The coach previews the Champions League game

The UEFA Champions League returns to the Estádio José Alvalade on Wednesday, as Sporting Clube de Portugal host French side Olympique de Marseille on Matchday 3. On the eve of the European clash, coach Rui Borges held a pre-match press conference.

Olympique de Marseille's good form
"It has to motivate us somehow. If we want to be in this competition and face the best, so we have to face them at their best, regardless of the difficulties they will certainly cause us. We respect them for the quality of their coach, whom I'm learning from and watching to adapt our approach, and for their good players. They're in good form, they're top of the French league, with the most goals scored and the fewest conceded, and they have the highest percentage of passes completed. You can clearly see the quality in that side. They're a team that like to have the ball, but in the right moments they're very direct, fast, and have a great ability to score."

Sporting CP's current situation
"Honestly, I don't quite understand why people are talking about a bad run... We had a bad game against SC Braga and a bad half against GD Estoril Praia, but before that, they were talking about our quality of play and attacking ability. We're in second place in Liga Portugal, three points off the top spot, and we went through in the Taça de Portugal. The team understand what they have to do and that's been evident since the beginning of the season, even when we lost the Supertaça or lost to FC Porto at home. Our dynamic and individual and collective team quality are quite evident. This ‘bad run’ doesn’t exist. At the end of the game against Paços de Ferreira, I felt enormous affection from our fans. The cup games are the ones that stress me out the most."

His approach to the match Against OM
"The choices have to do with the game strategy, and as the game progresses, we'll understand the impact of having played extra time in the previous match. Despite everything, because it's the Champions League, I think the team will be more 'switched on.’ That's natural. Squad management will have to be based on how the game unfolds."

The importance of home advantage in the Champions League
“I believe it’s there, in part, but in these games there are no favourites. Of course, in the end, we look at home games, where we have that extra boost from our fans. Every game has its own story, and we go out there to win, whether home or away, knowing we'll face great teams.”

Morten Hjulmand
“He's our leader and our captain. He's not always at his best, but he's always a very important player for our team. He is demanding of his teammates and himself.”

Whether to expect an OM similar to Farioli's FC Porto
“No, they will be different. I think De Zerbi is an inspiration to everyone. You can see that FC Porto have traits from De Zerbi, but I think OM have more variability in their play and a different way of controlling possession. I think it will be a very different game from that against FC Porto.”