Rui Borges clarifies Pote injury ahead of Sporting - AFS | OneFootball

A clarification was requested from Rui Borges regarding Pote's injury, on the sidelines of the preview between Sporting and AFS. The Lions' coach spoke about the situation and made it clear that the 'number 8' was fit to play in the derby against Benfica - although now he might be out until 2026.

"He was fit to play. So much so that he played. Otherwise, we wouldn't have taken that risk. We have shown very well how we manage players. Fortunately, we have had few muscle injuries. Pedro, and I had said this before the game, felt discomfort during training and ended up with a muscle injury. I can't say how long it will be because I'm not part of the medical team. What I can say is that he won't be able to contribute in the upcoming games. He will contribute in other ways," the Sporting coach began by saying.

When asked about the origin of so many of Pote's injuries, Rui Borges continued his explanation: "That's science, I can't answer that... He was fine in training and I've already answered that. He felt discomfort in the last move of the training, I can't be more specific. Sometimes it's the physiology of the athletes and we know that. In what we do, we do it very well. I wish no one had injuries, but that's impossible. It has to do with genetics at times... We control accumulated fatigue and we feel that. That's why I say the work is very well done. But we can't control everything. Is it the same as at the beginning of November? Yes, it's muscular."

This season, wearing the Sporting jersey, Pedro Gonçalves - valued at 30 million euros - has already played 19 games: 13 for Liga Portugal, four for the Champions League, one for the Portuguese Cup, and another for the Super Cup. During the 1,484 minutes he was used, the 'number 8' of the Lions has already scored 10 goals and made six assists.

Sporting returns to the field next Saturday, December 13, against AVS. The match, counting for the 14th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team led by João Pedro Sousa, will be played at Estádio José Alvalade, at 8:30 PM.

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