They want to take points off us: Sporting regular on Portuguese league | OneFootball

Sergi Altimira has taken a positive view of his first few months at Sporting, but he does not hide the fact that there are aspects the team needs to improve. The Spanish midfielder, signed from Real Betis for €18.25 million, a fee that could rise to €20.25 million based on objectives, said he is fully adapted to Rui Borges’ demands.

“What surprised me was the family atmosphere here. Everyone who works at the club is very close to the players and available for anything we might need. For a player like me, arriving here, that is always something you appreciate.”

Adapting to Portuguese football, however, has brought some difficulties. The midfielder believes opponents take a particularly demanding approach when they face the Lions: “It is a very different league. The pitches are different, there are very physical opponents, and they sit very deep when they play against Sporting because they want to take points off us. It is complicated, and that makes it a very difficult league, but also a very competitive one. We have to keep improving, especially in the league, to recover the points we have dropped recently. Above all, we have to be demanding of ourselves and keep training at the highest level. I think you play the way you train and, if we train at our maximum and give everything, then it is much easier for things to go better for us in matches. We are short on numbers at the moment because many players are away with their national teams, but we have to demand the maximum from ourselves.”

The draw against Estrela da Amadora (2-2) also served as a lesson for the group: “We have to stay alert at all times. We can win every pre-season game, but competition is different. They are difficult opponents, who compete, fight and give everything to take the three points. We realised that straight away in the first matchday. After that, the team improved a lot. Now, as I said earlier, we have several things to correct, especially from the last two matches. There are many new faces, but we all already understand the size and the demands of this club, both inside the dressing room and outside it, and what people expect from us. Here, a draw feels like a defeat, and that says a lot about the club and the level of demand that exists.”

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