Cosme Machado for Liga NOS matchday 20

Cosme Machado, 40, from the Braga Football Association, has been named to referee Sporting's hosting of Académica this weekend, on Liga NOS matchday 20.

Alfredo Braga and José Gomes will act as linesmen.

This will be Machado's second match in charge of a Sporting encounter this season, after the matchday 10 trip to Arouca.

Sporting-Académica will get underway on Saturday at 20h45, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Diogo Salomão

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol SAD has reached an agreement with RCD Mallorca for the permanent transfer of the athlete Diogo Salomão, with Sporting SAD having a 10% sell-on clause.

Sporting SAD wishes Diogo Salomão the best of personal and professional success.

Sebastián Coates

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Sunderland AFC for the loan of the player Sebastián Coates, with Sporting SAD having an option to purchase the player for 5,000,000.00€.

Sporting SAD wishes Sebastián Coates the best of professional and personal success.

Jorge Jesus on his side's win in Arouca

Jorge Jesus used Tuesday's League Cup encounter to give a run out to his squad this Tuesday night, in Sporting's 1-0 win over Arouca.

“We can take two positives away from this to be honest. The win and the fact that some young players came on. You can train all you want, but it is matches that give confidence and fitness to get us ready for the league run in. We managed the squad in Portimão and that allowed us to go to Paços de Ferreira and push really hard. We wanted to be in the semi-final of this competition and we did everything we could to do that", said the Sporting coach at the final whistle, adding: "The League Cup is an important competition which I have already won five times.Getting into the final is really nice, but most teams are obviously focused on the league."

To finish, Jorge Jesus also tackled a question on the transfer window: "I am not going to speculate. I said we wanted a defender and our priority was the return of Ruben Semedo. We reached a deal with V. Setúbal and he trained at the Academy today."

Sporting win but finish second in League Cup Group C

Sporting claimed the win in Arouca this Tuesday night, but were left to settle for 2nd place in League Cup Group C after Portimonense 3-2 in in Paços de Ferreira. Marvin was on target for the team from Alvalade, with 10 minutes left on the clock.

As promised in his pre-match press conference, Jorge Jesus rang the changes for the encounter and also handed a debut to Azbe Jug in the Sporting goal.

With less playing time together, Arouca were able to establish a foothold early on and Walter was able to get a shot off after beating Paulo Oliveira at the sprint, but the final product ended up wide of the post. Another chance quickly followed for the hosts, this time with Gegé heading over the target following a corner. Some insecurity in the passing game also saw Arouca claw back possession and break forward on occasions and Sporting's first clean chance on goal was made to wait until the quarter of an hour mark, when Paulo Oliveira turned a Nildo free-kick wide.

The anticipated reaction from Jorge Jesus' side really clicked into gear in the 19th minute, when a deep cross from Tanaka picked out André Martins at the far post, but the stand-in captain was unable to find the back of the net. The attack was the signal for a spell of pressing football from the visitors and brilliant bit of play saw Matheus Pereira spray a pass long to Tanaka, who controlled well and set up Montero, but the Colombian was off target. With 30 minutes on the clock the deadlock persisted, while Paços de Ferreira took the lead in Mata Real to begin to tip goal difference in Sporting's favour.

With Arouca mathematically unable to secure a place in the next round of the League Cup and Sporting looking uninspired, 0-0 persisted at the break, while Paços de Ferreira were leading Portimonense 2-1.

Jorge Jesus brough Gelson Martins and Carlos Mané into the action at the start of the second-half for André Martins and Matheus Pereira and it seemed to inject new urgency into the Sporting attack. Chances soon began to follow, first from Montero with a stinging effort that ended up wide, before Carlos Mané followed suit. The pressure on the Arouca goal began to build and on 58 minutes Aquilani had what was arguably Sporting's best chance of the night, but the Italian was also off target.

Sporting had done more than enough to take the lead, but while opportunities were in good supply, clinical finishing was lacking. Paulo Oliveira skimmed the paint off the outside of the post with a header in the 65th minute and on five minutes later the Alvalade defender again game close. Aquilani followed with a free-kick over the bar and Mané saw a shot deflected wide with a last ditch challenge, before Marvin finally opened the scoring ten minutes from time with a rebound after Rui Sacramento had denied Monteero.

Despite the win, Sporting's League Cup campaign comes to an end this season, with Portimonense topping the group with three wins out of three.

Jorge Jesus includes 19 for League Cup showdown

Jorge Jesus has included 19 players in his squad for League Cup Group C matchday 3 against Arouca:

Goalkeepers: Marcelo Boeck and Azbe Jug

Defenders: João Pereira, Ricardo Esgaio, Schelotto, Paulo Oliveira, Ewerton, Domingos Duarte and Marvin

Midfielders: Aquilani e André Martins

Forwards: Carlos Mané, Gelson Martins, Dramé, Daniel Podence, Matheus Pereira, Cristian Ponde, Montero and Tanaka

Arouca-Sporting will get underway at 18h30 on Tuesday, in the Arouca Municipal Stadium.

Jorge Jesus ahead of tomorrow's visit to Arouca

O Sporting will travel to Arouca tomorrow for a 18h30 kick off, in League Cup Group C. Although mathematically possible to secure a place in the next round, Sporting require Portimonense to lose in Paços de Ferreira and for goal difference to turn in favour.

“We know what happens depends on other results and we have to get a better goal different than Portimonense, so of course we want to win. In Portimão we didn't want to put this match at risk. We still have a chance and we are going to take it. I will included four or five players from the B team, who will bring a bit of balance", affirmed Jorge Jesus in an exclusive interview with Sporting TV, adding: "I don't know what team Arouca will use, because they have no chance of getting into the next round. It is going to be a competitive match, but it definitely won't be Arouca's best team because they have other priorities. What matters is that we at least win, then we will see what happens with Portimonense."

