Benfica’s Pablo Aimar and Nicolas Gaitan are both doubts for the match against Vitoria Setubal, as they are out with injuries.
Both http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pablo-Aimar-c28938 and Nicolas Gaitan, have been star performers at Estadio da Luz this season. The attackers were the club’s main driving force in the UEFA Champions League and helped them make it to the knock-out stages of the prestigious
tournament.
In the league, Benfica have also been quite dominant and are currently riding on top of the Primeira Liga standings with 36 points. That has been partly due to the displays of the duo, who are pivotal to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jorge-c19120 Jesus’ midfield plans.
Pablo Aimar, despite being 32 has influenced proceedings with his attacking skills to great effect this term. Playing just behind the main striker, he has scored only twice but his passing and link-up play have been crucial to the Reds’ success.
Nicolas Gaitan failed to make an impact at the Stadium of Light last campaign but this time around has garnered the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs with his magic on the pitch.
However the duo were unable to feature in the side’s last game against UD Leiria, which became even more important as Sporting and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 drew only a day before. The Eagles were the undoubted favourites going into the tie and proved their might with a
comfortable 4-0 win.
While http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rodrigo-c31437 all got on the score sheet, things would have been even better had Aimar and Gaitan been on the field. Before kick-off, a reason for their exclusion wasn’t given but later Jorge Jesus revealed that both of them
were currently nursing injuries and thus were on the sidelines.
Speaking to reporters, the tactician said that both the players had been suffering from different problems and he decided that he would not take a gamble on their fitness.
"Aimar and Gaitan had problems on the eve of the game [with UD Leiria]. They injured themselves and on game day there were questions about their fitness. We thought it was not the time to take risks.”
He also added that while Aimar could possibly play against Vitoria Setubal, Gaitan still needed to fully recover and was going to be out for a longer period.
"I have no doubt that Aimar is available for the next game, but I am not sure if Nico Gaitan may be able to recover in time," the trainer was quoted as saying.
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