Santa Clara v Sporting in doubt? Trip to the Azores sparks debate | OneFootball

Sporting travels to the Azores this Wednesday, December 17, to play the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup the following day, against Santa Clara. In addition to being a traditionally difficult ground for the Lions, the weather conditions recorded this week are also a topic of discussion.

In statements to the newspaper Record, Alexandra Fonseca, a specialist from the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), guaranteed that the Lions’ trip to São Miguel has “conditions for everything to proceed normally.” “Regarding the day before the match, the existing conditions should not jeopardize the trip. On the day of the match itself, heavy rainfall is expected for several hours in São Miguel. However, from late afternoon, close to match time, it should ease.”

It is worth remembering that, during Sporting’s recent visit to Santa Clara’s home ground, some members of the Sporting delegation even commented on the deterioration of the São Miguel Stadium pitch. On that occasion, the Lions returned to the mainland with two injuries: Fotis Ioannidis and Pedro Gonçalves.

Although everything seems under control for the match, just last week a yellow warning was issued due to bad weather, which caused six incidents. In any case, Sporting has a flight scheduled for this afternoon, after another training session at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy and Rui Borges’ pre-match press conference, which is scheduled for 12:30 pm.

The green and white emblem returns to the field next Thursday, December 18, against Santa Clara, in a match for the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup. The match against the team led by Vasco Matos will be played at 6:45 pm, away, in the Azores.

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