VAR changed the Portuguese league: Sporting were hard done by | OneFootball

Sporting’s presence in the Champions League quarter-finals in the 1982/83 season, in which they were eliminated by Real Sociedad (2-1 on aggregate), was, for 43 years, the high point of Sporting’s performances in UEFA’s main club competition, in contrast with Benfica and Porto’s European runs. Virgílio believes VAR was a key factor in leveling the balance of power between the three teams - Something also argued by Paulo Bento.

“I remember, a few years ago, Sporting fighting for VAR and Benfica and Porto laughing because it was impossible. Every year Sporting were absolutely run over by refereeing decisions, it was painful to watch. With VAR it’s different”, he said in an interview with the newspaper Record.

The former Sporting defender highlights the restructuring carried out by Frederico Varandas at the Club. “When it managed to do so (reorganize itself), even with major upheavals along the way, as everyone knows, Sporting ended up returning to the place that had been theirs, competing for the title every year”, he said.

As for predictions for the tie against Arsenal, Virgílio is optimistic: “Many years ago, at the start of my career, a coach told me that the desire to win has to be greater than the fear of losing. If Sporting think like that, and they have been thinking that way in recent times, they can absolutely win the match and the tie”, he concluded.

Sporting return to the pitch this Tuesday, April 7, against Arsenal. The match, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against the English side, will be played at 8:00 pm at the José Alvalade Stadium.

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