Gyökeres, heads up and second leg: Rui Borges after Sporting v Arsenal | OneFootball

After Sporting’s defeat against Arsenal (1-0), Rui Borges was present at the Artur Agostinho Auditorium, where he analyzed the defeat. The coach stressed that the Lions must keep their heads held high and called for support in London to fight for the tie in the Champions League.

"The 17 victories, I’ve already answered, are more about the team, about the players, they deserve that recognition, they deserve that credit, because it’s a fantastic group, a group that deserves to keep making Sporting’s history in every way. One day that number will be beaten somehow, for sure. So, it makes us happy, it’s a sign that the work is being done well, it’s a sign that Alvalade is more and more of a fortress, and may it continue that way. As for the game, it was a balanced match. Raya having been the best player on the pitch says a lot about that, especially because Arsenal, apart from the first-half move when the ball hit the bar, then had a shot here before the goal straight at Rui. We had three clear chances to score, where Arsenal made three good saves. And that clearly shows the balance, because the game was balanced, with 54 or 56 percent possession. It shows very well how balanced it was. In the end it’s frustrating because we didn’t deserve to leave with the defeat, for everything we were capable of doing throughout the game, but football is like that. We’ve already won in the 91st minute, today we lost, now it’s about lifting our heads and believing that if there are great challenges, they are for this team, and in London we will try to do something unprecedented, it’s another great challenge, where I believe we will be up to it and where we will give a good response"

Balanced match and hug for Viktor Gyokeres

"I asked him about his family and whether he was well. I told him I was happy for him, I think he is someone who deserves the recognition of all Sporting fans, and ours as well, he helped me enormously to become national champion, he is a player who will mark history, he marked the history of the Portuguese league and Sporting itself, it is a place where he will always be very welcome. Hope remains intact... Yes, clearly. We know how difficult it is, we know they are a great team, they will play at home, but, as I’ve already said, if there are great challenges, they are for our team. And they like those great challenges, so I strongly believe we will give a good response in London and we have great hope of keeping the tie open until the end"

Two substitutions, Quenda and Hjulmand in London

"I made two substitutions because I felt there was no need to make more. That’s all. Simply because, given the characteristics we had available to add on the pitch, I didn’t think those were the characteristics needed for that moment. We had midfielders, defenders, we had Faye, that’s true, but no one who could add some pace, only Faye, we brought on Nel to freshen things up. But I believe we were going to lose a lot in terms of physical confrontation, because Arsenal were going very man-to-man when they triggered the press, so I tried not to change that aspect. Morita played a great game, he was giving us that calmness on the ball, it didn’t make sense to take Morita off and put Zeno [Debast] on. They are different in terms of characteristics too, we would perhaps have lost more clarity on the ball and we needed that. Dani [Daniel Bragança] was also in that same perspective. Given the solutions we had, I felt those were the only two substitutions that made sense"

Tough schedule

"You already know me, I don’t like thinking too far ahead. I understand that and it’s natural that you ask that question, because clearly the challenges ahead of us are very demanding and come one after another. But my problem right now is called Estrela da Amadora. There’s no point thinking about Arsenal or Benfica or FC Porto, I have to go to Amadora, a difficult ground. That is my current problem and I don’t like thinking ahead. There are so many days until Arsenal, so many days until Benfica, so many days until FC Porto, so much changes from one night to the next. Injuries, illness, it’s already happened... There are many variables, so I like to think about the moment itself, the present, and the present is Estrela"

Belief in Sporting’s ambitions and the message for the second leg

"There are no words to describe the feeling of energy and support they gave us from start to finish. In this final part, even after the end of the game, feeling the stadium and everyone giving support and affection to the players is important for them, it is recognition that they did things well, we lost through a small lapse in concentration, it happens, against a great team, but we went toe-to-toe with the best in Europe. That’s what we say and what we want, to go toe-to-toe with the best, and that’s what we did very well. In a small moment of loss of concentration, as I said, it has already happened the other way around, we won in the 91st minute, it’s part of it, it’s about knowing how to deal with it and lifting our heads, but it clearly shows how balanced the tie has been and the recognition. The players had attitude, they had courage, they had quality and this team is made for great challenges, just like the fans, we strongly believe that in London we will give a good response"

Can Rui Borges’s Sporting do the same as Sporting under Ruben Amorim?

"Sporting can do what Sporting is, it’s not a coach, it’s Sporting, it’s a club that believes and no one else. Rui Borges’s Sporting has also already done things no one else has done, it’s as simple as that, but what Rui Borges does is not what matters here. It’s Sporting that matters to me, the team has already shown it has the ability for a challenge of this level. Above all, we respect whoever is on the other side, we understand the demands, we have to be a very balanced team, in attitude and in quality, in order to beat a great Arsenal"

Set pieces

"I believe that in some moments there are clear fouls, but it’s also a bit ungrateful for us coaches to be saying whether they should be given or not, sometimes we say referees whistle too much, that they could let the game flow more, it’s a very specific moment. On set pieces Arsenal are a team with great athletic power, the average height is good, high, and in duels it is difficult, but, as I said yesterday, I think they were two good teams in terms of set pieces. We are in the top 10, Sporting are fourth in corners. In Portugal there are Gil and Estoril, and the best team on set pieces in Portugal is Sporting, and in Europe we are behind Arsenal, Dortmund and Inter, that also says a lot about our quality in that moment of the game".

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