“I believe that if we win everything to the end, we will go to the Champions League or the qualifying round, but the others will also have to lose points. We only play against Benfica and they already have a very big lead. FC Porto and Sp . Braga have to lose points. But we have to win our games. It will be very difficult, but I believe we can make it to the end. That is our focus, game by game. We can win the games and I believe that if we do that, we will at least go through to the qualifying round of the champions.” It is in this scenario that Rúben Amorim bets all his chips until the end of the championship… away from the battle for the title.
“I can say here that as a big club we can’t throw in the towel. I remember getting a lot of criticism for that last year. I believe we can’t recover until we get first place, I can do it don’t hide It’s about the people and my players. Last year we were six points behind FC Porto and I did not believe that FC Porto would lose points, I was criticized for that. The championship is a long way off, I would say reaching the title is almost impossiblereplied the lions’ carriage.
Sporting is in 4th place in the I Liga. To fulfill the plan to reach 2nd or 3rd place, it is necessary to start beating Santa Clara, on Saturday. “In the last few games they played with a line of five, the coach may change something after this break. It is a team that is going through a very difficult moment, but is certainly better prepared after the break. All opponents aim to earn points. We are unsure about the opponent, but we have to win. They will be able to play with five [defesas], with four, and that changes everything. We have a responsibility to win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Chermiti, Rodrigo Ribeiro, Paulinho are the attacking options that leave Rúben Amorim “satisfied” and without thinking about going to the market to hire another striker for next season. As for Bellerín, he is still injured and the future is uncertain (he could stay with Alvalade or leave for Betis at the end of the season). Luís Neto “has his approval” of Amorim to renew”for everything he has already given and for what he gives to the team”, not least because “the quality” of the players who play in his position must be taken into account (Coates, Gonçalo Inácio and St. just) .
The championship returns to the national teams stakes after the stop and the Leonine coach hopes it has been put to good use despite having to deal with some frustrations: “There are players who expected to go to the national team and didn’t make it, and we need to do that work and maintain the intensity. Everyone had playing time unlike the other times. This is beneficial, but some arrive more tired. The best will play this weekend (…) We still have many goals this season: Europa League, championship, we want to go to the Champions League. As for me, the break was beneficial. We’ll see tomorrow…”
The team has not conceded any goals in recent games and that is good according to Amorim, especially since it has scored and has not given any chances to opponents. In addition, the fluctuations of the exhibition are no longer noticeable: we are tactically, physically better prepared, the selection is more complete, more rotation can be done without so many quality fluctuations. They have to be fitter to play, otherwise they will play against others. The team has grown and is ready for every game.”
To the credit of Porro, who moved to Tottenham and the interest of tracks hiring him to replace Antonio Conte, who left the club last week, the coach said he would like to work with the left defender again: “I love the players more and they are friends to me, we talk a lot , just like me with Matheus [Nunes]For example. At the moment I see it difficult for us to work together again, and with Esgaio doing very well, it would be difficult for him to return to play for Sporting…”
Source: DN
