Rui Borges still hopeful key starter will feature in Sporting v Porto clash

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·26 de agosto de 2025

Rui Borges still hopeful key starter will feature in Sporting v Porto clash

Rui Borges, coach of Sporting, saw the team start the season with some injuries, but he believes in a comeback for the Porto match.

Rui Borges still hopes that Ousmane Diomande will recover in time to start in the Sporting - Porto match. Lions and dragons face each other next Saturday, August 30th, in the first classic of the season, counting for the fourth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic.

Vídeos OneFootball

The Sporting team returned to training this Tuesday, in preparation for the home match against Porto, but without any good news for Rui Borges: Ousmane Diomande, Nuno Santos, Maxi Araújo, Daniel Bragança, and Hidemasa Morita are still under the care of the Performance Unit, recovering from their respective injuries.

However, there is a standout case among the five: Sporting's structure maintains hope that the Ivorian central defender can recover in time for the game against Porto, as he started the season as an undisputed starter for Rui Borges, paired with Gonçalo Inácio.

In this regard, the Performance Unit is working against the clock to try to recover Ousmane Diomande in time for this game, important to maintain the tremendous start that the lions have had in the 2025/26 season. It should be remembered that the defender injured the back of his right thigh in the first round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, which ended with a green and white victory against Casa Pia.

Ousmane Diomande has been replaced by Zeno Debast in the lions' defensive line. The Belgian has been performing well, but there is a factor that worries Rui Borges: defensive set-pieces, where the Ivorian is usually a crucial element. It should be noted that, in Sporting's last match against Nacional, the green and white team conceded a goal from a corner kick and was close to conceding in similar situations.

Check out this video of Ousmane Diomande's recovery:

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