Jorge Jesus receives award in an emotional annual ceremony

Jorge Jesus was another one of the big names to speak at a packed awards ceremony this week, with 1500 fans gathered to hear what the Alvalade coach had to say as he scooped an award of his own.

"I club like this one has to have such a good fan base. I am really proud of winning an award here tonight and it is a tribute to a lot of people, despite it being me who receives it. I want to thank the players and the president. He believed in me and gave me the opportunity to be here", said Jesus.

Jorge Jesus happy with the return to business as usual

"It was objective accomplished, winning the three points and getting things back to normal", said Jorge Jesus at the final whistle on Sunday night.

For Jorge Jesus, the most important thing was the win, rather than an expressive result: A goal at the beginning of the match always helps, but we were still feeling a bit anxious because of our last two draws. We are building up a culture here and that doesn't happen in two months. We had 10 players who came in at the beginning of September, who wer not used to Sporting CP. That is the culture that we are building up and the president is creating a structure and a new dynamic at the club."

Liga NOS action will now be moved on to the back burner, with an international break coming up. However, for Jorge Jesus the stoppage doesn't come at the best time: "For us it isn't (an advantage). Most of the lads will be away and we will be without some of our most important players. Most of the new faces in the squad still haven't completely taken on what being at Sporting CP means."

Jorge Jesus expecting his side to rediscover their winning form against Arouca

Jorge Jesus sat down with the press this Saturday to speak about the coming hosting of Arouca. "What we have to do in relation to our last match against Tondela is show our usual quality and turn in three points. Every match is important and this one is no exception. The fans are used to good football and we have to get back into that habit", opened Jorge Jesus, going on to answer a question on his side's recent slip down the table: "It is always a case of zero tolerance for us. The most important thing is to start showing the quality football that we did during the first five matches of the season. We didn't do well against Tondela, but the draw was harsh for us. It isn't enough to just sit here and talk about it, we have to do the business on the pitch."

Sporting will be hosting Arouca while Benfica travel to FC Porto, opening up the possibility of closing the points gap to the league leaders. Jorge Jesus however proved more focused on the task at hand: "Firstly we have to focus on our own match. We are depending on other results, but the other teams are depending on our results as well. There is not point speaking about our rivals when we have to play against Arouca on Sunday. We know we haven't been doing well and we have to overcome that now. We spoke with the lads during the week about it."

The return of Adrien Silva from a spell out with injury of course comes as a relief for the fans as well as the Alvalade coach himself. "Adrien being out isn't the only reason behind recent results. It was also down to some other individual characteristics of players who aren't here anymore. Adrien brings quality, but he also brings attitude and an understanding of the game. That guides the players around him, but we can't expect him to be 100% tomorrow after being out for so long."

Jorge Jesus reflects on his tactical shake up in Dortmund

Despite Sporting CP narrowly missing out to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night, coach Jorge Jesus gave credit to his players for pulling off a surprise with a formation rarely seen by the team from Alvalade.

"You could see our plan as the game went on. We played really well against Dortmund, against a really good team, and we created a few chances. The strategy we put together worked. We knew we would have a good game and that the ball would do a lot of the work for us. In the first-half Gelson had two chances on goal, but when you don't score against a team of this quality you run the risk of losing. That is what happened and honestly it was a shame. We deserved at least a point and we believed we could do it, despite the quality of our group", said Jesus at the final whistle.

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts on Wednesday's visit to Dortmund

Speaking at a press conference in Signal Iduna Park ahead of his side's encounter with Borussia Dortmund, Jorge Jesus brushed off any pre-match pressure with a dose of confidence in securing a good result.

"We don't have as much pressure on us, because of the group we are in. We are fighting for qualification against two teams who are theoretically stronger than us. We are trying to qualify, but we have to be humble enough to accept that Dormund are who have a bigger reputation on the European level than us", opened Jesus, adding a word on his belief in his players: "I fully believe in the squad, even though we haven't won in the past three matches. We know what we have to do and every good team goes through its highs and lows. The same thing is happening in the Bundesliga with Dortmund."

