Otamendi’s Argentina farewell puts Benfica on edge | OneFootball

In a match that marked the official farewells of Lionel Messi and Nicolás Otamendi from Argentina's official matches, Benfica knows that the captain will still have a busy life when it comes to national teams and is trying to reach a middle ground with the number 30.

According to what the Record newspaper has found, despite not participating in the tournament that will take place next year, the Argentine veteran still wants to participate in the World Champion's preparation games which, during the next FIFA breaks, will go through three continents, America, Africa, and Asia, in a real round-the-world trip.

However, the same source states that Benfica has already been informed of the central defender's decision, but is not 100% in favor of it. The sports daily explains that the Club da Luz is trying to convince Otamendi to only play the first match of the October break, in order to have some rest time before returning to competition for the encarnados.

From what has been found, Benfica's 'ban' will only affect the month of October, as the Club da Luz, before and after the national team break, has three high-demand games and wants to count on the Argentine at full strength. Before the national team games, the eagles have a meeting with Chelsea and Porto. Afterwards, Bruno Lage's team will have a duel against Newcastle.

This season, only with Benfica's jersey, Nicolás Otamendi - valued at 1 million euros - has played eight matches: four in the Champions League, three in the Liga Portugal Betcic and one in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. In the 720 minutes he was on the field, the Argentina international performed at a high level.

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