Paulo Freitas wants FC Porto reaction after Sporting rout: “Kill or die” | OneFootball

Sporting host FC Porto this Saturday at 7 p.m. in the second semi-final of the roller hockey Championship playoff. After Alvalade’s team’s unexpected 7-3 thrashing at the Dragons’ rink, the sides now meet again in Lisbon.

Paulo Freitas, coach of the Dragons, stressed that the team will have to “give everything in the game,” since the opposition are “a very strong and aggressive team”: “We’re going into a battle and we have to do everything within our power to get a positive result, because only victory matters to us. It’s kill or be killed, and we’re going after what we want, which is to win.”

The 57-year-old coach admitted he is not expecting any major surprises. “The teams know each other so well that very few surprises can happen, but we are focused on ourselves and prepared for the difficulties they will put in front of us,” he concluded.

Rafa Bessa also does not see qualification for the playoff final as guaranteed and argued that Sporting cannot “get carried away.” “We can’t become overconfident because of the result of the first game. The second is a separate game from the first. We do have the confidence of being 1-0 up, yes, but above all we are prepared to win again,” the forward told Sporting’s media channels.

The Portuguese player said he was convinced that FC Porto would look for a “quick response” to their disadvantage in the tie and assured that the team is focused and well prepared: “We are ready for an aggressive and highly committed opponent. We’ll be here to rise to the occasion.”

The playoff semi-finals are played as a best-of-five series, alternating between the two venues. The first, third and, if necessary, fifth games take place at FC Porto’s home ground, after they finished second in the regular season, while the second and, if needed, fourth are played at Sporting’s ground, after they finished third in the regular season.

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