“Will be a plus” – Coach Kombouaré happy to have Super Eagles star ready for historic Juventus clash

The Nigerian international is an influential member of the Yellow Submarines’ first team setup and could play a key role on Thursday

Nantes FC head coach Antoine Kombouaré has expressed his delight to have Super Eagles winger Moses Simon available for the club’s crucial meeting with Juventus.

Moses Simon has been included in the Nantes squad that will host Juventus at La Beaujoire in the second leg of the round of 16 Europa League clash.

The Nigerian winger, who only returned from a two-week injury layoff, featured for the last 13 minutes last Thursday as Nantes forced the Italian giants to a 1-1 at the Allianz Stadium in the first leg.

Simon, however, made the starting lineup at the weekend and even provided the assist to Nantes’ only goal in their 3-1 defeat at Lens.

Despite his fitness and quality, coach Kombouaré offers no guarantee that the Super Eagles forward will be involved from kickoff against the Old Lady.

But the French tactician is pleased to be able to call on the 27-year-old and two other stars returning from injury against Juventus.

What has been said? 

“The return of Ganago, Delort, and Moses gives us the possibility of more attacking choices,” Kombouaré said at his pre-match press conference (as per RMC).

“We will have more forces coming off the bench, and that will be a plus for us tomorrow (Thursday).”

Two-time Champions League winner Juventus remain the favourite to advance to the next round of the Europa League.

But Kombouaré is confident Nantes are well-prepared to cause an upset in front of their supporters.

The tactician added: “I live well preparing for these matches. It’s a great gift but a gift we gave ourselves to get to this stage of the competition. A Cup match is complicated because you must be present on D-Day. So far, we have been quite successful in high-stakes matches.

“We know that it will be very, very complicated against Juventus. We showed that the beauty of football is that anything is possible. No one saw us pass the Olympiakos, and we continued to climb the ladder.

“Tomorrow (Thursday), we don’t know, but I have confidence in my players. I know that they can do it. After doing it, it’s something else,” Kombouaré concluded.