Sporting CP slip to 4-2 defeat in third friendly in Switzerland

Jorge Jesus kept his team in his preferred 4x4x2 formation for this Saturday's encounter with Zenit and with Bruno César down the left and Gelson Martins down the right, Sporting looked terrorising going forward in the opening exchanges. Hernán Barcos proved a constant nuisance for the Zenit defence, with Alan Ruiz in support with some incisive passing and shots from range. Petrovic sat at the base of midfield, behind Bryan Ruiz (who was again given the captain's armband). Jesus repeated his defensive selection that opened against Monaco, with Schelotto, Coates, Rúben Semedo and Marvin Zeegelaar in front of Azbe Jug.

Although Sporting looked by far the most threatening early on, it was Zenit, who already had six pre-season matches under their belts, who took the lead after just seven minutes when Javi Garcia escaped Coates marking and headed in from a corner. The lead for Mircea Lucescu's side lasted just two minutes, thanks to a darting run by Gelson Martins and a final pass for Bruno César to net the equaliser.

Just as the team from Alvalade were again cranking up the pressure, Zenit made the most of two defensive blunders in as many minutes to go 3-1 ahead. First it was Zhirkov who struck with an effort that Azbe Jug should have done better to stop, before Rúben Semedo approached a header wrong and ended up setting Kerzhakov through on goal. There was still time before the break however for Gelson Martins to get a much deserved goal, after a decent pass from Barcos.

The second-half brought with it the expected slowing of the pace, with not even a string of Sporting substitutions (Alan Ruiz, Matheus Pereira, Petrovic and Gelson Martins for Daniel Podence, Bruno César, Palhinha AND Iuri Medeiros). able to inject any energy into the action. Some good team play did see Sporting edge back up the pitch, but the first chance was made to wait until the 71st minute, when Podence had a chance to get a shot away attempted to set up Slimani, and the opportunity fizzled out. Five minutes from time, Djordjevic made it 4-2 for Zenit.

Sporting CP to face Russians in Switzerland

Building on the friendlies against Monaco and Stade Nyonnais during the week, Jorge Jesus' side will face a testing encounter against Zenit this Saturday evening.

The Sporting coach had his squad out on the training pitch in the morning, putting the final touches to the 19h00CET kick-off, in Stade de Chailly, Montreux.

João Pereira happy with Sporting's first pre-season win

João Pereira, who was rested for Wednesday's encounter against Monaco, was given a start against Nyonnais this Thursday and the wing-back obliged with Sporting's second goal in a 3-1 win.

“It is always good to win in the pre-season and it is always better to fix mistakes by winning instead of losing. In the first-half I thought we played well, although we missed a few opportunities. In the second-half we weren't as good, but we won and we can still improve a lot", said Pereira in a post-match interview, adding: "We have 29 players here in the squad and any one of us could be in the team. We are fighting for places and the more competition, the better. I am here to fight for my place as well and then the coach will decide. The new players are taking things on board bit by bit and we will improve."

Sporting CP tally first pre-season win with goals from Alan Ruiz, João Pereira and Jefferson

Jorge Jesus side claimed their first pre-season scalp this Thursday afternoon, with a 3-1 win against Nyonnais secured by a team totally different to the XI who started against Monaco a day earlier.

The first-half actually started well for Nyonnais, with Sporting giving up a little too much space in th area, however Stojkovic was able to make a stop. From then on it was all one-way traffic controlled by the team from Alvalade. Sporting's first chance came through a stroke of creativity from Aquilani, when the Italian picked out Alan Ruiz for a shot that was deflected wide. Next up it as Bruno César, brought down for a penalty that Alan Ruiz converted on for his first goal in a Sporting shirt.

Leading on the scoreboard, Jesus' side settled and more chances naturally followed. A string of good play down the wing between Bruno César and Jefferson create another chance for the latter, before Aquilani fired off target after a counter-attack led by Alan Ruiz. A deserved second goal came after a move down the right flank, rounded off by a pass from Alan Ruiz to release João Pereira for the finish.

Their was still time for another strike before the break. After Spalvis wasted a handful of chances to write his own name on the scoresheet, Jefferson netted a penalty to make it 3-0.

As would be largely expected at this stage of the season, the second-half saw the pace slow and the Swiss side made the most of it to pull a goal back through Besnik almost immediately after the restart. Sporting responded with a couple of chances of their own, first with Iuri Medeiros putting a shot painfully wide and later with Barcos denied by the keeper.

Sporting will next be in action at 18h00GMT on Saturday, against Zenit.

Statement regarding the loan of Heldon

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol SAD has reached an agreement with Rio Ave Futebol Clube – Futebol SDUQ, Lda. for the loan of the player Heldon for the 2016/17 season, with no option for a permanent transfer.

