Sporting dominate for 90 minutes but fail to break the deadlock

It isn't always the best team that wins. Despite dominating right across the board and a wealth of chances on goal against V. Guimarães, Sporting were unable to go beyond a draw this Monday night.

The match got off to an intense start, with both sides showing a willingness to get forward. On five minutes, Licá made the most of a good move down the left to find his way into the area and test Rui Patrício from a tight angle. Despite the early warning shot, Sporting showed calm and composure on the ball, moving possession around the width of the pitch in an attempt to break the V. Guimarães defence wall. João Mário commanded operations in the middle, while Bruno César and Gelson Martins carried the attack forward down the flanks and Bryan Ruiz and Slimani fought for space deep in enemy territory.

Sporting's speed looked particularly troubling for the evening's hosts and a cross dragged back by Bryan Ruiz found its way through to Coates in the area, but the defender was denied by a last ditch save from Miguel Silva. A minute later, the Guimarães keeper made another crucial stop, this time pushing a Slimani header away for a corner after a cross from Schelotto. Sporting had made their intentions perfectly clear and would well have been ahead after 20 minutes, but for Miguel Silva's heroics.

The battle for midfield raged, but Jorge Jesus' side kept the edge and largely left Rui Patrício untroubled. However, on 35 minutes Bouba Saré made the most of a failure by the linesmen to signal for offside and came close to connecting with a cross, but the Sporting keeper was on his toes and smothered the danger. Five minutes later, Otávio fired a shot inches wide of the right hand post from a free-kick. Sporting responded with another wave of attacks, firstly courtesy of a dash down the right by Gelson Martins that finished up with a shot again defended by Miguel Silva. At half-time the scoreboard remained blank, but frankly Sporting deserved more.

The second-half was much of the same and before long the team from Alvalade were on the attack. Bruno César came painfully close to converting on a cross from Schelotto that found its way across the entire 18-yard box. Jesus responded to the deadlock by throwing Teo into the action in place of Gelson Martins, putting the Colombian just behind Slimani, with Bryan Ruiz pushing out to the left and Bruno César patrolling the right. The alteration almost proved an instant fix, when a minute later Schelotto failed to find the target after a pin-point cross from Bryan Ruiz.

Coates was next to try his luck from a corner whipped in by João Mário, but Miguel Silva once again frustrated the visitors with an outstretched save. Attacks were absolutely raining down on Guimarães and next up was Bryan Ruiz after a pass into space from João Mário, but Miguel Silva rushed off his line to clear away.

On 74 minutes Slimani ghosted off the back of the Guimarães defence and looked to be through on goal, only for Josué to bring down the Algerian for a second bookable offence and resulting red card. Jorge Jesus responded with the introduction of Aquilani for Bruno César and Barcos for Slimani in a last gamble for a late goal. On 82 minutes, William Carvalho had the goal at his mercy after charging forward out of midfield, but the Portuguese international put the resulting shot wide of the post.

As the final whistle sounded, Miguel Silva was warmly applauded for his heroics between the posts, but Sporting certainly did enough to claim the points, had it not been for a lack of a clinical touch in front of goal.

The result keepers Sporting in first, one point ahead of Benfica going into next weekend's Lisbon derby.

Paulo Oliveira, Adrien and Bruno Paulista

Sporting's medical department has released the following update:

Paulo Oliveira: muscle injury to the right thigh – specialised training

Adrien: injury to the right knee and thigh – in treatment

Bruno Paulista: injury to the right thigh – treatment

Jorge Jesus includes 20 for trip to Guimarães

Jorge Jesus has included 20 players in his squad for Liga NOS matchday 24 against Vitória de Guimarães: 

Goalkeepers: Rui Patrício and Azbe Jug

Defenders: Marvin, Jefferson, Ewerton, Coates, Semedo, João Pereira, Schelotto and Esgaio

Midfielders: Aquilani, João Mário and William Carvalho

Forwards: Slimani, Teo, Bryan Ruiz, Gelson Martins, Bruno César, Hernan Barcos and Carlos Mané 

V. Guimarães-Sporting CP will kick off at 20h00, in Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.

Jorge Jesus' pre-match press conference ahead of trip to V. Guimarães

"Regardless of who we play against, games in Portugal are always really difficult", warned Jorge Jesus in his pre-match press conference this Sunday afternoon, ahead of what promises to be a tasking trop north to face V. Guimarães, on Liga NOS matchday 24.

