Penalty, Pote's form and Benfica: Rui Borges after Arsenal - Sporting | OneFootball

Rui Borges, the lions’ coach, gave his assessment of the draw in the second leg of the quarter-finals between Arsenal and Sporting (0-0). At the press conference, the manager gave a “very positive” assessment of Clube de Alvalade’s run in the Champions League.

Overall analysis of the tie

"Pride is the right word to talk about the team. For everything we did in these two matches, I think we deserved more, at least to take it to extra time today. In both games, Sporting had the better chances. The character and personality we showed in going toe to toe with one of the best teams in Europe was fantastic. Pride is the right word to describe this group and the display of character, strength and quality they have shown throughout the season. Of course today it has more impact because it’s the Champions League, but we showed that we are among the best too".

“I’m not going to talk about that because it would take away from what we did throughout the game, our ability and quality.”

Strategy carried out

“Strategically, the team was fantastic. We had the better chances and Arsenal didn’t create that many opportunities, both today and in Alvalade. And with the ball, the aim was to avoid letting the game become stretched, get into Arsenal’s half and build organized attacks to wear them down. We are a team that likes to have the ball, to play attacking football, and we didn’t move away from that. We showed our ideas, character and personality, and that makes me very proud.”

On the ambition shown

“We were very ambitious in both games, and Sporting had the better chances. That shows our collective and individual ambition and quality. We were brave and committed, we are playing in the Champions League”-

Derby against Benfica in sight

“Now we’ll think about the next one. It’s about recovering, taking a breath and thinking about it calmly. Benfica are fresher because they play once a week, but we’ll go with our spirit, our ambition and our fans. Their energy will be very important and I’m making that appeal now, for Sunday, that they support the team the way they have been doing.”

Feelings after the cruel ending

“There can’t be frustration, only pride in the two great games we managed to play against one of the best teams in Europe. If we want to be among the best in Europe, we have to be able to respond to this demand of playing every three days. It has to lift us for the next matches. We can’t drop our level. It has to serve as motivation, never as frustration.”

Difficulties in scoring and the keys to defensive consistency

“Arsenal have one of the best defensive lines in Europe, with very strong and quick centre-backs. Physically, we are not a strong team in duels; we like combination play and certain moments in transition. It was important to establish ourselves and keep the ball, with prolonged attacks, without letting the game become stretched. Defensively, we didn’t let Arsenal create. We were very compact, focused and disciplined. The team was fantastic".

Assessment of the European campaign

“Very positive. We made Sporting history and we can look back with pride. We have to look at it positively and think that this is the beginning of a dream, of the Club’s growth so that more and more people look at Sporting differently. The feeling is one of pride, but we still have a long way to go, and may it always keep growing.”

Pedro Gonçalves’ current form

“He played a good game and the team even dropped off when he went off. He is looking for his best form, but that doesn’t make him any less important. He is an important player and his numbers speak for themselves.”

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