Sporting SAD wishes Heldon the best of professional and personal success.

Fans with the chance to see their stars in training this weekend

Sporting Clube de Portugal notes that Sunday the 17th of June's training session in Switzerland will be open to the public.

The session will be held in the Juan Antonio Samaranch Stadium, Lausanne, at 09h00CET.

Bryan Ruiz reflects on Wednesday's encounter with Monaco and the use of the captain's armband

Their are plenty of new faces in Alvalade this season, but the pre-season also saw another debut which has been a long time in the making, with Bryan Ruiz given the captain's armband for Sporting's encounter with Monaco on Wednesday night.

"It is a pleasure for me", opened the Costa Rican, before going on to speak about the match itself and the fans: "We did well in the first-half. Of course we were a bit tired after the break and our opponent made the most of that. We will get better as we play more matches, but I would say we deserved more. I want to say thank you to the fans. It is really nice see the fans travel around Europe with us and I hope that carries on."

Jorge Jesus on Sporting's pre-season opener against Monaco

Despite Sporting's 4-1 loss to Monaco this week, Jorge Jesus saw plenty of positives in his squad's performance.

"The result always means something of course, but the most important thing is that the players had to do more than they are ready to at this stage of the pre-season. We did some positive things and the younger lads confirmed the hope we have in them, especially in the first 45 minutes", opened Jesus, referring to the performances of Gelson Martins, Matheus Pereira and Daniel Podence

Jesus finished with a word on the squad as a whole and the choice of the Juan Antonio Samaranch Stadium in Lausanne: "All of the lads did well going forward I thought. In defence we didn't so well, because we couldn't control Monaco's forwards. The location was really well thought out. A lot of Portuguese immigrants live in Switzerland and it is important for the players to be exposed to the fans."

Sporting CP miss out in fiirst pre-season friendly in Switzerland

It was always going to be difficult to keep up with the pace of a Monaco side who are well advanced in their pre-season preparations and it was the pace of the action that made the difference on Wednesday evening, despite a well balanced first-half.

Jorge Jesus opted to maintain the same defensive quartet who closed out last season – Sebastian Coates, Rúben Semedo, Schelotto and Zeegelaar –, while Azbe Jug was handed a start in goal. Sporting's attack was trusted to the young trio of Matheus Pereira, Gelson Martins and Daniel Podence, in support of Hernán Barcos. In the midfield, Petrovic made his debut, while Bryan Ruiz was handed the captain's armband.

Sporting got the game off to an exciting start, with the young trio up front and down the wings combining well. That was precisely how the first chance materialised, when Matheus Pereira carried play down the left flank in the 10th minute and linked up with Daniel Podence down the middle. The ball ended up at Gelson's feet, but the youngster was unable to find the target with hsi shot across the face of goal. Despite the early Alvalade dominance, it was Monaco who took the lead, when Gemain converted on a cross from Mandy in the 12th minute.

The goal did little to shake Sporting's confidence, as Podence led another wave of attacks before finally getting a deserved goal. Hernán Barcos did well to pick out the young forward, who kept his cool in front of Badiashile to level the scoreboard. However, Monaco took just seconds to reply, when Falcão restored the lead following an attack down the left.

Matheus Pereira had a chance before the break with a free-kick that was just inches off the mark, before pulling an instinctive save out of Badiashile in the 36th minute following a corner whipped in by Bryan Ruiz.

Jesus sent his squad out unchanged after the break and they could have equalised after just a minute of action, but Bryan Ruiz's cheeky chipped effort finished just wide after a superb pass from Matheus.

The Sporting coach rang the changes as the half progressed, bringing on Palhinha, Teo, Iuri Medeiros, Bruno César and Slimani for Petrovic, Podence, Matheus Pereira, Gelson Martins and Hernán Barcos, but the alteration had barely bedded in when Monaco extended their lead from a quick break and a lethal pass of Dirar, rounded off by the movement of Falcão (66’).

Monaco pushed the pace in the closing stages and Guido Carrillo made it 4-1 with eight minutes left to play.

Aquilani and Jefferson were also given a run out in place of Bryan Ruiz and Zeegelaar.

Spalvis looking to shine in pre-season

Sporting CP are already in Switzerland under the watchful eye of Jorge Jesus, with the Alvalade new faces having the chance to attract attention head of the coming campaign.

"Everything is great. This is a new experience for me and I think it is going well. Not all of the players can speak English, but they are all good lads and the squad is great. We don't feel isolated at all, we are part of a team", said Spalvis in an interview this Tuesday afternoon.

For the 21-year old Lithuanian, pre-season is a chance to earn a place in the squad: "Pre-season is always difficult, especially at the start. We have four hard games coming up and I am looking forward to getting started."