Jorge Jesus went on to explain further his inclusion of players from Sporting B, including Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira: "This is their time to adapt to how we play. It will help them be ready in the future. They are still young lads and I believe a lot of them can go on to do what Gelson and Matheus are doing. Honestly I didn't know a lot about Sporting's youth players, although I knew some from the national team, like Gelson for example. I was surprised to come across players like Gelson and Matheus, with such quality and potential to play for Sporting."

Asked about Adrien and Gelson Martins' time with the club doctors this week, Jesus proved untroubled. "Adrien doesn't look too bad, but Gelson is a bit different. He is coming on, but we have been limiting his playing time because he isn't fully ready yet", explained Jesus, going on to add a word on Slimani's impervious form: "He has a lot of potential and we want to help him. We is doing a great job individually and collectively and we believe in him."

The January transfer window is still wide open and there has been no shortage of links with Alvalade, however Jesus finished with a word of praise for his currently available squad: "We can work more with the squad as time goes on and get more quality out of the lads. The players have come on really quickly in six months and they deserve praise for that. It will be a hard run in at the end of the season and we will have to be ready. When I see we, I don't only mean the players. I mean everybody, because our rivals are going to try and unsteady us."

Sales already underway

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 20, which sees Sporting host Académica, are on sale as follows:

STAND A

Central – 20€ for Members and 30€ for fans
Lateral – 15€ for Members and 25€ for fans
Goal End – 10€ for Members and 20€ for fans
Under-23/Senior – 10€ for Members

STAND B

Central – 15€ for Members and 20€ for fans
Lateral – 10€ for Members and 15€ for fans
Goal End – 7€ for Members and 12€ for fans
Under-23/ Senior – 7€ for Members
Anti-Crisis – 5€ for Members
Under-11 – 3,5€ for Members

SALES POINTS

ESTÁDIO JOSÉ ALVALADE TICKET OFFICES

- 25th to 29th of January: 10h to 20h

- 30th of January: from 10h until half-time

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
- Payment methods: Multibanco, VISA and Mastercard
- Multibanco option only available up until 24 hours before kick off
- PDF ticket: delivered to your email address (can be printed in black and white on A4)

STADIUM REGULATIONS

- Entry prohibited to children under the age of 3

- Children over the age of 3 (inclusive) require a ticket

- Under-11 Member ticket: age of 3 (inclusive) up to the age of 11 and valid for any sector of the stand

- Under-23 Member ticket: age of 11 (inclusive) up to the age of 23 and with different prices for stand A and B

- Senior Member ticket: from the age of 65 (inclusive) with different prices for stand A and B

- Non-renewed Special Seats have preference up to 72 hours before kick off

- Fan tickets purchase on matchday subject to a €3 tax

- Match included in all 2015/2016 Gamebox packages

- Member fee applicable: December 2015
 

FAMILY TICKET

- Available for all sectors in North Goal End - Stand A and B

- Family of 3 (Member + Adult + Under-11): 21€

- Family of 4 (Member + Adult + Under-23 + Under-11): 25€

- Additional tickets for Family of 4 (maximum of 2): Adult (10€) and Under-23 (5€)

- Members with a Gamebox can make use of this promotion (replacing their normal seats)

- Category B Members can only purchase this product for North Goal End - Stand B

ANTI-CRISIS TICKET

- Sector A9 + A11 (limited to 723 seats) special price of 5€

- Exclusive for Members with fees up to date

Jorge Jesus on his side's showing in Paços de Ferreira

Speaking with the press at the final whistle on Saturday night, Jorge Jesus highlighted the quality of his side's performance in securing an expectedly tough three points.

“The match was as we expected it to be. We thought it would be hard and it was. We only came away winners tonight because we played really well against a well disciplined team. We were winning at half-time and I thought we really started to dominate in the last fifteen minutes of the first-half. In the second-half we tried to do pretty much the same thing and we scored a second. Paços pulled one back, but we responded and steadied the ship. You only win here if you play quality football", said Jesus, adding that he was unaware of Benfica's result at kick off: "I didn't know and I didn't want to know. When I go to play all I think about is my team. That is what we all did and we don't take decisions based on what our rivals are doing."

The Sporting boss went on to highlight the performances of the in-form Slimani, Adrien and João Mário: "Slimani had a good game and he is coming along really well in terms of individual technical quality. I have worked a lot with him individually and he believes in himself. He is a great character to work with. He always believes we can win and he really has a champion's mentality. As for Adrien, I took him off because he was holding his thigh a bit, but it looks like it was just a knock. He hardly trained at all this week, but I used him and he carried the team forward in the first-half. He is having a great season. João Mário has adapted really well to oru playing style. He isn't a player who covers a lot of ground, but he plays like Bryan Ruiz and that allows us to use two players who can defend and attack really well. That gives a lot of freedom to players around him and makes it hard to mark us up."

Bruno César on his side's 3-1 win in Paços de Ferreira

After scoring twice in Setúbal on his debut, Bruno César was once again on the scoresheet this weekend, this time in the 3-1 win against Paços de Ferreira.

“We knew it would be a hard game. We started well and pressed hard. We were dominating and thankfully I was able to score. Starting so strong and playing well set us up well for the rest of the game. Paços have really good players and we knew we had to start strong", said the Brazilian at the final whistle, adding a word on the Liga NOS title chase: "We aren't thinking about what our opponents are doing. We want to win each game as it comes, step by step. Everything is in our hands. We have a really good squad and we started the second half of the season with a two-point lead. Now we have to keep our feet on the ground."

To finish, César reflected on what has been a speedy integration into the Alvalade squad: "Through training I adapting to the team. I know how we move now and the help from my teammates has been great."