Olympiacos coach Jose Luis Mendilibar faces a midfield puzzle as injuries to Santiago Hezze and Lorenzo Scipioni force tactical shifts and potential debuts in the UEFA Champions League qualifier against NEC Nijmegen.
Olympiacos head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar prepares his team for the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round match against NEC Nijmegen.
A report by Sport24.gr outlines Mendilibar's plans for the starting eleven for the European clash, as the Red and Whites continue to bring new faces to the club while offloading some names from their current list.
The Spanish coach has to make big calls in the midfield with several of his key players recovering, and this could become a chance for him to experiment with other reliable assets in the squad. Firstly, he is very likely to be without the services of Santiago Hezze in the engine room. Doubts remain over the Argentine’s availability for the upcoming home match versus NEC. Having sustained an injury in the friendly against AZ Alkmaar, he is yet to return to full training, though he is still tipped to feature in the second fixture. Even if he makes the squad list for the match, he will not be 100% ready to start.
Midfielder Lorenzo Scipioni's presence is also under the scanner. He had a shoulder issue in the match against Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard, and he had missed several training sessions following that incident. While he has been training well since Thursday, but he might be rested to avoid a major injury in the future.
Taking into consideration these two potential absentees for the clash, Mendilibar is expected to safely proceed with Christos Mouzakitis and Dani Garcia in the middle of the park. This situation allows the boss to experiment by fielding Chiquinho, who can comfortably vouch for the number '8' role. In most cases, Mendilibar has started the Portuguese beside Mouzakitis, but now is an opportunity for him to place him behind forward Ayoub El Kaabi.
Chiquinho has never started a game as a number 10 under the Basque coach, and this will surely be a one-time placement with no future commitments for him in the role.
Alternatively, new signing Gustavo Sá, on loan from Nottingham Forest, can cover for the attacking midfielder position. Kostas Fortounis is also in Mendilibar's cards to feature in the game, likely as a substitute.
Meanwhile, new goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has been ruled out of the Champions League playoff's first leg, as he was deemed not fully ready following his recent arrival in Piraeus. The former Manchester City man must now wait at least until the second leg against NEC to make an impression in front of the Thrylos faithful.
