Rui Borges: Sporting defender out v Nacional, not Inácio | OneFootball

Zeno Debast will miss the match between Sporting and Nacional, in the 20th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. The confirmation was given by Rui Borges in the pre-match conference, stating that the player is not at 100% and they do not want to risk any injury. As for Gonçalo Inácio - who was in doubt - he is called up.

"Debast, for now, is out. There's no problem, it's just managing his previous injury. We don't want him at 70% or 80%, we want him at 100%. Inácio? He's called up. Ioannidis is still out. We could already count on Faye and he will be called up too," he stated.

The coach was questioned about the differences between Alisson and Souleymane Faye: "Everyone is different. Faye is different from Alisson, Geny, Luis Guilherme... We brought in two very promising players, more for the future than the present. They would be very important in the present, but we believe in the potential of both. Alisson's shot? I'm not going to look at a player just for his shot or because he scored two goals in the Champions... Alisson has enormous potential. We have to understand the context and what he needs to grow in some areas, especially internally."

Rui Borges explained the arrival of the reinforcements: "We signed the players not only for Champions games but also for the league. And they have to respond in domestic games, even more than in others. Of course, we want them in all, but our focus is internal. And everyone needs to grow in some areas. Alisson in decision-making in domestic games, where he doesn't have as much space, in the Champions he has more space one-on-one... Faye is more about depth, he 'picks' more depth without the ball. They are very dynamic players and that increases the quality of the group, the team, and gives us other solutions."

The leader of the Alvalade Club denies that this is a decisive week: "The team always has the responsibility there. It's not the most important, it's important. I understand. There's discussion about advancing in the Cup, we're in 2nd place, but there are still many games. We have to have this responsibility to want to compete in the Cup semi-finals and to want to fight for a trophy that we hold. Sporting is not happy with just a Cup, it's happy to fight for everything. We are in all competitions and that's why we will do everything. I understand it's an important week because we play with the 1st away, but it's a game like the others. First, we have to beat Nacional, then AVS, and only then will we think about Porto."

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