​The coach speaks on the eve of the game against FC Porto

Sporting Clube de Portugal return to action this Saturday at the Estádio José Alvalade, facing FC Porto on Matchday 5 of the Liga Portugal season.

Ahead of the eagerly anticipated contest, coach Rúben Amorim spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference. The first question addressed to him was regarding the absence of last season's top scorer.

“Pedro Gonçalves won't be available either in this game, nor against AFC Ajax nor against GD Estoril Praia, at the very least," he informed.

"Gonçalo Inácio won't play against FC Porto, he is unlikely to play against AFC Ajax, and we'll see if he faces GD Estoril Praia. Tiago Tomás' availability is an unknown, but he won't play in this match either."

“Coates can play, but Ugarte won't because, whatever happens, he won't be better than Daniel Bragança or Tabata in that position -even though they have different characteristics. Apart from that, we are doing well and are prepared. We have a small squad, and therefore players from the B team who have worked with us will be part of the squad. This is our project, they are prepared to play for Sporting CP and prepared to win the game”, he guaranteed.

New signing Pablo Sarabia could make his debut in the game.

“He is a player who understands the game, and we have more Spaniards in the team. He has adapted and trained well, so he's another option for the game. He is a player who can give us assists and goals, he is experienced, is left footed and can play in the middle or on the wing. He has a lot of quality and, from what I've seen, he's another great player to join everyone else that we already have. He's a quality player who's come to help us."

Regarding the O Clássico, Amorim rejected the idea that this would be the most difficult game to prepare since he took over the club.

“When we arrived at Sporting CP there was a phase where we had to field young players to build a squad quickly, and that was the most difficult phase. These are injuries that give you headaches, but the project remains like this. We need opportunities to see other players, everyone is prepared and we are going to go for the game."

Young talents like Gonçalo Esteves and Tiago Ferreira could feature, according to Amorim.

“That is part of the project and I am not saying that it takes any responsibility away from Sporting CP. If we don't win, the responsibility is the same compared to if we had a squad full of superstars. This is our project and our way of thinking, and it will be like that until the end. The responsibility is the same and we have to win the game."

Finally, Amorim said he believes that neither team is the favourite in 'O Clássico.'

“It's 50-50. FC Porto have been hindered more as they had more players away with their national teams, who covered more kilometers on their trips. We had 12 or 13 players in the national teams, which is good for us as we completed the squad with young players. We had good training sessions and we are prepared. Even so, this does not mean that any one team or another is the favourite. Whoever is better on the night will win,” said the coach, who noted that he trusts the absence of Pedro Gonçalves will be covered. “Other players will come through to score goals. I'm confident the team won't be hurting,” he concluded.

The revamped cup competition features the team in Group B

Sporting Clube de Portugal join the Taça da Liga in the group stage of the competition, and this Thursday their opponents were revealed.

Os Leões, winners of the competition in 2020/2021, are included in Group B together with FC Famalicão and FC Penafiel.

Sporting CP were exempt from the First Round, and will host FC Famalicão on the provisional date of October 27th. They will then meet FC Penafiel on December 15th.

The group winner goes into the final four of the Taça da Liga, which is scheduled for January 25th and 26th (semifinals) and January 29th (final), in Leiria.

The Spaniard arrives for 2021/22 on final day of transfer window

Sporting Clube de Portugal have completed the loan signing of Pablo Sarabia for the 2021/22 season, joining from Paris Saint-Germain. The 29-year-old Spanish forward is the latest addition to the squad for the reigning Liga Portugal champions.

Born in Madrid, Sarabia came up through the youth system at Real Madrid, during which time he won the Under-19s (2011) and Under-21s (2013) European Championships with Spain.

Although he would make his senior debut with Real Madrid, he established himself in Spain's LaLiga during five seasons with Getafe CF, playing 146 games, scoring 13 goals and providing 10 assists.

The forward would then move to Sevilla FC. In Andalusia, Sarabia scored 43 goals and produced 38 assists in 151 matches played over three seasons, with a highlight being the 23 goals and 14 assists he produced in 2018/2019.

Signing for PSG, despite strong competition up front, he appeared in 79 games, racking up 22 goals and 12 assists.

A regular for Spain's senior national team (9 games and 3 goals) under coach Luis Enrique, he played at Euro 2020, scoring two goals and providing an assist in the competition.

Sarabia's resumé includes a Ligue 1 title, two French Cups, a French League Cup and two Super Cups with PSG.

