Rui Borges, Sporting’s coach, defined this Monday, March 2, as the main objective for the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals to achieve “an advantage” to take to the second game.
The classic, scheduled for this Tuesday, at 8:45 pm, in Alvalade, will be for the Leonine coach marked by “great respect between the two teams”, which occupy the first two places in the I League. “We know that there is always a strategic side, as is normal in big games, but sometimes we have to be more intelligent because the teams don’t expose themselves”, he said, showing himself convinced that it will be “a good game with two teams wanting to play”. In this sense, taking into account the strategic side, Rui Borges said he was not expecting many changes in the FC Porto team but admitted that “there are always some” surprises.
The Sporting coach admitted that for this game he has “few doubts” about how to face the duel with FC Porto and admitted the possibility of his team “being in a low block more often like in a Champions League game”.
On the other hand, he said that the Dragons are “the team that best defends in Portugal, knows how to play in a low block and is strong in quick attack”. And in this sense, he recalled that in the last game between the two teams, Sporting managed to “cancel out quite well” these qualities and “the opponent hardly created any opportunities” to score. “We’re going to have to be very committed to defend, against a team that is the same. With the ball we will have to be very united”he stressed.
Rui Borges left a request to the fans to “support” the team and, in this way, transmit this “strength to win this game”. What is certain is that the controversies that surrounded the last classic, at Dragão, in the I League, “will not change anything” with the way of approaching this match. “We really want to win to win a trophy that we won last season. That’s the motivation”he highlighted, not wanting to remember the way Sporting was received in the championship match.
With the game against Sp. Braga in the I Liga scheduled for next Saturday, Rui Borges assured that he is only thinking about the duel with FC Porto because Sporting can “take a big step towards defending a title” won last season.
The Sporting coach admitted that Greek striker Ioannidis “is in doubt” for this Portuguese Cup classic, revealing that the player’s physical condition “has to be assessed day by day”. What is certain is that Pedro Gonçalves and Zeno Debast “are ready to go to the game”.
Regarding the possibility of keeping João Virgínia as a starter in the Portuguese Cup games, Rui Borges preferred to hide the game: “I never said who the starter was. Between Rui Silva, Virgínia and Callai everyone has to be prepared. There is no starter, there are Sporting goalkeepers and anyone can play.”
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