Debast injury setback confirmed, Sporting face a major headache | OneFootball

It is practically confirmed: Zeno Debast is only expected to return to Rui Borges' options in 2026, which creates several problems for Sporting at the end of this calendar year. Since Ousmane Diomande may be called up to the CAN, the lions are left with only two available central defenders.

The Belgian international sustained this left knee injury on October 22, in the victory against Marseille (2-1), for the Champions League. Although it was expected that the player would only be absent from the green and whites for just over a couple of weeks or at most a month, his recovery has been delayed.

Therefore, after the first prognosis from Sporting's Performance Unit, Debast was expected to return, at the latest, against Club Brugge - since on the day of the match against Marinhense it would be exactly one month. However, the 'number 6' may miss... seven more games; this after already missing six others.

Club Brugge (Champions, Wednesday), Estrela da Amadora (League, Sunday), Benfica (League, December 5th), Bayern Munich (Champions, December 9th), AVS (League, December 14th), Vitória de Guimarães (League, December 21st) and Rio Ave (League, December 28th) are the challenges for the lions until the end of the year. The first game of 2026 takes place on January 4th, at Gil Vicente's ground.

Another issue that greatly concerns Sporting is the possible call-up of Diomande to represent Ivory Coast between December and January. If that happens, Rui Borges will only be able to count on Gonçalo Inácio and Eduardo Quaresma for the position, in addition to Matheus Reis, who can be adapted to the left. If so, the lions' coach will have to recall Bruno Ramos or even look for another option in the winter transfer window.

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