Carvalhal on Horta: “He didn’t play because he is suffering from a virus”

His absence Andre HortaBraga qualified for the Europa League playoffs, beating Servette 2-1 in the second leg (1-1 match in Portugal).

Carlos Carvalhal, who made his debut (in his second term) on the Arsenal bench, referred to the way his team achieved the victory-qualification, but also to the absence of the 28-year-old midfielder, who is his target Olympiakou.

“It really was an extremely difficult match. Not because the opponent had special quality, but he has something that is very important in football today. He was tough. They were hurt after losing 6-0 in the last game, that’s for sure, and they brought a lot of passion out on the pitch, which made it difficult for us in the first 15 minutes of a game where we needed a little time to settle down. Obviously they couldn’t do that for the whole match and over time we started to stabilize our game, play more with the ball down and move it better. We scored a goal just before half time. I think given the quality of the game, where we had better movement of the ball and they used more direct play, we deserved the lead at half time“, emphasized 58 year old technician.

Then, on the occasion of his injury Joao Moutinhoemphasized: “A negative event was undoubtedly Moutinho’s injury, but these things happen. We also hope that Andre Horta recovers as soon as possible, because he is suffering from a virus. He won’t be back on Sunday but we have plenty of players in the squad».