Sporting must now reshuffle in midfield, with reports in Portugal suggesting Rui Borges is weighing up a key selection call to replace his captain.
Sporting CP will be without their captain Morten Hjulmand for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal, with the midfielder suspended and Rui Borges now weighing up how best to replace a player considered central to containing Arsenal’s strength in the middle of the pitch.
According to A BOLA, the main issue facing Borges before Tuesday’s game is which player he trusts to step into Hjulmand’s role against Arsenal’s midfield.
The most obvious solution after Friday’s 4-2 win over Santa Clara might have been Daniel Braganca, who marked his 150th appearance for Sporting’s first team with a goal after combining with Pedro Goncalves and Rafael Nel. Yet the report says Braganca is not currently the frontrunner to replace the suspended Dane, with Zeno Debast instead leading the race.
The reasoning is said to be largely physical. Braganca, who is smaller and weighs less, offers a different profile from Debast, who stands at 1.91m tall and is viewed as better equipped for the demands of a high-intensity game against Arsenal.
A BOLA’s argument is that Sporting will need controlled aggression and stamina to cope with a central area expected to include players such as Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Martin Zubimendi, and that helps explain why Debast is seen as the likelier starter in the deeper role.
That would still appear to leave Hidemasa Morita alongside him, with the report suggesting it is very unlikely Borges would sacrifice the Japanese midfielder’s tactical intelligence in a match where that quality will be so important.
There may be some doubt about Debast’s lack of experience in the holding role (and the 22-year-old has never played Arsenal), but the report argues that concern is eased by the way he already drops onto the ball in Sporting’s build-up, and by the fact that he spent much of his youth career at Anderlecht as a defensive midfielder before moving back into central defence at under-17 level.
Debast is also said to offer another weapon through his shooting from distance. His two goals for Sporting have both come in that fashion, including a strike against Lille in last season’s Champions League, as well as a goal against Gil Vicente in the Portuguese Cup in 2024/25.
He is still waiting for his first Sporting goal this season, but the report notes that he recently scored a fine goal for Belgium against the USA during the international break.
There is also a fitness element in Sporting’s thinking. A BOLA reports that immediately after the Santa Clara game, Borges went straight to check on Debast after the player felt discomfort in his thigh during an Azores counter-attack, something the paper takes as a clue to the coach’s plans for Arsenal.
Another option in Borges’s mind is said to be Joao Simoes, who has already started six times in the Champions League this season, although the paper adds that the youngster has lost momentum in recent weeks.