Rui Borges comments on the Swede’s return to Alvalade and highlights Sporting’s effectiveness on set pieces this season.
Rui Borges, Sporting’s coach, in statements at the press conference after the defeat against Arsenal (1-0), in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals:
Gyokeres returns to Alvalade.
I spoke to him and told him I was happy for him; he deserves the recognition of all Sporting fans. He helped me immensely to become national champion, he gave everything while he was at Sporting. He made history for the club and the championship.
Tough schedule ahead in the coming weeks…
I don’t like to think too far ahead, and it’s natural that this question is asked. The challenges ahead are highly demanding and consecutive. My problem now is Estrela da Amadora; I have to win and figure out how we’re going to do it. I don’t like to think ahead. We have so many days until Arsenal, until Benfica, and until FC Porto. So much can change from one day to the next, and there are so many variables. I prefer to think about the present.
Importance of set pieces in the match
It’s a very specific moment, given that Arsenal is a team with a great physical presence. They were both good teams in terms of set pieces. Before the game, I heard someone highlighting FC Porto’s success in set pieces. Sporting is in the top 10 in Europe in corner kicks, and in Portugal, it’s first. Defensively, we are very competent; we tried to adjust one or two defensive details.
Rui Borges only made two substitutions…
I made two changes because I didn’t think there was any need to make more. I didn’t think they had the necessary characteristics for that particular moment; we had midfielders, defenders, and Faye was the only one who could bring some speed to the game. I believe we would have lost a lot in terms of physicality, and I tried not to make any changes, preferring to refresh the attack with Nel. Morita had a great game, he was providing composure on the ball, it didn’t make sense to take Morita off and put Zeno (Debast) on. I brought on Bragança to have two players controlling the game with the ball.