João Pinto ahead of the visit to Cronenberg

While Alvalade vice-captain João Pinto is expecting a tough challenge from the German side Cronenberg in the CERS Cup, the Sporting roller hockey star highlighted the importance of a good result in the first-leg.

“We still don't know a lot about Cronenberg, but we know that they are a quality side and that it is hard to play at their place, especially because of the type of surface they play on. We will have to train on it before the match. It is a really soft court, but that can't act as an excuse for us. We want to win this and bring a good result back to Lisbon. We respect our opponent, but we are the holders of this trophy and we want to start off on the right foot on our way to winning it again", opened João Pinto, adding: "Playing in the CERS Cup again brings extra motivation. It is a great feeling, because of what we did last season."

Cronenberg-Sporting will get underway at 19h00GMT on Saturday the 12th of December, in the Wuppertal Arena, Germany.