Rui Silva on Sporting clash: “We’re ambitious, we want to win” | OneFootball

Rui Silva previews FC Porto vs Sporting, which marks the start of the decisive stage of the league, on Saturday at 6pm.

Matchday 1 of Group A in the Andebol 1 final stage pits the two teams against each other, now separated by three points, with the Lisbon side holding the advantage, in a clássico at Dragão Arena, also broadcast on Porto Canal. Rui Silva took on the role of the team’s spokesperson in the build-up to a match against a “strong” opponent that “also wants to make a statement”, stressing, however, that it is vital to win in order to “keep our ambitions intact”. To do so, the Porto playmaker is counting on the support of the fans: “I’ve been here for a few years now, enough to understand that when Dragão Arena is on fire and the fans get behind us, it gives us a different kind of energy”. You can find ticket information for this match here.

Back in action two weeks later“The break helps us rest a little, because we’re entering the final stage of the league and we know we have to be refreshed because we have a huge ambition to be champions and we already have a decisive match ahead of us.”

Sporting“We’re expecting a strong Sporting side, one that also wants to make a statement and make the league easier for themselves, but I believe we want to turn that around too and we really want to win this game, because we know how important it is.”

These clássicos are decided by the details“We’ve had a lot of difficulties against Sporting, there have been balanced games decided by small details, and those are details we have to improve on. We’re now entering the final stage and we depend only on ourselves for our big objective, so we know we have to win this match at home to keep our ambitions intact. We’re preparing well and we feel very ambitious, we really want to win.”

The 2025/26 season“We’re still in line with what we had planned, both in the European competitions and in the league, but not in the way we wanted in the league. There is this final stage and we’re still alive in the title race, but there’s no margin for error and we’ll have to fight against that. There are six finals left in the league and we always have to go into them with that mindset.”

The importance of Dragão Arena“We really want to turn around the head-to-head situation with Sporting and we have the chance to do that in this game. If our fans turn out in large numbers, I believe it becomes a little easier for us and harder for them. I’ve been here for a few years now, enough to understand that when Dragão Arena is on fire and the fans get behind us, it gives us a different kind of energy. We’re going to do everything to win this game.”

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