He played the last ten minutes of the game with Arouca, replacing Sarabia. And, after having spent a quarter of an hour in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, with Manchester City, in Alvalade, Bruno Tabata is now aiming for the title in the second leg, scheduled for Wednesday, on the Etihad.
It was Rúben Amorim himself who, at the press conference after the game with Arouca, in which he bet on Dário Essugo alongside Matheus Nunes, lifted the tip of the veil on the strategy to be adopted for the farewell to the Champions League. “It’s a very complicated game, because we’ve already lost 0-5 in the first leg. We have problems in midfield and we may have to adapt someone”, said Rúben Amorim, explaining that Ugarte, for example, stayed on the bench due to the risk of injury due to the competitive load: “If Ugarte played at the beginning, he could get injured and we we no longer have midfielders. Porro was also at risk of injury if he played early.”
Rúben Amorim’s accounts, moreover, are simple to make and are… of subtraction. Besides João Palhinha, still recovering from myalgia in the right adductor, Daniel Bragança was also injured in the derby against FC Porto, with a sprained left ankle, and he still has at least one more week to go. There was also Matheus Nunes, but even the Portuguese international is down for certain, due to punishment in European competitions.
Now, after all, there’s still Ugarte, who played just 45 minutes with Arouca, young Dário Essugo, who also had 45 minutes of competition on Saturday and… Bruno Tabata, a versatile player who, remember, was tested in pre -season in midfield, with a positive note, and has already played, this season, both as a midfielder and as a winger and as a false 9.
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