Two clear penalty appeals waved away in harsh defeat in Estádio da Luz

Sporting CP missed out in Estádio da Luz this Sunday evening (2-1), on Liga NOS matchday 13.

Jorge Jesus' side made an encouraging start to the encounter and in the space of two minutes (8' and 9') the first two chances materialised, both down the same flank. First it was Gelson who tried his luck after tricking his way into the box, but the youngster's shot lacked venom and was comfortably collected by the Benfica keeper, before Bas Dost came up an inch short of linking up with a pin point pass from Bryan Ruiz.

The game was actually brought to a temporary halt in the 15th minute, when referee Jorge Sousa was forced to ask for Sporting CP's technical area and a section of the pitch to be cleaned, due to the number of papers being thrown onto the pitch. In the second-half the same problem came up again, this time with the stadium announcer requesting the fans to refrain from throwing the papers from the evening's choreography onto the pitch.

Everything looked to be going to plan for a dominating Sporting CP, before referee Jorge Sousa failed to pick up on a handball by Pizzi after a clearance by Lindelof (24'). To add insult to injury, Salvio opened the scoring from the resulting attack. The evening's official again attracted the negative limelight five minutes before the break, this time by not punishing a handball Nélson Semedo.

The second-half got underway with a stinging shot against the post from Bas Dost (46') after a pass from Joel Campbell, who had been introduced at the break for Bruno César. Jesus was looking for an injection of pace and that is exactly what the Costa Rican brought, reflecting the work being done down the other flank by Gelson Martins. A minute after the Dutchman's attempt, Raul doubled Benfica's lead following some sloppy play in the area, before Sporting CP finally got a more than deserved goal (69') that in all honesty did little to help the fans forget the evening's refereeing.

Jorge Jesus expecting Adrien and Gelson to be available for Sunday's Lisbon derby

Jorge Jesus spoke with the press in a much awaited press conference this Saturday afternoon, ahead of a Lisbon derby that sees Sporting CP and SL Benfica currently separated by just two points at the top of Liga NOS.

"The derby is always special, independent of who the two teams are doing in the league. What the table looks like right now doesn't mean anything and both sides are under pressure. Both sides have to win. Honestly, it will be the team that controls the emotional part of the game that will be best positioned to win", opened the Sporting CP coach, before speaking about his options for the Liga NOS matchday 13 encounter: "We have had a few problems with a couple of the players since coming back from Poland, particularly Adrien and Gelson, who haven't trained since we arrived. We will see how the lads are tomorrow, we still still have a bit of time."

The press were understandably keen to provoke a reaction out of Jorge Jesus, with the Sporting CP coach having managed both Lisbon giants. However, the Alvalade boss played it cool: "Both of us lost in the Champions League and we both have the chance to be at the top of the league. We are both on the same level right now and this will be an intense game for both of us. We are confident in how we play and we know we can win the three points. The way this team has grown, both defensively and offensively, over the last 18 months means that we can deal with whatever Benfica throw at us."

To finish, Jesus highlighted the importance of the extra experience in his side, which is packed full of Euro 2016 winners: "Being a European champion is a sign of the individual quality of a player and that reflects in our team. If my memory serves be right, not a single one will be playing against us tomorrow. Each derby is a derby and this will be my 20th. It will be a really intense game and this is the kind of occasion that the players love."

Mauro Riquicho and João de Deus look to the positives of Saturday's encounter with FC Porto B

Mauro Riquicho was understandably frustrated with his side's loss to FC Porto B this weekend, but the Sporting B CP skipper was also happy with how his side approached the encounter.

"We did everything we could to come away with the result and we can be proud of that. The game didn't get off to a good start for us, but we fought hard to change it. Now all we can do it focus on our next match", said Riquicho, whose words were largely reflected by coach João de Deus' flash interview at the final whistle. "They asked me to take it easy when speaking with the press so that I wouldn't do any damage to the club, so all I want to do is thank the fans and my players, who did the best they could with 10 men", finished the Sporting CP B coach.

Ronaldo goal not enough to trigger a comeback against FC Porto B and some debatable refereeing

Sporting CP B lost 2-1 to FC Porto B this Saturday, in a match that was marred by some highly debatable refereeing decisions that included a straight red card for Matheus Pereira.

Expectations are always high when two off the Ledman LigaPro big hitters meet, but the encounter actually got off to a slow start. FC Porto B looked to take much of the early initiative, while João de Deus' side looked happy to sit back and take advantage of any slip ups. Chances were few and far between, so it was no surprise that the first goal of the afternoon had to wait until four minutes before half-time, when Areias finished following a skillful move by Fede Varela through the middle.

