Injured Valdez to miss Manchester United game
Paraguay striker Nelson Valdez will likely miss the first clash between Olympiakos and Manchester United for the Champions League at the Karaiskakis Stadium next week, as the striker who arrived last month in Piraeus to replace Costas Mitroglou has suffered a recurrence to an injury sustained earlier this month.
Valdez, 31, pulled a muscle during his debut with Olympiakos on February 2 against Panetolikos in the Greek league and missed a league and a cup game before returning for the home match with Platanias last Saturday, during which he scored his first goal with the red-and-white jersey.
However the former Werder Bremen scorer reportedly suffered a recurrence of his leg injury during training as he was trying to sped up his recovery ahead of the big game with United on February 25.
He will now sit out the league match against OFI in Crete on Saturday and will more than likely miss the Champions League first-leg encounter with United next Tuesday.
The departure of top scorer Mitrolglou to Fulham has left a hole in the Olympiakos roster that Valdez is supposed to fill, at least for the club’s European games, given that in the league the Reds need just seven more points from nine games to clinch the title mathematically.
