Rui Borges: Sporting defender out for Nacional clash, 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 that he does not want to risk any injury. Meanwhile, Gonçalo Inácio - who was in doubt - is called up.

"Debast, for now, is out. There is no problem, it's just managing what was his 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 as well," he stated.

The coach was questioned about the differences between Alisson and Souleymane Faye: "Everyone is different. Faye is different from Alisson, from Geny, from 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 won't look at a player just for the shot he has or because he scored two goals for the Champions... Alisson has enormous potential. We need 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 internal games, more than in others. Of course, we want them in all, but our focus is internal. And everyone needs to grow in some things. Alisson in decision-making in internal games, where he doesn't have as much space, in the Champions he has more space one-on-one... Faye is more about depth, 'picks' more depth without the ball. They are very dynamic players and that increases the quality of the group, of the team, and gives us other solutions."

The leader of the Alvalade Club denies that this is a decisive week: "The team is always with the responsibility there. It's not the most important, it's important. I understand. There's talk about advancing in the Cup, we're in 2nd place, but there are still many games. We have to have that responsibility of wanting to compete in the Cup semi-finals and wanting to fight for a trophy that we hold. Sporting is not satisfied with just a Cup, it is satisfied by fighting for everything. We are in all of them 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.