Deportivo without midfield trio for Olympiakos match
Deportivo Coruna will be without midfield trio Mauro Silva, Aldo Duscher and Victor for their Champions League Group A opener against Olympiakos at home tomorrow night. All three players sustained their injuries during the 3-1 home defeat by Osasuna on Sunday in the Spanish league’s second round of play. Duscher was replaced by Mauro in the 11th minute of the game after he was clattered by Osasuna defender Carlos Cuellar. The 36-year-old Brazilian then had to leave the field shortly after halftime when he suffered a recurrence of a leg muscle strain. «The injury to Mauro isn’t as serious as it first appeared,» Deportivo’s chief of medical staff Cesar Cobrian said yesterday. «But it will be a minimum of three weeks before he can train with the rest of the team.» Cobrian said that Duscher would be out of action for approximately 10 days and that right wing Victor would miss the game because he needed to undergo treatment for a minor groin strain. He added that striker Diego Tristan would also be unavailable as he was still in the final stages of recovery from a back injury, but that he would be able to start training at the end of the week. The good news for coach Javier Irureta was that center back Hector, midfielder Fran and the versatile Joan Capdevila had made quicker-than-expected recoveries from their respective injuries and would be ready to play in the Champions League match. At Olympiakos, coach Dusan Bajevic appears undecided on both lineup and team structure for tomorrow’s game. In practice sessions over the weekend, Bajevic, back at Olympiakos this season after a previous successful tenure with the club, alternated with 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 systems. Bajevic left Brazilian striker Giovanni, last season’s top scorer for the club, out of the former game plan but included him up front for the latter. Olympiakos’s 19-member squad is scheduled to fly to Spain this morning ahead. Bajevic will put his side through a final practice session tonight, which should determine his final lineup. In Group A, Olympiakos will also face Liverpool and Monaco, last year’s runner-up. Tonight, Panathinaikos, last season’s Greek champion, opens its Champions League quest at home against Norwegian club Rosenborg in a Group E match. Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven have also drawn into the group. (Reuters, Kathimerini)
