Stade Rennais vs Olympiacos: Will Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez Play Today?

On Wednesday, Nov. 4, two great teams will face each other in matchday 4 of 8 of the UEFA Europa League: Olympiacos FC and Stade Rennais FC.

Both teams will arrive prepared. For its part, Rennes has only managed one win in the competition and two draws, positioning itself in 13th place in the Europa League standings.

Olympiacos will arrive at Roazhon Park with a slight advantage compared to its French opponent. Currently, the Greek team is in 5th position without having lost in the last three matches of the competition, with three goals accumulated in total by Santiago Hezze, Roman Yaremchuk, and Armando Gonzalez.

And speaking of the latter, recently there has been a series of speculation about the reason why he has not had more playing minutes than expected, and there really is no confirmed explanation, but the Mexican could see the light at the end of the tunnel in Wednesday's match, where he could be called up as a starter.

The Thrylos coach, Imanol Alguacil, will have to make the decision of which forward to start, whether Gonzalez or Yaremchuk.

The Basque coach is known for prioritizing fresh legs on the pitch, so any signs of fatigue from whichever striker starts will likely be taken into consideration, with the other forward ready to come on as a substitute.

Although Alguacil has not shown full confidence in the Mexican forward in the Greek Super League, the limited options available in the Europa League and Gonzalez's strong performances in the competition should encourage the coach to give him playing time. From our perspective, however, the ideal scenario would be for him to start.

Statistically, 'Hormiga' has more chances to be chosen by the Spaniard. According to Debut, the player seems to be earning the coach's trust, in addition to the fact that he has been seen adapting to a good rhythm, with efficiency and naturalness under the coach's demands.

However, the same outlet explains that despite the forward's positive evolution, there are still aspects that the 23-year-old must improve.

"Despite his progress, Gonzalez still needs to improve his back-to-goal play, his dribbling, and his link-up play. However, the pressure he applies on opposing defenses is an aspect the coach especially values," they explained.

Alguacil apparently chooses forwards depending on the opponent, and Armando already has two goals in the competition, so it is most likely that he will be chosen as the starter for the match and be relieved by Yaremchuk at some point in the match.

Some might argue that Gonzalez's goals have come against lower-profile opponents such as Jagiellonia and Sparta Prague. However, he also delivered some very promising performances against Olympique de Marseille, one of the most historically significant clubs in French soccer.

He even came close to scoring a spectacular goal after receiving a pass inside the box, cutting onto his left foot, and shooting toward the far-left post, only for the goalkeeper to make the save.