Rui Borges on Braga’s attacking woes before Sporting clash | OneFootball

Rui Borges was present this Friday at the preview of Braga vs Sporting, a match for the 25th round of Liga Portugal Betclic, scheduled for 6:00 PM this Saturday, March 7. Asked about using Pote given the few options he has for the attack, since Luis Suárez seemed to leave the classic against Porto looking tired, the Lions’ coach admits that it will just be a matter of managing, even though he is weakened by Fotis Ioannidis’ unavailability.

"With Fotis unavailable, we end up sacrificing Luis a little more. Fortunately, we have managed to ease that effort, to help him recover a bit. He’s a player who, fortunately, isn’t very prone to injuries. He’s a workhorse, a ‘beast’. In that sense, we are very calm. We’ll light a candle so he doesn’t get hurt and knock on wood..." he began by saying.

Expanding on this, Rui Borges - who spoke about the rival - highlighted the importance of the number 89: "We would really like to have Fotis because we think he would be extremely important at this stage, even to help balance out Luis’ workload. But it is what it is. When Luis isn’t available, someone else will step up. Pote is fine, training normally, it was just a matter of management. Tomorrow he may or may not start, we’ll see."

When asked about the tight schedule between the trip to Minho and to northern Norway, Rui Borges pointed out: "Just like for Braga and for Bodo, we play on the fourth day. Of course there’s the fatigue from traveling, but everyone is prepared. It has a lot to do with the moment, with the perception of the team’s moment, of the season... And then the strategic part of each game."

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