Farioli warned ahead of the Cup: “Rotating the team isn’t disrespectful” | OneFootball

The injury absence of Jan Bednarek has opened up a spot in the center of FC Porto's defense, as they prepare to compete in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup, hosting Sintrense from the Campeonato de Portugal next Saturday (8:15 PM).

The 29-year-old Polish central defender was injured in the league match in Famalicão on November 9th. In his absence, Pablo Rosário was used in that position – an unexpected decision, especially considering that Dominik Prpić was on the bench.

"Pablo has played with me in that position at Nice. I have previously said that I am happy with Prpić's development, he has delivered good performances, showing a lot of personality for a 21-year-old player when he plays, and I am sure he will continue to help us," justified Francesco Farioli at the end of the match in Famalicão.

In an exclusive interview with the Desporto ao Minuto website, João Manuel Pinto praised the solutions for FC Porto's defensive sector, but also called for an opportunity for a homegrown player in this Saturday's match at Estádio do Dragão.

I don't believe in a revolution in the starting eleven, but there will be rotation. We are talking about a fourth-tier team (9th in Serie D), clearly accessible to the unbeaten leader of the Primeira Liga. Jakub Kiwior deserves a rest – he played all the minutes for Poland during the international break – as does Dominik Prpić, who was on duty for Croatia U21. This is the ideal game to launch someone from the academy. Gabriel Brás is a Portuguese U21 international and has been one of the few positive points of the B team, currently at the bottom of the Segunda Liga, highlighted one of the club's legends from Invicta.

The former FC Porto central defender, with four national titles to his name, urged Francesco Farioli not to make the same mistake of fielding the team almost at full strength, as happened in the previous round of the Portuguese Cup against Celoricense, also from the Campeonato de Portugal.

"It's not disgraceful to rotate the team, especially when there's a demanding schedule ahead. In that game, FC Porto fielded nine regular starters, who would have been useful to be fresh against Nottingham Forest [0-2 defeat]. After Sintrense, Nice is coming up. The context of the Europa League is different from the Champions League, where Portuguese teams face teams with huge budgets. In the Europa League, FC Porto, like any Portuguese team, has the conditions to reach a final. It's mandatory to beat Nice to boost confidence," he said.

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