FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Benfica v Estrela - Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - August 24, 2024 Benfica's Renato Sanches in action with Estrela's Andre Luiz REUTERS/Rodrigo Antunes/File Photo
LISBON (Reuters) - Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches is due to return from injury in Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Feyenoord, his coach Bruno Lage said on the eve of the match.
The 27-year-old Sanches suffered a hamstring injury in training last month and missed Benfica’s last six matches, including their wins over Red Star Belgrade and Atletico Madrid in their opening two Champions League matches.
“Let's be very clear about this because we have nothing to hide. Renato has been doing a lot of work, we had predicted that he could return a little earlier, then a little later, but I can confirm that Renato will be involved for the game against Feyenoord,” the coach told a press conference on Tuesday.
Sanches, who was a teenage prodigy at Benfica, has struggled for consistency since his record transfer to Bayern Munich aged 18 in 2016.
He has since played for Swansea City, Lille, Paris St Germain and AS Roma. PSG loaned him to Benfica this season.
Lage said only defensive midfielder Leandro Barreiro would be missing from the Benfica lineup for the match. He has a thigh injury.
Benfica are on a run of six successive victories, with their 4-0 home win over Atletico earlier this month one of the surprise results of the early stages of the new-look Champions League competition.
“It is important to highlight that the work we did ahead of the Atletico match happens for every game," Lage said.
"First, we understand what we did well in our previous game and we study the opponent in detail. We define the strategy, practise it and look to instil confidence in the players. That's what we do for every game, be it in the championship, in the Champions League or in the cup.
“We are confident, we’ve prepared very well and our confidence comes from the fact that when we transmit our ideas to the players, they feel confident that they can play a good game,” added Lage, who returned to coach Benfica last month after Roger Schmidt was fired.
Lage was Wolverhampton Wanderers manager in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season and briefly into the next campaign, before losing his job after a run of poor results.
”My time in the Premier League gave me experience that I didn’t have before, but that’s part of any coach’s experience," he told reporters.
"The more experience we have, the more we will learn. The way I work, we learn a lot from the assessments we make of our opponents, but above all from our own team.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