Despite the remarkably sparse number of opportunities, FC Porto B arguably deserved their lead, having taken most of the initiative. The change proved to be exactly what Sporting CP B needed and João de Deus' charges looked a lot more offensive, before a puzzling direct red card shown to Matheus Pereira for an alleged elbow on Inácio gave the visitor's a huge advantage.

Despite the setback, Sporting CP B responded superbly and with Ronaldo introduced in place of Leonardo Ruiz, the hosts took the fight to FC Porto B. However, the visitors managed to double their lead, completely against the run of play, when Ismael Díaz saw an attempted cross sneak in. Losing by two, Sporting CP B continued to battle and with fifteen minutes left on the clock Suahele headed in from an excellent pass from Pedro Delgado.

Sensing a comeback, Sporting CP B threw everything forward and Ronaldo Tavares broke into the FC Porto B area, only to be brought down by a foul that the referee waved away.

Lazar Markovic shares his thoughts on Sunday's Lisbon derby

Lazar Markovic was inevitably called upon to share his thoughts ahead of this Sunday's Lisbon derby, having played on both sides of the fence.

"We will be looking for the three points for our fans and to put us top of the league. Our coach knows what he is doing and we believe in ourselves", said the 22-year old Serbian in an interview with Sporting TV, before going on to reflect in his time at Alvalade so far: "It is a great club. I am really happy to be here and I will carry on doing by best."

Mauro Riquicho wants the three points from FC Porto B this weekend

Mauro Riquicho is back in action after a long spell sidelined with a serious leg injury. Looking ahead to the weekend's Ledman LigaPro action against FC Porto B, Riquicho affirmed: "We are ready, like we always are. Of course this is a special match, because it is against FC Porto B, but we will approach it in exactly the same way. They are a good side and they won the title last year, but we won't make it easy for them."

Sporting CP B coach João de Deus on the weekend's Ledman LigaPro action

Bruno de Carvalho speaks with So Foot

Speaking in an interview with the French sports publication ‘So Foot’, Bruno de Carvalho once again took aim at partnerships between clubs and external investment, making a damning evaluation of the club's loses to funds.

"When Sporting CP worked with funds, we lost more than 100 million euros. When we stopped doing business with them, we began making a profit. We had to take the malignant cells out of Sporting CP", affirmed the Alvalade president, going on to speak about the involvement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a process against funds: "Why do I have to face Doyen in the Court of Arbitration for Sport? What do they know about football contracts?"

To finish, Bruno de Carvalho reaffirmed his determination to revolutionise Portuguese football: "I want to see football as a sport that reflects the values of our society. How can we just sit back and relax when people think we are thieves and corrupt people? I have two children and honestly I don't want them to see their father like that."

Jorge Jesus on Wednesday's defeat in Poland

Jorge Jesus pointed the finger at his side's lack of efficiency in front of goal this Wednesday, as Sporting CP's European adventure for this season was brought to an end with a harsh loss in Poland.

“It wasn't because of the referee that we were eliminated. We took on a team who believed they could qualify and a team who had already scored against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. We knew they would be dangerous on the counter attack, but that is exactly what happened in the first-half. They took the lead and then defended it. We tried to equalise and we had chances to", opened Jesus in a conversation with the press at the final whistle, adding: "We took a lot of risks in the last ten minutes, especially when we were a man down. André could have done it for us, but it just wasn't to be. Legia knew what to do and how to play. We have been missing a bit of luck, but not today. We showed that we can do better, but we didn't score."

To finish, Jesus turned his attention to the coming Lisbon Derby: "Preparation for Benfica isn't made any harder because of this loss. Time is the main issue, as we will get into Lisbon at five in the morning and will be pretty much two days without training. Of course we spent ourselves emotionally tonight, but the two matches have nothing to do with each other."

Sporting miss out on European progress with loss in the Polish capital

A tough loss to swallow, particularly with the continuation of this season's European campaign dependent on getting a least a draw in the Polish capital. The powerful Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid inevitably led the pack at the final tally in Group F, while Legia Warsaw snatched 3rd place and the respective Europa League berth.

William Carvalho set the tone of the evening with a shout across the face of goal in the 5th minute, with what was the first of a wealth of shots finishing on the wrong side of the post. Legia's response was largely through quick counter attacks and some calculated play saw the Polish hosts take in a 1-0 lead at the break.

Sporting CP attempted to rally after the break, but a lack of an eye for goal and some fine defending from Arkadiusz Malarz kept Legia ahead. André came close with 15 minutes of the clock with a snap volley that would have looped in under the bar, had it not been for the home keeper tipping over. Sporting CP's best efforts were finally dashed in the 85th minute, when William Carvalho was given his marching orders.