The Sporting coach went on to speak in greater depth about how he sees Monday night's opposition: "Our league is really competitive and Vitória are a hard team to play against. We will have to be at our best to claim the three points and defend out position in the league."

Jesus also used the meeting with the press to speak about his current squad options. “Except Adrien, who picked up an injury in training in Germany, only Paulo Oliveira and Bruno Paulista are out. We will see how Adrien is tomorrow, but there is a chance he will be ready", added the Alvalade boss, before speaking about Islam Slimani, Adrien and Rúben Semedo missing out on next week's Lisbon derby if they pick up a booking against Gumarães: "Like I have said a few times, I don't save players. I won't take them out of this game because of something like that, because every game is worth three points. The next game, which in this case is Guimarães, is always the most important one."

Jesus closed the press conference by congratulating Gianni Infantino for his recent election as FIFA President "He is a great guy and he will definitely bring new ideas to the game."

Patrício, Paulo Oliveira, Jonathan, Adrien and João Mário all named in top 500

A total of five Alvalade stars feature in this year's World Soccer 500, ranking the 500 most important football players on the planet.

Goalkeeper Rui Patrício, defenders Paulo Oliveira and Jonathan Silva and midfielders Adrien and João Mário are the five named.

Alvalade to mark 50th anniversary of 3rd place finish in England

Sporting Clube de Portugal will make a tribute to Portugal's 1966 World Cup team during half-time of the Lisbon derby, on the 5th of March.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Portugal's historic 3rd place finish, which is still to this day the country's best performance in the prestigious competition.

Sporting was the most represented club for the competition hosted in England: the goalkeeper Carvalho (one match); the defenders José Carlos (two), Alexandre Baptista (five) and Hilário (played every match); the midfielders Peres (didn't play) and Morais (three); and the forwards Figueiredo and João Lourenço (also didn't play).

Also part of hte team were José Pereira, Vicente, Manuel Duarte, Germano, Fernando Cruz, Custódio Pinto, Festa, Coluna, Jaime Graça, Simões, José Augusto, Eusébio and Torres.

Jorge Jesus after Thursday's Europa League loss

Speaking at the final whistle after Thursday's 3-1 loss in Leverkusen, Jorge Jesus pointed the finger at the fatigue brought on by a packed fixture list.

“Most of the lads who started tonight didn't play against Boavista. We played really well for 60 minutes, but Leverkusen were the more pragmatic and scored. From the few chances they had they came away with goals. When I made substitutions I thought it would help the team, but actually played against us. After conceding the second we tried to respond, but they scored a third goal from a long pass forward", opened the Alvalade boss, adding: We lost against a team that play some really intense and dynamic football, but we stepped up. We can take some positives and negatives away from the game, but I liked some of the players who haven't had much time on the pitch and I think they responded well."

Jesus finished by turning his attention to the domestic campaign, where his side sit top of Liga NOS: "When I arrived, I promised I would fight for titles in Portugal. It was us who won the first trophy of the season and we are fighting hard in the most important competition. It was what was promised and we are in first. We are really happy with what we have managed to do so far."

William Carvalho and João Mário at the final whistle after Thursday's loss to Leverkusen

Sporting's midfield pairing of João Mário and William Carvalho took a moment to speak with radio journalists after Thursday's 3-1 Europa League loss to Bayer Leverkusen this Thursday night.

“We were not effective enough after we scored. We had chances to get ahead, but we didn't and that cost us", explained João Mário, preferring to move his focus onto Sporting's Liga NOS campaign: "We felt like we could get past this tie, but we didn't and now we will concentrate on the league."

