Injuries, Peugeot and glory: Rui Borges before Arsenal v Sporting | OneFootball

Sporting - who will be without Iván Fresneda - are preparing to face Arsenal this Wednesday (8:00pm) in the second leg of the quarter-finals. On the eve of the match, Rui Borges gave the usual preview at a press conference at the Emirates Stadium and said he believes they can reach the semi-finals.

The mission brought to London

“I’ll be very straightforward: the team has to stay true to itself. As it has been up to now, regardless of the opponent or the competition. I don’t need to talk about ‘hunger’, because this team shows in every game the ambition, courage and enjoyment it has on the pitch. We also have to enjoy the game, with the responsibility of chasing something unprecedented for the Club and for us. We are aware of the difficulties of facing a great Arsenal side and of doing what no one has done yet, which is beat this team. We know that, but we believe a lot. Our confidence is infinite”.

A week of decisions on three different fronts and the importance of the Champions League

“I’m clear-headed in my thinking, I’m calm and our ‘flame’ is ambition. We are among the eight best teams, where maybe nobody thought Sporting would be, and that is the result of this team’s individual and collective quality. There will be two great teams on the pitch and it will be an important week. We are at the end of the season, the games are becoming more and more decisive, but we are still involved in everything and that defines Sporting: staying in competitions until the end and wanting to win them. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, nothing erases the great season this team has had”.

Exclusive focus on Arsenal

“We are fighting for a place in the semi-finals, so it is the most important game and we are going all in. With enormous ambition and courage, thinking only and exclusively about this game, wanting to win. That is what we want in order to keep making Club history. Our focus tomorrow is only and exclusively on the game against Arsenal”.

The message passed on to the group given this week’s challenges

“My message is clear and if there is one week when I don’t need to say much, it is this one. For tomorrow, they are concerned about knowing the ‘starting eleven’ because everyone wants to play. They already know the responsibility of representing Sporting CP and, because of that, I don’t need to wear myself out much in that sense, but rather focus on the team idea and let them rest so they stay fresh throughout this week. I look into their eyes and feel their desire to play the game and to believe in going through. Both football and life give opportunities to those who truly believe, and if there is one team that truly believes, it is this one.”

Arsenal’s recent negative results

“We are talking about a great team. It is natural that a great team does not always win, but I think that will only motivate them even more. Very switched on and with high intensity to reach the semi-finals. I believe that one or two less successful games do not define the season they are having and the great team they are”.

Iván Fresneda is a confirmed absentee for physical reasons

“He has been an important player, he has had a great season, but he is not one hundred per cent physically fit and, for that reason, we chose to leave him in Lisbon. Tomorrow’s game demands one hundred per cent from everyone. Edu gives us certain things and is a reliable full-back, Vagiannidis is a natural and attacking full-back, and Blopa gives us pace, intensity and competitiveness. They are three different players we believe in and who can play”.

Possible absences on the opposing side

“It does not make things harder. We are talking about a team that has three great players for some positions. Of course, different characteristics change certain behaviours in strategic terms, but it does not change their identity. We coaches and the players have to be able to read that and neutralise it”.

The reasons to believe in qualification

“We hold on to each other and to what brought me here: my work. If there is one team that believes, that is ambitious and committed, it is this one. That is a sign that we have ability. Things happen for a reason, I am very positive and this team, when it is put to the test, has the quality to overcome the challenge. In their last 20 home games, Arsenal have two defeats. We know the difficulties, but we have that hope and on a day when we believe, it can happen”.

The importance of the game in the coach’s career and the difference in squad values

“It is another important game for me. We are in the competition everyone dreams of playing in, [the game] will mark the career of all of us and first and foremost Sporting’s history, and that is what we want. This team deserves to make Sporting history. That is what I feel, because it is a great working group and it has shown that. So, we have to believe. As for the values, it is subjective. The Mercedes goes at 200 km/h, but the Peugeot does too, and the Mercedes is worth twice as much. We have to know the shortcuts, the road, know how to avoid obstacles and maybe get ahead”.

The opponent’s main strength from set pieces

“They are a great team from set pieces, but they have not scored like that for some time now. They earned that label because of their quality. They have players who, from ten deliveries, put all ten into the area the coach asks for and then they always have six or seven ‘wardrobes’, players who are athletically very strong in duels. They are an extremely strong team from set pieces, but we have been too and I am very confident in the team’s ability”.

The role of the counter-attack in the match

“Sporting are not only strong on the counter-attack and the first game showed that, especially because possession was balanced. We like to have the ball and control the game with it, that is what we will try to do, but we know that in these matches there may be more moments for quick attacks, where we have to be deadly. We know there may not be many chances, as in the first game, where we even had more and came away with a defeat. Above all, we have to be very balanced in every moment of the game”.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.