No more at full-back for Boca? Russo tests Blondel in midfield duo | OneFootball

In training, the former Tigre and Atlético de Rafaela player was included in the midfield as Leandro Paredes' partner, due to Rodrigo Battaglia's absence because of injury.

Lucas Blondel was one of the surprises in Boca's Thursday training session, since in the absence of Rodrigo Battaglia due to discomfort, it was the former Tigre and Atlético de Rafaela player whom Miguel Ángel Russo chose to accompany Leandro Paredes in the central midfield duo.

Although he has spent almost his entire professional career as a right-back, the coach opted for the player who was just left out of Switzerland's national team squad to play alongside Paredes in the center circle, which is unusual considering the closest he had come to that position were his few appearances as a right-sided midfielder during the tenures of Jorge Almirón, Diego Martínez, and Fernando Gago.

Although it was initially believed that his position would be as a midfielder on the right flank, it has emerged that Blondel actually took part in training as a central midfielder in Russo's trial run with an eye on Aldosivi. This was a big surprise, as it was expected that the spot next to Paredes would go to Milton Delgado or Williams Alarcón, should the former Atlético Mineiro player be ruled out.

The coach's idea is to wait until the last minute for Battaglia, who has missed training for the second consecutive day, and the lineups used in Thursday's session would not necessarily be a reference for the team that will play on Sunday, as he tried out different formations.

The first eleven consisted of: Agustín Marchesín; Juan Barinaga, Nicolás Figal, Ayrton Costa, Frank Fabra; Lucas Blondel, Leandro Paredes; Brian Aguirre, Carlos Palacios, Exequiel Zeballos; and Milton Giménez.

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