João Pereira brushes off Sunday's Lisbon derby defeat

João Pereira took a moment to speak with the press at the final whistle on Sunday, affirming that the loss will do little to shake Sporting CP's title chase.

"I thought we had a great second-half. Nothing is going to shake us, we are in the fight. Even when we were losing 2-0, we did everything we could to turn the result around. The boss looked at Benfica's weaknesses and told us how we could get at them, but unfortunately we didn't get the result", said the Portuguese international.

Jorge Jesus unhappy with the evening's refereeing

The Lisbon derby's refereeing was the obvious choice for the first round of questions in Jorge Jesus' post-match press conference on Sunday and the Alvalade boss didn't pull his punches.

“We were penalised. There were two crucial incidents that Jorge Sousa didn't see. Pizzi involuntarily controlled the ball with his hand inside the area, which led to the counter attack that Salvio scored from. Then it was another bad decision from the referee in the incident with Nélson (Semedo). We are being constantly penalised and it takes points off us. The refereeing team was not up to the standard of the big teams. We were penalised and we lost, despite being the best team. The first incident didn't give Benfica a goal, but if the play had been stopped like it should have then the attack would never have happened", said Jorge Jesus.

The Alvalade boss was also asked about his decision to bring off Bas Dost in the second-half, to which he responded: ""Dost isn't the fastest player and he was tired. We needed pace and a player who could push the intensity a bit. That was the idea behind bringing on André."

Jesus went on to analyse the evening's encounter in greater depth, considering his side the most dominant after the break: "For me, it was a good match between two great teams. Sporting CP did a lot better in the second-half and Ederson was the best player on the pitch. Rui (Patrício) didn't have a lot to do in the first-half and straight after Benfica's second goal Bas Dost hit he post. Without taking away from how Benfica played, we were beaten by refereeing decisions."

Two clear penalty appeals waved away in harsh defeat in Estádio da Luz

Sporting CP missed out in Estádio da Luz this Sunday evening (2-1), on Liga NOS matchday 13.

Jorge Jesus' side made an encouraging start to the encounter and in the space of two minutes (8' and 9') the first two chances materialised, both down the same flank. First it was Gelson who tried his luck after tricking his way into the box, but the youngster's shot lacked venom and was comfortably collected by the Benfica keeper, before Bas Dost came up an inch short of linking up with a pin point pass from Bryan Ruiz.

The game was actually brought to a temporary halt in the 15th minute, when referee Jorge Sousa was forced to ask for Sporting CP's technical area and a section of the pitch to be cleaned, due to the number of papers being thrown onto the pitch. In the second-half the same problem came up again, this time with the stadium announcer requesting the fans to refrain from throwing the papers from the evening's choreography onto the pitch.

Everything looked to be going to plan for a dominating Sporting CP, before referee Jorge Sousa failed to pick up on a handball by Pizzi after a clearance by Lindelof (24'). To add insult to injury, Salvio opened the scoring from the resulting attack. The evening's official again attracted the negative limelight five minutes before the break, this time by not punishing a handball Nélson Semedo.

The second-half got underway with a stinging shot against the post from Bas Dost (46') after a pass from Joel Campbell, who had been introduced at the break for Bruno César. Jesus was looking for an injection of pace and that is exactly what the Costa Rican brought, reflecting the work being done down the other flank by Gelson Martins. A minute after the Dutchman's attempt, Raul doubled Benfica's lead following some sloppy play in the area, before Sporting CP finally got a more than deserved goal (69') that in all honesty did little to help the fans forget the evening's refereeing.

Jorge Jesus expecting Adrien and Gelson to be available for Sunday's Lisbon derby

Jorge Jesus spoke with the press in a much awaited press conference this Saturday afternoon, ahead of a Lisbon derby that sees Sporting CP and SL Benfica currently separated by just two points at the top of Liga NOS.

"The derby is always special, independent of who the two teams are doing in the league. What the table looks like right now doesn't mean anything and both sides are under pressure. Both sides have to win. Honestly, it will be the team that controls the emotional part of the game that will be best positioned to win", opened the Sporting CP coach, before speaking about his options for the Liga NOS matchday 13 encounter: "We have had a few problems with a couple of the players since coming back from Poland, particularly Adrien and Gelson, who haven't trained since we arrived. We will see how the lads are tomorrow, we still still have a bit of time."

