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The Benfica coach didn’t take for granted the return of David Neres for Friday’s match (7 pm) with Portimonense, at the Estádio da Luz, in reference to the 15th round of the championship.

“It’s developing well. He made progress and returned to training, but for a short time. Only tomorrow (Friday) will we make a decision on whether to call up or not. But he will soon be back in the team and ready to play,” the German said at the press conference.

Recovering from a traumatic injury, Neres played his last match for Benfica in late November, against Penafiel, for the League Cup.

When asked if Benfica depend on some, Schmidt recalled Rafa’s absence and shooting: “I think all teams depend on some players, it’s part of football. The quality of the players is fundamental. To have a good team, you have to combine everyone’s qualities. Whoever played the most in the first half of the season played because they were doing very well. They are used to playing together and have shown quality. My choice of who plays is always thinking about what is best for “Benfica is the best approach to win matches. Players are important and we need to make sure they are in good shape and those on the bench have the opportunity to show off. We don’t have Rafa tomorrow, he’s suspended, we need to find a solution. He’s a very important player, but we played some games without important players and we managed to win.”

Yakubu Aziz has been in Cairo since Wednesday to finalize and formalize the transfer to Al-Ahly, but the deal hasn’t been finalized yet and could also know different outlines from those initially foreseen.

At stake, according to local information, are doubts about the physical conditions of the Ghanaian goalkeeper, which have prompted the managers of the Egyptian club to rethink his permanent purchase for the next four and a half years, now opting for a six-month loan. with purchase option right at the end of this period. The transfer will take place today if Rio Ave accepts the new side dishes.

In July 2021 Aziz experienced the same situation, after even training with the Azerbaijani team Qarabag. At the time, Vitória de Guimarães, which holds half of the economic rights, did not receive €1 million.

Atmosphere of absolute madness at the Arena, home of Gêmio Porto Alegre, with thousands of fans present to attend the official presentation of Luis Suárez.

The 35-year-old Uruguayan scorer left some ideas on the reason for his choice: ««I’ve always liked challenges. First of all, come to a club with so much history. Grêmio is a great team in Brazil that makes you dream. A team that comes from Serie B and wants to fight with the best teams in Brazilian football. This is a very nice challenge”.

Roma, coached by Portuguese coach José Mourinho – who was not on the bench, serving the first of two match suspensions for red card in the 15th round match against Turin on 13 November – and with Rui Patrício as owner – on goal and playing full 90′, this Wednesday afternoon he beat Bologna 1-0, in a match valid for the 16th day of Serie A played at the Stadio Olimpico, in the Italian capital.

With the Giallorossi led, on the bench, by assistant Salvatore Foti – Mourinho will still miss his presence on the bench on matchday 17, against Milan, at San Siro – everything was soon decided in favor of the team from the capital, in a by Lucumi on the Argentinian Paulo Dybala in the away penalty area (5′), a penalty converted by Lorenzo Pellegrini in the 1-0 (6′), which proved to be the final result of a match in which Roma succeeded and the Bologna, when it wanted to take over and react, did very little.

In the first half in which Rui Patrício was a spectator, Mancini nearly made it 2-0 in the 17th minute – with Zaniolo again deflecting and deceiving Bologna’s Polish goalkeeper, Skorupski -, and midfielder Bryan Cristante (ex Benfica, in 2014 / 15) also squandered a good chance, shooting weakly and at the visitors’ goalkeeper, who started this round in 11th place in the standings and continue to add the same 19 points, while Roma now total 30 points.

The formation from the Italian capital could have solved everything and put an end to the emotion before the interval – with Zaniolo kicking high from Pellegrini’s corner (44′) – but also immediately after the restart, with Skorupski once again hindering the attempts by Zaniolo himself (48′). And only in the 49th minute did Bologna risk a goal from Rui Patrício, with a cross/shot from Dominguez that grazed the crossbar.

Lots of heart, better organization and coldness from the hosts, while Bologna showed very few offensive arguments to ‘tickle’ a Roma who have only occasionally justified their claim, after winning the UEFA Conference League in 2021/22, to now reach the top 4′ of the Serie A standings and access to the Champions League in 2023/24.

In the end, already in injury time, a double scare for Roma, with cuts from Smalling and Abraham to avoid Bologna’s 1-1 draw and keep the lead and the three points, which would be unfair for Roma, who win the match. moves to sixth place in the standings… but lost Zaniolo, due to injury. In the ongoing disciplinary controversy, Mourinho excluded the Dutch Karsdorp from the squad and promoted the debut in the team of the young (19-year-old) Swedish midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic, after having already been used for a few minutes, as a used substitute, against Turin ( Matchday 15, November 13, 2022).

After three consecutive days without a win in the league in the farewell to 2022, Roma recovered ground and spirit today, even without Mourinho on the bench. A tough test followed, at the Giuseppe Meazza, with Milan… and again with Salvatore Foti at the helm of the team, with José Mourinho still serving the disqualification on the 17th day.

We recall here the main episodes of the meeting in the Italian capital, in which José Mourinho, serving the first of two matches of suspension after being sent off against Torino..