , who trained with the first team again and took the opportunity to impress the Benfica coaching staff.

After training, Marco Silva is also scheduled to hold the pre-match press conference, set for 3:30 pm. Benfica host Hearts this Thursday at 8:00 pm, looking to take the first step toward the play-off for a place in the league phase of Europe’s second-tier club competition.

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