Yes, it could have been much better! Sporting drew with Juventus (1-1), at Estádio José Alvalade, and was eliminated from the Europa League, after losing in Turin (1-0) last week. Portugal was thus without teams in European competitions – Benfica were eliminated by Inter in the Champions League – and vecchia signora thus advances to the semi-finals of the competition and plays with Sevilla, who eliminated Manchester United.
In the preview, Italian coach Massimiliano Allegri praised Chermiti, but the young striker started on the bench (and stayed there until the 80th minute). Even without Paulinho and at the risk of facing the need to have another striker in the squad again, Rúben Amorim entered the field without a striker and with Pedro Gonçalves in an attacking trident with Trincão and Marcus Edwards. Diomande kept his place in the center of defense as announced by the coach and Ugarte returned to midfield after a suspension in Turin.
There was no room for error and Sporting made a mistake in the first minute of the game, giving Di María the chance to warn of what was coming from Rabiot’s feet. Much confusion in the penalty area, after a corner kick, with the Frenchman efficiently shooting at Adán’s goal.
At a disadvantage, Sporting started to take the cost of the game and after a few minutes of trying to reach the Italian goal by playing inside, realized that playing outside was shaking the team. vecchia signora insisted and was successful. First Trincão hit the post, then Ugarte fell into the penalty area and Marcus Edwards took the opportunity to tie the game from 11 yards out. Not blaming the pressure, the Briton used his left foot to trick and beat Szczesny. There was one more to score to tie the score, Ugarte tried from afar and made the stands believe.
The return of the Uruguayan to the team made all the difference. Not only because of what he played, but also because of what prevented Di María from playing (he often played in the central quarter) and because he let Pedro Goncalves play without having to play in Ugarte. Confident, the Lions easily exchanged the ball and went on the defensive bianconera more than once in trouble. Diomande aimed his head at the target, but missed the turnaround by centimeters. The intention and the warning remained.
Ugarte did not arrive
Juve came back from half time determined to impose their game, but Sporting… or rather Ugarte didn’t let them in and it was still decisive for the Lions crossing. And to help Dusan Vlahovic has failed the unthinkable. With the goal wide open, the Serb headed… to the side.
It was time to suffer.
People also played on the bench and Allegri seemed to want to see which card his counterpart would play and then switch teams bianconera. Amorim had warned that he would not be tactically surprised by Allegri and seemed to know (in theory) that it was still too early to put Plan B into practice. Chermiti, the Lions’ only regular striker, remained on the bench… until the 80th minute.
Leos seemed to have more heart and will. Nuno Santos and Marcus Edwards made a mistake in the submission chapter, as well as Pedro Goncalves and Esgaio… driving the 43,000 Leonine fans to despair. The defense of vecchia signora he trembled and relieved as best he could. Sporting did not lower the intensity and with Chermiti already bringing a physical dimension to the attack, the scenario was not reversed and the Lions said goodbye to European competitions, the only competition that could save a season well short of the status it achieved with Ruben Amorim.
And they will be of little use my mistake that the coach insists on doing to pressure the team for the failures. And the structure also had to learn lessons from this, because if no one wins alone, the responsibility for the setbacks cannot lie solely with Amorim.
Source: DN