Looking ahead to the encounter and what is one of Europe's most intimidating atmospheres, the Alvalade coach said: "Borrusia aren't only a difficult opponent because of their stadium, but because they are a quality team. They are one of the best in the Bundesliga and Europe. They are really strong in attack and everyone has trouble stopping them. We will try to keep ourselves organised in defence."

Jorge Jesus on Sporting's recent run of draws after a stalemate in Madeira

Sporting CP were held a third consecutive league draw this week. Speaking with the press at the final whistle after the deadlock with Nacional, Jorge Jesus insisted that his team will find their scoring form sooner rather than later.

"We started really strong. We had a fair few chances to get ahead in the first-half, including a penalty. We carried on looking for a goal in the second-half, but the game was very stop-start. We were able to play football in the first-half, but then came a lot of fouls, which is part of what teams looking to defend the result do. The lads did what they could and I thought we showed a good attitude. Of course we were missing a bit of emotional balance at times, but we did everything we could", said the sporting coach going on to reflect on what is now a considerable margin to the top of Liga NOS: "We are seven points off and we have to try our best to turn that around. We will try and push the lads hard during the week, particularly the ones who didn't spend pre-season with us. Defensively we didn't let in any goals and we have to score."

Jorge Jesus looks ahead to a tasking trip to Madeira

After last week's slip up to Tondela, Jorge Jesus's side takes aim at Nacional, with a usually difficult trip to Madeira awaiting on Friday.

"It is hard to play against Nacional. It is hard to play Choupana. The big sides have a tough time in this stadium, but we are ready for a competitive match. To come away from Madeira with three points we will have to play well on the attack, like we did against Guimarães. We will face a Nacional team that will play like they usually do", opened the Sporting coach in his pre-match press conference this Thursday afternoon.

For Jesus, it was a meeting of reflection with the press, with the Alvalade boss going on to speak about how his team approaches each game: "We try to get the best out of the team. You can look at that as a strategy for each individual game, but what we do is believe in our players and the way we play. Of course we could look to take advantage of Nacional's weaker points, but the fact that they are letting in goals doesn't mean much.

Sporting CP will take on Nacional at 21h00 on Friday, on Liga NOS matchday 9.

Jorge Jesus on Saturday's draw against Tondela

Jorge Jesus was far from sparing at the final whistle on Saturday when reflecting on the evening's refereeing, before dismissing a potential gap of five points between his side and Benfica.

“We had a tough match and we came into it on the back of a very intense week. We lacked pace and our dynamic in attack in the first-half and Tondela did well in defence. In the second-half we started putting the pressure on and created a lot of chances. We reacted well despite some tired legs, but that is no excuse. There were a lot of interruptions and Tondela did what they had to do, while the referee let them. Obviously we would prefer to have the same amount of points as Benfica or to be ahead of them, but we are fighting to close the difference. It could be five points, but there is still a lot of football to play", said Jesus.

Jorge Jesus on Liga NOS matchday 8

The opposition might be different, but Jorge Jesus has the same idea: three points.

"The players are only thinking about getting the win. We had an experience against Tondela last year which didn't go well for us. They are the image of their coach [Petit], meaning they are aggressive", opened Jesus ahead of the weekend's Liga NOS encounter, going on to answer a question his recent changes out wide in defence: "We are learning and that isn't something that happens in a couple of months. If being the most consistent team is what is needed to win the league, then we want to be more consistent."

Jorge Jesus takes positives from Tuesday's loss to Borussia Dortmund

Jorge Jesus sat down with the press on Tuesday night after his side's 2-1 loss to Dortmund.

Borussia's 10th minute goal settled the German visitors and, for the Alvalade coach, the early strike was decisive: "We tried to keep hold of possession. Dortmund scored two. The first was their striker who got the better of Semedo and they settled a bit after that. We corrected a few things after the break and positioned ourselves a bit better. We improved in defence and honestly we created the most chances and played some good football. We played against a really good side tonight, who knew what to do when we scored."

Reflecting on the numbers and the chances of progression in the Champions League, Jesus added: "It will be hard, but we always knew it would be. Anything is possible and there are still 9 points up for grabs. It will be hard, of course it will, but it has been like that since the draw for this group. We still have a chance and we have two away matches now that we will look to pick up points from."