Rui Borges gave Sporting squad a stern Portuguese Cup ultimatum | OneFootball

Sporting’s 3-0 win over Gil Vicente left Alvalade in a celebratory mood, but Rui Borges wants to avoid any excessive relaxation before the Portuguese Cup final against Torreense. The Sporting coach considers it essential to keep the squad fully focused on Jamor and has already made it clear internally that no one is getting an early holiday.

Saturday night ended up being marked by several emotions at Alvalade. In addition to confirming second place and the resulting qualification for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, the fans said goodbye to Hidemasa Morita and Geovany Quenda, while Morten Hjulmand also gave signs that he may have played his last home game in the Sporting shirt.

The atmosphere after the final whistle, with players handing balls into the stands and an apparent farewell mood, created the feeling that the season was over. However, Rui Borges does not want to allow any competitive drop-off before the decisive match at Jamor.

According to Record newspaper, the Mirandela-born coach intends to reinforce that message when the team returns to training, scheduled for Tuesday. The idea is to remind the squad that there is still an important trophy to win, regardless of the fact that the opponent is a Liga Portugal 2 team.

At Alvalade, the message is clear: anyone who does not show maximum intensity in training this week risks being left out of the final. Rui Borges and the rest of the coaching staff even used the days off to push ahead with the strategic preparation and tactical analysis of Torreense, a team that is still fighting for promotion through the playoff against Casa Pia.

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