Jorge Jesus' pre-match press conference ahead of hosting of Marítimo

Jorge Jesus was with the press this Friday evening, to speak about Saturday's 20h45 hosting of Marítimo, in Estádio José Alvalade. Affirming that the weekend's encounter is sure to bring with it a fair share of difficulties, the Sporting coach also spoke about the end of the disciplinary process against Slimani and Teo Gutierrez's impressive form. 

"Marítimo are traditionally a hard team to face for anyone. They are a good team with a good coach and good players. We will be playing against a well motivated Marítimo team who will want to take points away from Alvalade. We will have to find a way to reach of objectives tomorrow", opened Jesus.

Asked about the feeling in the Sporting camp, the Alvalade coach proved happy with the support shown for his squad: "The fans have been extraordinary and they believe in the team and our quality to fight for the title. When I said we would be fighting for the title, but maybe most people didn't believe it. Now they do. Sporting is a huge club with a lot of fans and have everything needed to be a big club in every way."

Another of the themes touched on by Jesus was the conclusion of the disciplinary process against Islam Slimani and Teo Gutierrez's brilliant goal scoring form. "Two or three months ago I said that I didn't believe that Slimani would be punished. For me, this decision is just a bit off because it has come so late", said Jesus about the Algerian, before commenting on Teo: "Teo isn't a surprise for anyone. When he signed for us from what was a good side in Argentina, he was also playing a lot for Colombia, which is one of the best side's in the world in terms of strikers. They have Falcão, Jackson and Bacca, but Teo always played."