Retour
Benfica have received a significant fitness boost ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League meeting with Celtic after Alexander Bah completed training, the club confirmed.
That created a potential problem for Marco Silva, with fellow right-back Daniel Banjaqui also struggling with a muscular issue.
All the Celtic team news and injuries are collected in one place.
However, Benfica’s final training session brought positive news regarding Bah.
The defender worked normally with the rest of the squad and is available to face Martin O’Neill’s side at the Estádio da Luz.
His return appears to solve the right-back dilemma Silva faced earlier this week, when Fredrik Aursnes and Tomás Araújo were among the players being considered as emergency options.
Benfica will still be without four members of their squad for the game.
Banjaqui and Jakub Kamiński have both been ruled out with muscle injuries, while Enzo Barrenechea is also unavailable.
Long-term absentee Jaden Umeh was missing from the session as he continues his recovery.
Kamiński’s absence is significant after the Polish international scored during Benfica’s impressive 2-0 victory over AC Milan in their opening Europa League fixture.
Silva nevertheless retains considerable attacking quality, with Georgiy Sudakov, Dodi Lukebakio, Rafa Silva and Vangelis Pavlidis among those available.
The return of Bah is particularly welcome because it allows Benfica to retain a natural right-back instead of reshuffling their defence.
Celtic will still look to test his sharpness after the recent concern, but the Portuguese side’s most pressing selection issue now appears to have been resolved.