Rui Borges: Suárez gives more than Ioannidis after Sporting v Alverca | OneFootball

Rui Borges explained the changes he made in the Sporting - Alverca match and took the opportunity to compare Luis Suárez and Fotis Ioannidis. The Lions faced the Ribatejan team again this Friday, October 31st, in the 10th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, and won 2-0.

Rui Borges was first asked about the difficulties in the match: "It was as expected from Alverca. A team with a low block, sometimes inside the area, sometimes with a line of five, other times six. At some point, we needed to be inspired and not let them connect."

"Their forward gave us work, but we were competent. Then we delayed the goal, allowing the game to enter a mode that suited Alverca better. If we had scored earlier, the game would have been different. But the team kept creating, kept trying, we needed more diagonal movements in space, short diagonals...", explained the Sporting coach.

Rui Borges continued: "In the second half, we started well, we wanted to score as early as possible. But Alverca, with a low block, didn't create anything. Then we tried to pair Fotis with Suárez, move Pote to the middle, who has better decision-making than Simões. Then we scored from a set piece, and in a moment of inspiration, which we lacked in the first half, Pote made it 2-0. But we managed to control, and the victory is more than deserved."

"It might have been a key moment because Fotis scored. He gives more depth to the attack than Luis, also in set pieces. But I felt he was still worn out from Tuesday. Pote also changed position, and that's where he scored because he had more space for it. And that was also the purpose, to try to have Pote unlock the game," concluded Rui Borges, attributing crucial importance to the substitutions he made in the match.

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