The press were understandably keen to provoke a reaction out of Jorge Jesus, with the Sporting CP coach having managed both Lisbon giants. However, the Alvalade boss played it cool: "Both of us lost in the Champions League and we both have the chance to be at the top of the league. We are both on the same level right now and this will be an intense game for both of us. We are confident in how we play and we know we can win the three points. The way this team has grown, both defensively and offensively, over the last 18 months means that we can deal with whatever Benfica throw at us."

To finish, Jesus highlighted the importance of the extra experience in his side, which is packed full of Euro 2016 winners: "Being a European champion is a sign of the individual quality of a player and that reflects in our team. If my memory serves be right, not a single one will be playing against us tomorrow. Each derby is a derby and this will be my 20th. It will be a really intense game and this is the kind of occasion that the players love."

Lazar Markovic shares his thoughts on Sunday's Lisbon derby

Lazar Markovic was inevitably called upon to share his thoughts ahead of this Sunday's Lisbon derby, having played on both sides of the fence.

"We will be looking for the three points for our fans and to put us top of the league. Our coach knows what he is doing and we believe in ourselves", said the 22-year old Serbian in an interview with Sporting TV, before going on to reflect in his time at Alvalade so far: "It is a great club. I am really happy to be here and I will carry on doing by best."

Tickets for Setúbal to go on sale on Thursday

Tickets for the Portuguese Cup encounter between Vitória Futebol Clube and Sporting Clube de Portugal will go on sale on Thursday at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices (open from 10h to 20h).

Kick-off is scheduled for 21h00 on Wednesday the 14th of December, in Estádio do Bonfim.

GOAL END | €7.5 (exclusively for Sporting Clube de Portugal Members) or €10

LATERAL | €18

CENTRAL | €22

Squad showing their support for Brazilian side after this week's tragedy

Sporting CP will pay tribute to Chapecoense this weekend with a special shirt for the hosting of Vitória de Setúbal.

Every player's shirt will show the Associação Chapecoense de Futebol logo on the front, with NOS having agreed to show their logo on the back of each shit. The hashtag #ForçaChape is also written on the shirts.

Jorge Jesus on the weekend's hosting of Setúbal

"Setúbal are a club with a lot of history in Portugal and this season they are a hard team to beat", opened Jorge Jesus in his pre-match press conference this Friday afternoon, ahead of the weekend's Liga NOS action.

For the Alvalade boss, the key to the three points will be in how his side approaches the encounter: "They (Setúbal) have already taken points off our rivals and they are organised in defence, but we are feeling confident. We will try to push the pace in attack, which should open up space. If we do that then we will be closer to scoring goals.

The Lisbon derby is of course just around the corner, however Jesus's sights are set on the task at hand: "We are taking each game as it comes and the lads are focused on V. Setúbal. They drew with Benfica and FC Porto, which is a warning sign for us, but we are ready to do what we hae to do."

Joel Campbell on Saturday's Liga NOS win against Boavista

Joel Campbell was given a chance to show what he can do this Saturday, with a place in the starting line-up against Boavista.

"It was a good game and we got the three points, which was important for us. It was a hard against a good team, but we did what we had to", said the Costa Rican striker at the final whistle, adding: "We were really focused at the start and we put Real Madrid behind us. We are on the right track and these three points will lift us going forward now."

Solo strike from Bas Dost secures the three points in Estádio do Bessa

Sporting CP claimed a thoroughly deserved win in Estádio do Bessa this Saturday night, courtesy of a header from Bas Dost after a stroke of brilliance from Gelson Martins.

It was the Dutch hitman's seventh Liga NOS goal, who found the back of the net after hitting the post a few minutes earlier. It was actually a very different side fielded by Jorge Jesus, with Joel Campbell playing off Dost and Bruno César and Gelson roaming the flanks in what was a much more dynamic Alvalade offence.

Sporting CP really did dominate from start to finish, with a performance that was only soured by an extremely exaggerated sending off of Rúben Semedo (two bookable offences).