He is the third Spaniard in Rúben Amorim's squad, joining Antonio Adán and Pedro Porro.

The squad were back after a day off

Sporting Clube de Portugal returned to training this Tuesday at the Academia Sporting in Alcochete, after a day off on Monday.

Several of the squad are away on international duty: Gonzalo Plata (Ecuador), Manuel Ugarte (Uruguay), Tiago Tomás (Portugal Under-21s), and Nuno Mendes, João Palhinha and Pedro Gonçalves (Portugal AA).

In their absence, coach Rúben Amorim called up several players from the youth teams to train with the senior stars: Lucas Dias, Bernardo Sousa, Gonçalo Costa, Rodrigo Fernandes, Vando Félix, Nikolai Skoglund, Emanuel Fernandes and Gilberto Batista all participated in the session.

Gonçalo Inácio and Sebastián Coates, who had originally been selected to represent their respective countries, were withdrawn due to injury. On Tuesday they underwent treatment at the club's facilities.

The next training session is scheduled for Wednesday at 10:00am.

The Sporting CP coach reviews the 1-1 draw with FC Famalicão

Rúben Amorim reflected on Sporting CP's 1-1 draw with FC Famalicão (1-1) in his post-match press conference, lamenting that his side “did not manage to impose our game."

“FC Famalicão dropped back a lot and took some depth away from us, whilst we put the ball where they wanted it and where we shouldn't have. We played a lot of balls inside and they made transitions there. The fact that the block was lower and we were making passes inside, without the defense being too high, meant that there was space between the lines that created a lot of problems for us, but the defensive problems came more from the offensive side, when we had the ball. Even so, we had opportunities, and FC Famalicão also had transitions. Obviously we believed we could win until the end, but it wasn't to be. Now it's about moving forward,” the coach began by saying.

After praising Antonio Adán, whom he said “had a great performance,” Amorim also spoke about João Palhinha and the yellow card that the midfielder saw in the 14th minute: “This always affects Palhinha a lot, and he then has to be careful because he picks up yellows easily, but nevertheless he had a good game."
The Sporting CP boss also took responsibility for the draw.

“When the whole team doesn't understand where we have to attack, it's the coach's fault and not so much the players' fault. Maybe they didn't get the information in the best way, but, even so, we were the team that always had the most of the ball. Then, with our transitions, when we don't make good decisions we make things more complicated."

“In football, everything changes very quickly. Now we have the international break, and when we return we will be very motivated for the game against FC Porto. It's a very long season. We have to look on the bright side: Last year we also drew here and, therefore, we are on the right path,” he concluded.

Sporting CP draw 1-1 away

Sporting Clube de Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw at home to FC Famalicão on Liga Portugal Matchday 4, dropping their first points of the season.

Rúben Amorim made three changes to his starting XI, fielding Antonio Adán, Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates, Zouhair Feddal, Ricardo Esgaio, Matheus Nunes, João Palhinha, Nunes Mendes, Pedro Gonçalves, Paulinho and Jovane Cabral.

With three victories to start the season, Sporting CP were looking for a fourth win against a side that they had yet to beat since FC Famalicão's return to the top flight.

A good opportunity to score presented itself after two minutes through Jovane Cabral, but he, Pedro Gonçalves and Paulinho were all thwarted in their early attempts. The first half also saw the home side enjoy chances, with Antonio Adán called into action twice.

The score remained 0-0 at halftime, and Amorim decided to make his first substitutions, bringing Nuno Santos and Pedro Porro on for Cabral and Ricardo Esgaio. They combined soon thereafter, the full-back crossing for the winger to shoot against the post.

Sporting CP found themselves chasing the game when, after Adán blocked a shot, Gonçalo Inácio tried to take the ball out of Ivo Rodrigues' reach and it ended up going in off Nuno Mendes, handing FC Famalicão the lead.

Amorim made further changes, with Matheus Nunes and Zouhair Feddal making way for Daniel Bragança and Tiago Tomás. The equaliser came ten minutes later, when following a corner, Gonçalo Inácio's ball found João Palhinha at the back post to score.

Sporting CP attempted to find a winner, but shots from Paulinho, Tiago Tomás and Pedro Gonçalves were kept out by goalkeeper Luiz Júnior, whilst Sebastián Coates saw a header deflected away.

Adán made a late save of his own from André Ricardo, as FC Famalicão and Sporting CP shared the points.

Following the international break, the team have a big game against FC Porto at the Estádio José Alvalade, with both teams level on points in the table.

