Rui Borges previews Sporting v Marseille in the Champions League | OneFootball

Rui Borges, the green and white coach, spoke with journalists at a press conference previewing the Sporting - Marseille match, this Tuesday, October 214th. The match is scheduled for next Wednesday at 8:00 PM, at Estádio José Alvalade. Read here everything the Lions’ coach had to say.

Marseille leading in France

"I'll start there. That has to motivate us. If we want to be in this competition, we want to face the best at their best. We respected them at the draw because of the quality of their coach, we’re watching a lot of things to adapt our approach. They’re in a good phase of the season, you can clearly see the quality, they like to have the ball, it’s a team with a lot of ability to score goals."

Ideas not getting through

"The smile, I already realized it tickles... Regarding the question about Suarez, I didn’t quite understand this bad phase thing, before no one talked about a bad phase... we’re in second, three points behind first. For me, there is no bad phase. Even when we lost to Benfica, even when we lost to FC Porto, the dynamics were very clear. There is no bad phase."

Fans against Rui Borges

"The choices have to do with the game strategy, not with a management phase. We’ll see what the impact will be. The guys will end up being much more connected, the choices will be within the strategy. Fans? Were you in Paços? At the end of the game we went over, we felt affection from our fans, that’s what I value saying. I don’t understand the bad phase. It was a draw with Sp. Braga and a win. The team understands the dynamics. There are less good moments... we’re not always going to play well. We broke down in the game with Braga, I don’t shy away from that. With Paços it was a Cup game. Those are the games that stress me out the most."

Home advantage

"I believe partly yes. In these games there are no favorites, whether at home or away. Of course, then we look at the home games because we have our fans, that little extra push that gives us more strength. I believe that in the end we look at the home games because we feel stronger with more support. We’re going to play every game to win."

Relationship with the team and Hjulmand’s departure

"Fortunately we don’t have any ruptures. Last year we had some muscle tears. He won’t always be at his peak, but he’s always important. He’s within what we want. He’s a leader. He’s an important player at the club and for us coaches as well. I’m focused on the game with Marseille."

Criticism and comparison Marseille - Porto

Different... De Zerbi is an inspiration for everyone, we’re always learning. You can see that Porto has traces of De Zerbi. Marseille is much more variable, they can keep more possession. You can see why he’s an inspiration for Farioli. It will be a totally different game, because of the players. Justice is relative. Without our path at home, what we talk about. I deal well with that, I’m immune to it. We can’t please everyone. The Academy is a very happy and pleasant place. It makes me happy for the journey, I worked hard to be able to make this journey. I won’t always be the best but I’ll never be the worst either."

Fatigue from the Cup

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