No end to Rui Borges’ nightmare: injuries hit Sporting early | OneFootball

Sporting have once again been hit by fitness problems at the start of 2026/27. Although the season began just over a month ago, the Lions' medical report has already featured several names, with Ibrahima Ba the most recent case.

The centre-back felt pain in his right knee again and will miss the home game against Arouca. Ba had surgery on the meniscus in that same knee at the end of last season, while still at Famalicão, and arrived at Sporting with a specific recovery plan.

He only made his debut against Alverca, showing positive signs, but the defender then suffered trauma and ended up having a setback. For now, his return to Rui Borges' options is expected in mid-October, after the next international break.

Besides Ibrahima Ba, Sporting have already had Zeno Debast, Nuno Santos, Salvador Blopa, João Simões and Fotis Ioannidis on the medical report. The Greek forward suffered lower back pain that cost him his starting spot, while several of the other cases have carried over from last season.

Moncef Zekri has also been receiving special attention, although he is not exactly injured. The young full-back has a history of physical problems and is still following an individual training programme before being fully integrated into Sporting's options.

Frederico Varandas had already publicly defended the Lions' medical department amid the criticism. The President recalled that Sporting has been part of UEFA’s Injury Study since 2013 and assured that the squad’s number of injuries is below the average of teams competing in European competitions.

“It is not true that Sporting have more injuries than average,” he said at the time, adding that a large part of the problems recorded are traumatic rather than muscular. The official also highlighted the external recognition of the club’s medical and performance staff, even joking that there is “too much competence” at Alvalade.

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