The coach laments the first leg scoreline against BV Borussia 09 Dortmund

Following the 0-3 defeat for Sporting Clube de Portugal against BV Borussia 09 Dortmund, coach Rui Borges spoke in his press conference to analyse the match.

"In the first half we were clearly the better side. There was a lot of quality in every moment of the game, and we deserved to have gone into the break in front against a great team. BV Borussia 09 Dortmund started better in the second half, and when we thought about making a change, they made it 0-1. That was down to the opposition's merit.
Conceding the goal affected us, the team felt it mentally and then we lost confidence and got into a phase of the game where we couldn't play. When they have space, BV Borussia 09 Dortmund accelerate very quickly with just two touches. With more space between our lines, they were effective on two more occasions," he explained.

Asked about Viktor Gyökeres' fitness, Borges explained that the Swede "had a physical problem -like hundreds of players have. Clubs don't reveal all of the players' injuries. We don't have to specify what Gyökeres' injury is. There was also some training sessions missed by him, and that is noticeable. But the fitness deficit is not only noticeable in Viktor. Maybe in the league it isn't noticed as much, but in this competition the other side have a lot of quality and it is felt more," he added.

"Several very important players for the dynamic of Sporting CP have not been available, so it's down to me to create solutions -even if I'm without an abundance of options. Today we put players on the pitch who are looking to get back in their best shape. We are still competitive, as we saw in the first half, but we were missing that. We have to gain more rhythm in the game."

Rui Borges underlined that Sporting CP "didn't deserve such a big margin of defeat," and promised that his side would go for the return leg.

"We need to dignify the great club we represent in the best possible way. We have quality and we have to try to be very competitive," he said.

"Throughout my journey, I have really believed in our work and competence. I would like to have everyone available and I'm looking forward to that, because it means that the team get better, but while I don't I need to find solutions to be competitive. Sporting CP will fight to be Liga Portugal champions. The team have been fantastic."