Confirmed: Mourinho's nightmare before Porto v Benfica | OneFootball

José Mourinho sees his worst nightmare confirmed: the Portuguese coach will have his squad reduced to only two players. This happened at a time when practically all the athletes from Benfica are being called up for their respective national teams, as is now the case with Richard Ríos and Leandro Barreiro.

According to the newspaper A Bola, in its edition this Friday, October 3, the Portuguese coach will have a significantly depleted squad after the match at Dragão, against Porto. It ends up being the confirmation of the scenario that the Special One had predicted a few days ago regarding the national teams: "Aursnes and some guy".

Already with a guaranteed presence in the World Cup, Richard Ríos will join the Colombian squad to play two friendly matches. Thus, the Colombian midfielder, who joined Benfica during the summer transfer window, will be available to face Mexico on October 12, and later, Canada on the 15th.

On the other hand, Leandro Barreiro will have a shorter trip ahead. The number 18 was called up for the Luxembourg national team, which is competing in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The Luxembourgers will travel to Germany, where they will face the local team on the 11th of this month. Following that, in another trip, Barreiro has a match scheduled against Slovakia on October 13.

Until then, the two midfielders are integrated into the work of the Eagles, who are preparing for the duel against Porto, which will be the first Classic between waters and dragons this season. However, it is worth remembering that, 48 hours before the match, the red and white squad is dealing with a problem that has affected several members.

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