The coach talks about the game against Olympique Marseille

Sporting Clube de Portugal will face Olympique Marseille this Wednesday at the Estádio José Alvalade, on the fourth matchday for Group D in the UEFA Champions League.

In his pre-match press conference, coach Rúben Amorim praised the attitude of the Sportinguistas, who after the defeat in France last week have responded with a high demand for tickets to support the team.

“It's a great sign because it shows that, even with some bad results -especially in the league- the fans are behind the team. This is very good for us and helps us to work. Tomorrow I expect a full stadium and a lot of noise. We need that because we are going to play against a great team," he began by saying, guaranteeing that his side have learned from what happened in the match held a week ago.

“We have learned a lot from the mistakes in the first game, but also from the second half that we had against CD Santa Clara. This team cannot relax for a second, because when that happens in the UEFA Champions League we suffer and the game can be over for you in the space of nine minutes. We're always learning and we always have to be at our best”, he stressed, emphasising the quality of the opposition.

“Olympique Marseille have got a lot stronger. Before the first game, people looked at the results from their first two matchdays, when they were on zero points and we were on six, but we cannot lose sight of their ability, as they are in second place in the French league. Nevertheless, we want to win because our players have a lot of talent.”

After revealing that Jeremiah St. Juste and Jovane Cabral will not be available, Amorim also confirmed that Franco Israel would step in for the suspended Antonio Adán and reiterated his confidence in the young goalkeeper.

“Obviously he's not as experienced as Adán, but he has to start getting playing time and these moments are useful for that. We have the utmost confidence in Franco and nothing will change for us, because we have such a strong style of play that you can't change it in a week. Rather than worried, we are excited because we are going to watch these young players that we want to be the future of the club."

“He will be prepared because he has been working with us for some time. Also, he is a youth international and was at Juventus, along with stars. In addition to that, he also works daily with Vital and is prepared for everything."

 Amorim also reflected on the first game against Marseille, saying that it will not affect his team's mindset.

“Maybe we were the team that people least believed could go through, but we are in the fight. We want to get the three points, but everyone will remember what happened in the first match a week ago -which is important because we started well. The feeling that we came away with was that, when it was eleven against eleven, we were always dangerous. This certainly stuck in the players' minds and that's good. We cannot be distracted because we are going to face a great team, but I have no doubt that we are capable of winning."