The coach looks ahead to the Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt

Sporting Clube de Portugal landed in Germany on Tuesday, the day before their game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

In the press conference that preceded training at the Deutsche Bank Park, coach Rúben Amorim began by stating that, after the 2-0 victory against GD Estoril Praia this past weekend, the preparation for the European clash had been positive.

"This week was better for us because we won, because it was a deserved victory, because we played well and because we scored goals. We improved defensively, but even so there were opportunities that were gifts from us. However, our preparation is always better when we win deservedly."

He went on to say that Eintracht Frankfurt "are a team with a lot of technical quality. If we share possession it is very difficult to keep up with the pace, because the Bundesliga has a different rhythm to our league. We have to play with the team staying very compact when defending and attacking."

Amorim spoke of players like Götze, Kamada, Kolo and Lindstrom.

"They are very fast and, with space between the lines, will make the game difficult. "We have our weapons as well. We know the atmosphere we are going to face. We want to have the ball at the beginning of the game."

Eintracht Frankfurt are making their debut in the current UEFA Champions League format, but have individuals with experience in the competition, as the coach noted.

"They will be encouraged well, as we saw with the Eintracht Frankfurt fans last year across Europe. Looking at them piece by piece, Rode played for Bayern Munich, Götze has a lot of experience, as do others. They also have players who are going to debut in the UEFA Champions League. We cannot make the mistakes that we did last year in the competition. We have to play our football and take the game to the terrain that we want: To have the ball, press the opposition and not hurry."

"We have lost important players, but we have a squad which gives other things. Ugarte is very good at building play, Morita has been a good addition, and Gonçalves can be a more attacking midfielder. We have greater variability in the game," he explained.

Regarding Sporting CP's ambitions in the UEFA Champions League, Amorim repeated a familiar mantra: "We take things game-by-game. We know our limitations in relation to other clubs. We have a group in which everyone can progress, which could be good or bad. The ambition is to win the next game and see what happens."

"The Deutsche Bank Park has one of the best atmospheres in European football. We are used to big stages in Portugal, and we experienced it last season in Turkey. We will be prepared, knowing that fans like this can push the team to victory. We have to have the ball and calm them down."