After Pedro Gonçalves, Rui Borges eyes another boost for derby | OneFootball

Fotis Ioannidis may join Pedro Gonçalves on the list of ‘recovered’ players for the Benfica vs Sporting match. The Lisbon derby, part of the 13th round of Liga Portugal Betclic, will take place on December 5th at the opponent’s ground and could have a crucial impact on the championship standings.

Last Friday, Rui Borges received great news ahead of the derby: Pedro Gonçalves has recovered from injury, and has already rejoined Sporting’s training sessions. After getting injured against Santa Clara, the Portuguese international will return against Estrela da Amadora, although he will be limited to 45 minutes on the field.

Sporting wants to reintegrate Pedro Gonçalves gradually, so the Estrela da Amadora match will serve only to ‘warm up the engines’ for the midfielder. The main goal is for him to be fully fit for Benfica vs Sporting, so he can be at his best for the Lisbon derby.

But Pedro Gonçalves may not be the only ‘reinforcement’ for this big Sporting match. Fotis Ioannidis, who was injured in the same game as Pote, is in a real race against time to recover by December 5th. The Greek forward is following a meticulous recovery plan, which he has adhered to rigorously, even cutting short his holidays and showing up at the Academy every day for treatment. In fact, the initial recovery window is expected to shorten, and according to the newspaper Record, the player may even return to training during the coming week.

Even with these positive updates at Alvalade, Rui Borges remains cautious. Salvador Blopa and Flávio Gonçalves, for example, have been training with the first team to make up for the absences in Sporting’s attack. The players will likely return to the B team eventually, but Sporting’s coach is ready to call them into action if necessary.

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