Maxi Zalazar sidelined with a muscle tear, out for Gimnasia v Unión | OneFootball

The Lobo's coach loses an offensive option ahead of the match against Unión, for the Interzonal game on Sunday.

Since the arrival of the coaching staff led by Alejandro Orfila, special emphasis has been placed on the intensity of the work, both in the football aspect and in physical preparation. As a consequence of the intense work or not, the fact is that several players have suffered muscle injuries during the new cycle. Thus, Jan Carlos Hurtado, Matías Melluso, Alejandro Piedrahíta, Bautista Merlini, Norberto Briasco have suffered injuries, ranging from grade 3 muscle tears to simple strains. Now Maximiliano Zalazar has been added to the list.

The winger, one of the first targets in the transfer market, not only lost prominence in the team—he started as a starter and lost his spot after the first two matches—but also suffered an injury in the friendly played at the Cilindro and will not be available against the team from Santa Fe. The muscle injury, a muscle tear, indicates that he will not be available—at least—against Deportivo Riestra.

With this absence, Orfila loses an offensive alternative, although since his departure he has played very few minutes and was never the first option.

Nevertheless, the team already had the return of Hurtado and Briasco will be available to complement Marcelo Torres, who has been a pleasant surprise so far.

Even so, the creation of play and the lack of goals are obstacles in the intention to improve the campaign in search of more important objectives. The Lobo has only scored five goals in the seven matches of the Torneo Clausura, two of them scored by Torres.

Zalazar's injury opened the door to the call-up of Santino López García, who was not in the Reserve match yesterday. The young forward is a regular starter in Fernando Zaniratto's team and was called up to train with the main group this week.

The 19-year-old winger from Chubut already trained under Orfila's orders in the preseason and left a good impression. López García has 1 goal and 3 assists in the 7 matches played in the Reserve Clausura. However, Briasco's return to the squad and Juan José Pérez's recovery (he was not available against Atlético Tucumán) reduce his chances of being on the bench on Sunday against Unión.

Tomorrow, Orfila will conduct a formal football practice that will define the team for Sunday, with the only doubt being Briasco's return or Hurtado's continuity as Torres's partner.

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