The coach comments on the Liga Portugal game and the Champions League draw

Sporting Clube de Portugal will travel to FC Famalicão this Saturday for Matchday 4 of the Liga Portugal season. Coach Rúben Amorim spoke this Friday about the game in his pre-match press conference.

"It's going to be a tough game because they are a team with good players -very good talents. They change every year because that's part of the project, but they have a very good coach, who is very offensiveñy minded, and who needs time to present his ideas.

His side are playing Sporting CP, and that takes away responsibility. It couldn't be a better game for FC Famalicão. They have played without a striker, have variations and have brought in new players, which makes us doubt who they will field. What we want is to win.

Since FC Famlicão came up, Sporting CP haven't beaten them."

He also cast his eye over Thursday's Champions League draw, which decided the club's next European opponents.

"The Champions League is a new world for most players and for the coach, who has a terrible record in Europe. It's a case of taking things game by game," he said of the Group C pairings, in which Sporting CP will face Borussia Dortmund, AFC Ajax and Beşiktaş JK.

Amorim was asked about the recent call-ups for Gonçalo Inácio, Nuno Mendes, João Palhinha and Pedro Gonçalves to the Portuguese national team, responding that: "It's mainly an achievement by the players, who have the talent and have put in the hard work. The remaining 10% of the credit is shared with all the departments at the club. The way Nuno Mendes grew physically doesn't have anything to do with me, for example. They also grow when they have space to grow in the team, and we are very happy. Our idea is that this will not stop here and we will have more players coming into the national team."

After confirming that Sporting CP will have "everyone available except Gonzalo Plata" for the game against Famalicão, the coach commented on Paulinho's current form.
"Confidence comes from the goals. There's not much that you can do other than train and improve. Paulinho does a lot for the team. He has to improve his finishing, just like everyone has to improve in various aspects of their game. He's an adult and taking the path he did is difficult. He is prepared for everything," he guaranteed.

The Champions League draw decided the three opponents in the Group Stage

This Thursday, Sporting Clube de Portugal's opponents in the Group Stage of the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League were revealed, in a draw held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Os Leões, the reigning Portuguese league champions, were in Pot 1 and were drawn in Group C, where they will face German side Borussia Dortmund (Pot 2), Dutch team AFC Ajax (Pot 3) and Beşiktaş JK (Pot 4) of Turkey. The match schedule for the Group Stage will only be known this Saturday.

Sporting CP return to the European elite for the first time since the 2017/2018 edition of the Champions League.

Thursday session for the first team ahead of Matchday 4

Sporting Clube de Portugal held a Thursday training session at the Academia Sporting on Thursday, with their sights set on taking the three points this weekend against FC Famalicão.

The team travel to the Estádio Municipal de Famalicão on Saturday for the Liga Portugal Matchday 4 game, which kicks off at 8:30pm local time.

Rúben Amorim had the entire squad at his disposal, with the only exception of Gonzalo Plata, who undertook individual training on the pitch.

Os Leões will train again on Friday morning, with their coach giving a pre-match press conference at 4:30pm at the Estádio José Alvalade.

The Under-21s international goalkeeper will be part of the squad for 2021/22

João Virgínia has become the latest addition to Sporting Clube de Portugal's squad for 2021/22, joining on loan from Everton FC until the end of the season. The Portuguese Under-21 international signed his contract alongside Frederico Varandas, president of the Board of Directors of Sporting CP, and expressed his satisfiaction with the move.

"I'm really happy to be able to represent this club. Returning to Portugal was one of my goals, so when I learned that Sporting CP were interested I was very happy, and wanted to come right away," said Virgínia, who has been in England since 2015.

"There is a lot of competitiveness in the group and this is perfect," he added, also addressing the compliments paid to him by coach Rúben Amorim in his most recent press conference.

"It's always good to be praised," said the 21-year-old. "Now I'll have to prove it every day in training and in games."

The chance to work closely with Jorge Vital and Tiago Ferreira, Os Leões' experienced goalkeeping coaches, is another of the attractions of the club for João Virgínia. "When the opportunity to come to Sporting CP came up, I thought it would be excellent to work with them. I will give everything for Sporting CP."

João Virgínia left Portugal in 2015, when he departed SL Benfica for Arsenal FC. In 2018/2019 he moved to Everton FC, being loaned out the following season to Reading FC. Last season, he made his debut for the Everton FC first team, enjoying minutes in the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

At international level he  - along with Rúben Vinagre - is part of the 'class of 1999' generation that won the Under-17 (2016) and Under-19 (2018) European Championships.