Benfica boss: Trubin benching was purely a rotation call

Marco Silva has dismissed any suggestion that Anatoliy Trubin was benched as a message. The Benfica manager left the Ukrainian goalkeeper on the bench for the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round against Hearts, handing the start to Samuel Soares in a 6-1 win. Silva was asked whether the decision carried a deeper meaning. He rejected the idea, explaining it was a routine technical call based on the team's ongoing rotation. Trubin had played in the first two games, while Soares featured against Villarreal and Trubin faced Flamengo. This time, Silva decided to go with Soares. Trubin has been Benfica's first-choice goalkeeper for the last three seasons, though the coaching staff has shared the workload this summer. Georgiy Sudakov also got minutes in the same game. The Ukrainian midfielder set up a goal for the first time since January.