Botafogo line-up: Gabriel Pires is included again, and Lage will round out the cast | Botafogo

Hey Botafogo It becomes the key to the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday night, at 7 pm, at Estadio Nilton Santos. The duel is the first against Defensa y Justicia, which will determine its place in the semi-finals of the competition. To start with the advantage, Glorioso tries to manage the team in a way that makes it competitive, but that doesn’t affect the weekend’s duel, against Bahia, in the Brazilian Championship – he leads the team with 48 points.

That is why coach Bruno Lage is running the team again, as he did at Sol Americana. The coach is counting on the loss of left-back Marcel, who will naturally be replaced by Hugo. The good news is the return of midfielder Gabriel Pires who has been included again after three months.

The player suffered a leg muscle injury, in the victory over Fluminense, on May 20, and has been working since then on his recovery. The midfielder even trained with the ball, but returned to the medical department to treat the problem, which persisted. Now recovered, Pires has been tested among the starting line-ups, having already worked with coach Bruno Lage at Benfica. The trend is to keep Eduardo, depending on the sequence of matches, but the alternative is yet to be decided.

Gatito Fernandez, who was playing in the starting line-up at Sol Americana, should also be kept in the squad, resting Lucas Pere, who was important in the goalless draw with Sao Paulo. De Placido and Che Che, suspended in the Brazilian league against Bahia, will be among the 11 starting players who will be rested over the weekend.

Possible starting XI for Botafogo: Gatito Fernandez; de Placido, Sampaio (Adrillson), Cuesta and Hugo; Danilo Barbosa, Chi Chi and Gabriel Pires (Lucas Fernandez); Junior Santos, Diego Hernandez and Anderson (Diego Costa).

The match between Botafogo and Defensa e Justicia will take place on Wednesday, at 7 pm, at Nilton Santos Stadium. According to Botafogo, more than 20,000 tickets have been sold.

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