Benfica clash to Sporting woes: Rui Borges’ key quotes for Rio Ave | OneFootball

Sporting defeated Rio Ave, 4-0, last Sunday, December 28, in a match valid for the 16th round of Liga Portugal Betclic. At the end of the match, Rui Borges answered several questions from journalists and ended up downplaying Benfica’s result in Braga. Check out everything the Lions’ coach said, who also addressed the difficulties in preparing for this match.

Gained points on Benfica, now five ahead, and could be 10 ahead of Porto. Is the title race now down to two? “I want to be first, not third, and I look at first place. I don’t care about the points, I look at first place, I take two more today and we have to do our part to be first, that’s our only focus. I don’t look at third, I don’t care, I don’t even think about third place. It’s about doing our part to be first and then waiting for a second half of the season where a lot will happen, but it’s about doing our part.”

Reinforcements in January, Eduardo Quaresma, and the team’s current form: “That’s up to the national coach to decide, but based on what he’s been doing in terms of performances, he’s a national team player, not just today. He’s played great games and taken advantage of Diomande’s absence and even Zeno [Debast]’s, he knew how to wait, we believe in him a lot, that’s been clear since the first day of work, and he’s been playing beautifully. I’m happy for him and hope he continues like this, if not I’ll get on his case. He’s a very unique kid and I can’t get mad at him, but he’s grown, he’s more mature, more disciplined, and he needs that. About the transfer market, I said yesterday that if we go, it’s always with the perspective of adding something that can help the team, but also for the future, not just the immediate. Within what we have, with some gaps and what the market can give us, if we think it’s important to add, we’ll add, but if not, I’m happy and they’ll respond.”

Will January be decisive? Maxi Araújo? “Maxi has responded and not just in this game, I think he has four goals and one assist, so it’s not just because of this game. For the national team he plays as a winger, it’s different, but he plays, so above all, he has his own characteristics and has adapted very well to the team’s dynamics and to the position itself, that’s why he’s scoring goals. He gives depth to the attack that maybe Pote doesn’t, who brings other things, brings something different, and if we think the market gives us something due to injuries and absences [we’ll reinforce], if not, if it’s just for the immediate, no. The group will respond, they believe in each other a lot. About the first half, it is what it is, it’s the schedule and January will be even worse than December. The players want to compete in the League Cup to reach another final and they just want to play. For me it’s harder, with so many absences we can’t rest the guys as much and we have to deal with that. I take it one game at a time, January won’t decide anything about the end of the championship, everyone will have tough games, there’s a whole second half and many games.”

Betting on youth from the academy: “They’re all ready to step up from the B team. Flávio has different characteristics and, given the absences, gives us something unique. Blopa too, they’re two who have been with us more due to absences, but there are kids who could be called up at any moment and maybe it’ll be when they least expect it. The B team is having a great season, they need to stay humble to get more opportunities, but they’re two kids in whom we see individual qualities and believe will be important in the future. The number of games is always special, I’m at a club where I was champion and I’m very happy, may I have many more. It may seem like I’m buttering up Sporting, but I’m not. I’m very happy because I do what I love most at the club where I wanted to be.”

Maxi Araújo’s evolution in attack: “Last season we played differently and he was in a different position. This season he started as a full-back and, due to absences, we’ve adapted and he’s responded and shown an extraordinary commitment. He clearly identifies with Sporting’s values, with a competitive attitude, even when things don’t go so well he lifts the team and is an example to his teammates. I’m not surprised at all, when we do something it’s because we think they have the characteristics to do it, like Zeno [Debast] last season playing as a midfielder, he had a great season, now as a center-back, it’s about making them believe they can help wherever they’re needed.”

Balance in offensive build-up? “We always try to be a balanced team in every sense, it’s that story of being in the offensive moment and ‘distrusting while trusting’ to find space. In the first half [João] Simões was more in the second line, we were more exposed to transitions. In the second half I asked him to be ‘two plus two’ because more space opened up and he was much more balanced for defensive transitions. Offensive dynamics are something we train and they have the ability to do it, and the freedom of play and mobility and then their own ability, a pass, a dribble, a controlled reception... Within offensive behaviors, they’re in the positions they need to be and, even when switched, they know what to do. The macro behavior is collective, then comes the individual, the variability we’ve had in each player also gives us that reading and then it’s about the ability, because they’re increasingly integrated wherever they play.”

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