Sporting star reveals Rodrigo Ribeiro asked to leave | OneFootball

Rui Borges gave, this Thursday, the pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Casa Pia. One of the topics was the departure of Rodrigo Ribeiro to Augsburg. The coach had words of praise for the forward who will play in Germany, emphasizing that it was the player's own wish to leave.

"I'm not worried. We respected his own wish, had a conversation with him, it was a situation that arose early, expectations were high, he had the ability to accept our idea, and ended up being a first-team player while playing matches for the B team. He grew a lot, I admire him. We did not expect him to leave. I wish him the best of luck in the world", commented the coach about the new Augsburg player.

Still on the same topic, Rui Borges took the opportunity to highlight the presence of Rafael Nel, a young player from the B team, who will be the direct alternative to Luis Suárez. "The departure of some is the opportunity for others. Nel has also had a great season in the 2nd League. We have a lot of youngsters with us who have helped, I believe in them a lot."

At the moment, the green and whites occupy second place in the National Championship table, with 42 points. Benfica is in third place, with 39, while Porto leads the competition with 49 points.

Sporting will be back on the pitch on Friday, January 16, against Casa Pia. The match, counting for the 18th round of Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team coached by Álvaro Pacheco, will be played at 8:15 pm, in Alvalade.

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