Sporting are thrashed in Europe (4-1), but manager believes in miracle | OneFootball

Sporting traveled to Denmark this Wednesday to play the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup. In a difficult match, the Lionesses ended up losing 4-1. Even with the deficit, coach Micael Sequeira still believes it is possible to fight for qualification in the home game against Brøndby.

Speaking to Sporting TV after the match, the coach - who has been heavily criticized - remained optimistic: “It’s a big gap, but it’s far from over. There’s still the second leg, and we will do everything to put in a good performance and fight for the result.”

In his analysis of the match, Sequeira regretted the several chances Sporting wasted in the first 15 to 20 minutes. According to the coach, the own goal that opened the scoring affected the team psychologically, and they went into halftime two goals down.

Although the Lionesses managed to pull one back in the second half, Brøndby scored again and sealed the result with a set-piece goal. In this way, to complete a comeback, the coach pointed to the need for greater efficiency and for limiting the opponent’s attacking transitions.

Emma Ramírez also refused to write off the tie. “The result doesn’t reflect the game the team played. I think the goals we conceded were caused more by our lack of concentration than by their merit,” said the Spanish defender. “We know exactly what we need to correct,” she added, already looking ahead to the second leg, scheduled for September 30 in Alcochete.

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