William Carvalho also set his sights on the domestic campaign. "All we have to do is concentrate on the league now. We have said since the start of the season that our main focus is that and now we will get ready for Monday in Guimarães", affirmed the Portuguese international, finishing with his analysis of the evening's encounter: “They (Bayer Leverkusen) were more effective than us. We had our chances, but we didn't convert on them while they did."

Admirable performance from Jorge Jesus' side comes up short of a first win in Germany

Sporting's European campaign for this season was brought to an end this Thursday night, after a harsh 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bayern Leverkusen.

The evening got off to a frantic start, with both teams scrapping hard for possession in the midfield. On two minutes, the first chance materialised for the hosts, when Papadopoulos rose higher than the Alvalade defence to put a header wide after a cross from Çalhanoglu. Sporting were instantly down the other end, but Carlos Mané was unable to keep his shot down after a cross from Bruno César. The theme for the rest of the half had been set, with a slight advantage for the Germans courtesy in part of some sloppy passing bySporting. However, Bayer only really threatened goal once in the early exchanges, when Wendell pulled a stop out of Patrício.

As time ticked over, Sporting began to get a foothold going forward, largely due to a fantastic showing of intelligence and tactical maturity on the part of João Mário. The Germans had laid down an impervious looking defensive wall, but Sporting soon began to find ways through with flashes of creativity, like in the 26th minute when Bruno César found an inch of space and fired a shot towards goal that Leno did well to stop. Jorge Jesus' side were looking more and more likely to find the back of the net, but a quick break saw Bayer strike first when Chicharito Hernández set Bellarabi away on goal for a driven finish between Patrício's legs.

Although now trailing 2-0 on aggregate, Sporting rallied and took the fight to the hosts and after Mané had the goal at his mercy in the 36th minute, João Mário equalised with a tap in at the far post following an intelligent delayed cross from João Pereira and an initial volley from Carlos Mané that Leno parried into the path of the Portuguese international.

The second-half got underway with a change for the Germans (Mehmedi on for Brandt), followed by some wasteful finishing from both sides and some baffling refereeing decisions. In the 57th minute Carlos Mané failed to get a shot away and Leno denied João Mário from the rebound, before the evening's official failed to respond to a clash between Wendell and Wendell and Bruno César (59’).

Sporting were looking capable of taking the lead, but what looked to be a stroke of bad luck for Bayer Leverkusen (injury to Kiessling) actually worked against the visitors, with the introduction of Ramalho in place of the forward seeing the Germans bolster up their midfield in a move that gave an extra bit of freedom to their players in the final third. On 65 minutes, Bellarabi scored what will likely be a candidate for goal of the tournament with a blistering shot from range with the outside of his boot.

Jorge Jesus, who had already brought on Bryan Ruiz for Mané, rolled the dice and signaled for Slimani (in place of Teo Gutiérrez, 67’) and Gelson Martins (for Bruno César, 78’). However, the Sporting's busy fixture schedule started to show and tired legs set in as the final whistle approached. Bayer Leverkusen finally put the game beyond all doubt in the 87th minute, when Tah picked out Çalhanoglu running in behind the Alvalade backline and blasted past Patrício with an unstoppable half-volley.

Jorge Jesus' looks ahead to Thursday's Europa League showdown

While accepting that his side will face a tougher challenge in their quest to secure a historic victory on German soil this Thursday against Bayer Leverkusen, Jorge Jesus used his pre-match press conference to throw the door open for Sporting's chances of prolonging this season's Europa League campaign.

"It will be harder than it was in Lisbon. We played on Monday, made the trip and then we will play tomorrow. I will see how the players react in training later today and from there I will choose the best options for the team. Our choices are a bit conditioned, but we believe we can do what Leverkusen did in Lisbon", said the Alvalade boss, adding: "This game could set the tone for us in the Europa League. If we get through, then we are also capable of being the best teams in this competition."

Kick off is scheduled for 18h00 CET.