Information for Europa League matchday five

For Sporting fans traveling to Moscow this Thursday, the Club would like make the following information available:

Europa League matchday five will kick-off at 21h00 local time (18h00 GMT).

Lokomotiv Central Stadium, where the match will be played, is 30 minutes from the city centre and can be found at 125, Bolshaya, Cherkizovskaya Str. Moscow. The best Metro station for the stadium is “Cherkizovskaya”, north exit.

The meeting point for Sporting fans is in the north zone of the stadium, where traveling fans will also seated. Sporting fans will be seated in sector 12.

Fans are advised to arrive two hours before kick-off.

A club representative will be at Lokomotiv Central Stadium to assist Sporting fans locally.

Matheus Pereira and João Mário after 3-0 loss in Albania

Matheus Pereira again featured in Jorge Jesus' side this Thursday, in a 3-0 loss to Skënderbeu. Speaking at the final whistle, the Brazilian accepted that his side made mistakes, but affirmed that Sporting can still qualify for the knock-out stages: "We didn't start well. Skënderbeu made the most of that and they defended well. We had chances, but we let in two goals from counter-attacks."

João Mário, who made his Europa League debut after a three-match suspension, also spoke to the press at the final whistle: "We made some mistakes in the first-half which dictated the rest of the game, but it is still down to us to get into the next stage."

Jorge Jesus reflects on his side's loss to Skënderbeu

Speaking after his side's 3-0 to Skënderbeu, Jorge Jesus affirmed that qualification for the Europa League knock-out stage is still within each.

“After the draw in the other match in the group we wanted to push on, but that didn't happen. We aren't out of it yet, but it is harder now. We started badly and we let in two goals. After the break, losing 2-0 and with 10 men, the idea was to try and get back into it, but we let in a third goal. Things like that happen in football sometimes and this is the kind of thing we have to learn from. We lost the game, but not the chance to qualify", said the Sporting coach at the final whistle.

Sporting slip to heavy defeat in Albania

Sporting put in a forgettable performance in Albania this Thursday in a 3-0 loss that saw Rui Patrício sent off and Ewerton substituted through injury.

Going into the encounter following a potentially helpful draw between Besiktas and Lokomotiv Moscow, the team from Alvalade made a largely expected dominating start to the encounter, holding down long spells of possession but without creating any clean chances on goal. However, a disasterous ten minutes saw Skënderbeu open the scoring in the 14th minute through Lilaj. Adding insult to injury, Rui Patrício was shown a red card five minutes later and Lilaj converted from the penalty spot to leave Sporting with an uphill task to salvage points in Albania.

Trailing, Jorge Jesus sacrificed Tanaka – one of the surprises in the evening's starting line-up, which also saw Tobias, Jonatha, Bruno Paulista, Matheus, Mané and Montero feature from the off – to keep Matheus and Mané out wide in support of Montero, but Sporting were unable to battle back and went two goals down at the break.

Sporting had the chance to pull a goal back early after the restart, but Skënderbeu's third courtesy of a chip from Nimaga to beat Boeck from outside of the 18-yard box set the score beyond Sporting's reach. The loss sees Sporting remain in third place in Group H with four points, two behind Besiktas and four behind Lokomotiv.

Jorge Jesus focused on claiming three points in Albania

With four points, Sporting currently occupy 3rd place in Europa League H, but are just a single point of Besiktas in 2nd. A win in Albania will keep the Alvalade club's hopes of alive of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

“It is fundamental that we win if we are going to get through the group stages. It won't be like in Lisbon, it will be more divided and more complicated, against a team who will be more relaxed and who will play better than they did in Alvalade, but we believe in the work we are doing. We will rotate some players, but we aren't talking about a game that isn't important here, because the Europa League is important, but some of the players need this kind of experience. We have a responsibility to try and win every competition we are in and the Europa League is one of the competitions that we want to go as far as possible in", opened Jorge Jesus in a pre-match press conference.

Asked about the unenviable record of not having won a European away game in four years, Jorge Jesus preferred to focus on the importance of winning the three points: "We are concentrating on winning games and the importance of being in with a chance to get through to the next round. If we can break that record then great, but I honestly didn't even know about it."

Sporting will take on Skënderbeu at 20h05 on Thurday, in Europa League Group H.

João Mário back in contention after suspension

João Mário is back in Jorge Jesus' options for this Thursday's encounter against Skënderbeu, after serving a 3 match suspension following a red card against CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital.

Speaking about his first match in the Europa League, João Mário proved with the chance to contribute: "I really want to play and I don't mind if it is on the right or in the middle."

The Alvalade younger went on to affirm that his side is execting a tough encounter, but guaranteed that Sporting are up to the challenge: "Away games are always complicated, but we all know what we can do and the quality we have", said João Mário, before finishing on squad rotation: "No matter who plays, everyone will do their best to help the team."

Sporting will take on Skenderbëu this Thursday in Albania, in Europa League Group H.

Europa League: Skënderbeu vs Sporting

Sporting would like to announce the following for fans traveling to Albania for the Europa League match against Skënderbeu:

Europa League matchday four will kick off at 21:05CET in the Elbasan Arena, approximately 1 hour form where the squad will be based.

The meeting point for traveling fans is on the west side of the Elbasan Arena, where Sporting fans can enter the stadium.

Fans are encouraged to arrive 2 hours before kick-off.

A Sporting representative will be at the Elbasan Arena to assist all traveling fans as needed.