Sporting sub impresses Rui Borges: great performance | OneFootball

Rui Borges, coach of Sporting, attended the press conference after the defeat against Bayern Munich (3-1) at the Allianz Arena, in a match for the sixth round of the Champions League. The coach said he was "proud" of his players' performance and acknowledged that Eduardo Quaresma, usually a substitute, played "a great game".

“What makes me proud is the personality and courage we showed. We demonstrated a lot of personality and maturity. Technically and tactically, fantastic, they followed the strategy for the game to the letter, both defensively and offensively. We knew we would be in a lower block and the team was cohesive, organized, and committed. We like to have possession, but mentally the team was prepared for the demands of the game in that sense. I couldn't be prouder of what the team was able to do throughout the whole game,” he began by saying.

The coach commented on the various absences in the match: “They are important players for the team, but all players are important. The team gave a great response. Everyone is ‘connected’ and the players respect each other a lot as a group and recognize quality in one another.”

Rui Borges spoke about the key moment of the match: “We lost the game because the only moment we weren’t as strong was on set pieces. Two goals from set pieces and one goal preceded by a clear foul, in my opinion. The foul is very clear, and sometimes we complain so much about our referees. I can’t blame the defeat on that. We conceded two goals from set pieces and we have to improve on that. We knew they were strong in that aspect, with a lot of blocks in the second zone, we were warned, but we still fell for it. We have to find ways to be even better in those moments because they decide games against these great teams. It cost us dearly, but that doesn’t take away the pride I have in the team.”

The tactical approach was also one of the topics analyzed: “We didn’t play with three center-backs, only in terms of the players’ positions. I actually wanted Edu Quaresma to be more as a third, but he rarely was, because he was always as a full-back and that’s our idea of play. That’s what I asked of him and he played a great game. We had three center-backs defending, but we’ve always done that. We tried to alternate with quick balls to get out and keep possession, and we pulled Luis Suárez deeper to create overlaps from the full-backs inside and midfielders in the second lines. So, I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team. Everyone did very well. Alisson seemed to feel the game in the initial phase, it seemed, but then he was involved in the goal and played more freely and loosely,” he concluded.

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