Portugal to face Albania and France in September

The Portuguese national coach has included three Sporting players in his squad for the coming clashes with France and Albania.

Rui Patrício, Adrien and João Mário are the Alvalade trio who feature in a squad comprised of a staggering 13 out of 24 players who were produced at the Sporting Academy.

The Portuguese will take on France in Alvalade at 19h45 GMT on Friday the 4th of September, before travelling for the European qualifier against Albania at 20h45 CET on the 7th of September.

Jorge Jesus after his side's loss in Moscow

Jorge Jesus met with the press after his side’s 3-1 loss on Wednesday night. The Alvalade boss opened by conceding that his side let their grip on the game slip, before going on to elaborate on his choice of starting line-up.

“Sporting were better in the first-half. We played with quality, we controlled the game and we created dangerous opportunities. We were winning 1-0 at half-time without CSKA having created any problems for us. We did the hard hard part and had the game under control at half-time, but we didn’t know how to manage the second-half. For the first 45 minutes Adrien, Aquilani and João Mário controlled the midfield. In the second-half CSKA started with more possession and it was Musa who did the damage. I thought the game would to extra-time and then I would have made changes, but at the time there was no point in changing anything”, commented Jesus.

The Sporting coach went on to speak about the choice to leave Slimani on the bench: “In the first-half, with three midfielders, we controlled the midfield. Not only did Teo score, but we were winning at half-time. When Teo started to burn out a bit I put Slimani on so that we kept up the pressure in attack. I thought the game would go to extra-time and I still had two more substitutions I could make, but the third goal took us out of it. There were incidents in both legs that determined the final result. Here Slimani made it 2-2 and in Lisbon we have at least one penalty that was waved away. The ball didn’t go out of play and the assistant referee, who couldn’t see from where he was, only signalled when the ball was in the back of the net. Only he knows why he ruled out that goal. We were clearly disadvantaged.”

To finish, Jesus accepted that failure to qualify for the Champions League is a tough blow, but affirmed that his side will now move its attention to domestic silverware: “Financially, the Champions League was relevant, but we still have important objectives in Portugal. Our main objective is the league.”

Bruno Esteves named for I Liga matchday three

Bruno Esteves, 37, from the Lisbon Football Association, will take charge of Sporting’s I Liga matchday three visit to Académica.

Rui Teixeira and Valter Pereira will act as linesmen.

Académica-Sporting will get underway at 19h15 on Sunday the 30th of August, in Estádio Cidade de Coimbra.

Adrien and João Pereira after Sporting's 3-1 loss to CSKA Moscow

Both Adrien and João Pereira met with the press after Wednesday’s 3-1 Champions League qualification loss to CSKA Moscow.

“We could take about a few incidents, but it isn’t worth it now. What made the difference was where we failed in the second-half and we didn’t come out well after the break. We have to accept that we made mistakes which let our opponent back into the game. We could have come to Moscow with a stronger position, but for a variety of reasons that didn’t happen”, opened Adrien, before speaking about Slimani’s equaliser at 2-2 that was ruled out: “I didn’t see if the goal was fairly disallowed or not. We have missed out objective and we didn’t deserve this result tonight, but what matters is how you finish and not how you start.”

João Pereira also conceded that mistakes were made in the Russian capital, but shrugged off the suggestion that the result will leave a mark on the rest of the season: “We started well and we didn’t the hard part, which was scoring. When you are 1-0 up you can’t make so many mistakes. We prepared well and we trained properly for this match, but things didn’t go as well as we wanted and we can’t let it influence the rest of the season. Now we have other objectives and we will focus on them.”

Sporting fail to reach Champions League group stage after loss in Moscow

Sporting will miss out on this season’s Champions League group stages after a 3-1 loss in Moscow (4-3 on aggregate).

In what was a game of few clear chances and some tough battles for possession, Jorge Jesus’ side took the lead in the 36th minute, when João Pereira set up Teo Gutiérrez. Doumbia was first to strike for the hosts four minutes after the break, before grabbing a second in the 72nd minute to level the scores on aggregate after a header by Slimani had been ruled out by the referee after the ball had allegedly arched out of play from Carrillo’s corner.

The encounter looked to be heading for extra-time, but Musa’s strike five minutes from time secured qualification for CKSA, while Sporting now head for the Europa League.

João Mário comments after penning new deal

Having arrived at Alvalade back in 2008 as a promising young talent, João Mário has now penned a deal that extends his stay at Sporting until 2020.

The up and coming midfielders proved happy with the contract extension and is more than ever hungry for titles: “This is really important for my career. I am really happy to be with Sporting for even longer. This is recognition of my work. It has always been a dream for me to play for the first team and luckily I am doing that.”

João Mário went on to speak about the season so far: “We have started the best way possible and it is always important to win titles like we did on Sunday. It gives us for confidence going into the Champions League playoffs.”

Slimani happy with Alvalade extension

Islam Slimani renewed his contract with Sporting this week up to 2020, with a buy-out clause of 30,000,000.00€.

“I am really happy with renewing my contract with Sporting. It is recognition of the work I have been doing here. I have developed as a player and I hope to win more titles with Sporting”, said the Algerian giant after penning the deal.

Gelson Martins shares his thoughts with Sporting TV

Gelson Martins spoke with Sporting TV this week ahead of Friday’s encounter with I Liga new-comers Tondela.

“The week has gone well for us, the lads are motivated and we are focused on our match against Tondela. There are no easy games and we will play against Tondela like we would against any other team. We have to work hard to be ready”, opened the winger, adding: “It is always great to have the fans behind us and this will be just like it was in the Supercup final in the Algarve.”

Individually, Gelson proved happy with how he is fitting into the senior squad: “It has been going well for me and the older players have been helping me a lot. I am really happy and I feel like I have to work to show that it was worth taking a bet on me.”

Islam Slimani

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Islam Slimani for the renewal of his contract until 2020, with a buy-out clause of 30,000,000.00€.

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

João Mário

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with João Mário for the renewal of his contract until 2020, with a buy-out clause of 60,000,000.00€.

Sporting SAD wishes João Mário the best of professional and personal success.