Moura dos Santos: Rui Borges’ woes ahead of Sporting v Vitória SC | OneFootball

Manuel Moura dos Santos believes that Sporting's elimination in the semi-final of the League Cup against Vitória de Guimarães was decisively marked by the forced exit of Eduardo Quaresma. In an opinion article published in the newspaper O Jogo, the columnist argues that, if it weren't for the traumatic injury of the young central defender, the outcome of the match would have been different, also pointing a finger at Rômulo.

In his analysis of the match, Manuel Moura dos Santos admits that the start of 2026 was “± bad” for the lions, pointing out the defeat as a negative aspect but highlighting the adverse circumstances in which the team presented itself. “Sporting, without having put on a brilliant performance, created more than enough offensive play to win the game,” he writes, emphasizing the number of opportunities created and the performance of the Guimarães goalkeeper.

For the well-known supporter of the lions, the offensive inefficiency explains only part of the result. The decisive factor was the exit of Eduardo Quaresma, who suffered a facial injury. “This exit was fatal for my club's aspirations,” he states, criticizing the response found on the bench: “The player who came in, Rômulo, was not up to the responsibility assigned.”

Manuel Moura dos Santos goes further and questions the coach's options to make up for the defender's absence: “I don't understand why Rui Borges didn't move Hjulmand back to central defense, because doing worse than Rômulo did would be difficult,” he writes, considering that the young midfielder is not yet ready to be part of the main eleven.

The conviction of the lion supporter is clear regarding the impact of Quaresma's injury on the final result: “I am convinced that with Eduardo Quaresma on the field, we would have reached the League Cup final,” he states, in one of the most emphatic passages of the text.

Despite the elimination, Manuel Moura dos Santos refuses to place the performances of Sporting and Benfica in the competition on the same level, highlighting clear differences in the teams' attitude and performance. “I found it curious that the analysis of the two Lisbon clubs' games was put on the same scale,” he writes, adding that if Sporting had played like Benfica against Braga, he would have been much more critical.

The columnist acknowledges that the lions' performance fell short of what was required: “Did I like the performance? No. I think Sporting had the obligation to win that game,” he admits, yet praising the coach's attitude after the game. “I didn't see Rui Borges at the press conference tearing apart the team's performance, shifting the blame.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.