Rúben Amorim said this Wednesday that Sporting needs “some luck” and “talent” to beat Arsenal, leader in the Premier League, this Thursday (5.45 pm, SIC) in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League.
“We know the spirit of Arsenal, they are very hungry to win. Our team has improved and we are prepared for Arsenal. In these games the coach doesn’t have to worry about concentration because the players are already concentrated. We have a plan, we want to win, knowing the differences between the two teams,” said the Leonine coach, announcing that St. Juste is in the starting line-up, but cannot rely on the suspended Ugarte.
Amorim had already said that even if Sporting won the Europa League, it would not save the season. But yesterday he admitted that knocking out the English would be extra incentive to even dream of winning the race. “We wouldn’t be favourites, but football is the moment. Beating a team like Arsenal shows us that anything is possible. By knocking Arsenal out we would face the challenges with a different mindset.”
When asked if the Lions’ job could be made easier as coach Mikel Arteta is expected to make changes to the team, sparing some players, Amorim dismissed the idea. “The dynamics don’t change much. It’s a team with a really big routine, they’ve been playing for a long time. They’re never a weak team, they’re always strong. They rotate to have new players, they come from a league where the rotation is very intense.”
Sporting spent eight of the eleven qualifying matches with the English. But Arsenal
This Thursday (17.45, SIC) Sporting will meet an English team in the European competitions, and this time the opponent in the round of 16 of the Europa League is Arsenal, leader of the Premier League who is having a fantastic season. A very complicated mission, but the reality is that the history of clashes with the English, despite being negative, is not so bad. And there are examples from the past that lions can cling to.
There have been a total of 31 games in European competitions against the English since the 1963-64 season, with the Alvalade emblem winning 10, eight draws and 13 defeats. In terms of goals scored and goals conceded, the record is even more balanced: 37-38.
More important is the accounting in terms of knockout passes, with Sporting managing to beat England emblems in eight of the eleven matches. A saga that began in the 1963-64 season, with one of the most memorable matches in the club’s history, which, after being thrashed in England (4-1), turned the score in Lisbon, beating Manchester United by 5 . -0 ( !) in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup, with three goals from Oswaldo Silva. It also proves that the lions would win.
Manchester United were the first of eight English teams to knock Sporting out, seven of them in a row, since 1973/74, the season in which the Lions knocked out Sunderland (Cupper Cup). This was followed by Southampton (1981/82, UEFA Cup), Middlesbrough and Newcastle (2004/05, UEFA Cup), when the Lions reached the final of the competition, Bolton (2008/08, UEFA Cup), Everton (2009/10, Europa League) and Manchester City (2011/12, Europa League).
City was exactly the last English emblem to be eliminated by Sporting in the round of 16 of the Europa League. Sporting won 1-0 at Alvalade in the first leg, with Xandão’s famous back-heel goal, and then, despite the 3-2 defeat in England, went through due to the number of away goals. The citizens were coached by Roberto Mancini at the time.
Source: DN
