Holders out of the Portuguese Cup

With 99 minutes on the clock, Slimani is on-side and latches onto a pass to make it 4-3 to Sporting, only to see his goal wrongly ruled out. This Wednesday night's Portuguese Cup trip to Braga will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, with the match's refereeing weighting heavily on the final result. Despite the debatable officiating, it was also a highly entertaining game of football, with both teams putting on a tactical master class packed full of goals. At the final whistle, Braga edged it and revenged last year's final with what was amazingly only Sporting's first domestic defeat this season.

The opening exchanges were the starting gun for the encounter that could develop in the Braga Municipal Stadium, with both sides pushing the intensity and pace going forward. After just two minutes João Mário forced a save out of Matheus, before his brother Wilson Eduardo responded down the other end with a shot that ended up wide of the mark. Sporting were first to tally on the scoreboard, when Bryan Ruiz made the most of a hashed clearance in the 10th minute to make it 1-0.

The placement of Aquilani next to William and Adrien in the middle of the park added an extra spark to Sporting's possession recovery and passing and it was the Italian himself who could have doubled his side's lead, but Matheus stood firm. A minute after the half-hour mark, it was Baiano who was unable to convert on a good chance. The encounter looked to be heading for the break after a calm first-half, but Rafa's apparent foul on William was waved away and Wilson Eduardo was free to race and beat the isolated Rui Patrício three minutes before the whistle.

The second-half started with another blistering effort by Ruiz, but this time Matheus was able to stop the Costa Rican. In response, Alan managed to convert on a cross from Marcelo Goiano down the left to make it 2-1 in favour of Braga. Sporting needed just five minutes to rally back up the other end and Slimani equalised after connecting with an Aquiliani cross. Turning the result on its head for the third time in the match, William popped up at the edge of the area to fire a shot into the top corner and put Sporting back into the lead.

The game looked resolved, but seven minutes from time Marcelo Goiano drifted in from the left to beat Rui Patrício against the run of play. Tired legs kicked in as the game moved into extra-time that was essentially decided by a just a couple of forays forward.

Jorge Jesus with the press ahead of tomorrow's visit to Braga

Jorge Jesus was with the press in the Estádio José Alvalade Auditorium this Tuesday afternoon to speak about this week's Portuguese Cup visit to Braga.

“We Know that this is a cup match with very specific characteristics. No points can be won and it will be decided on the day. In my opinion, Sp. Braga is the team closest to the big three in terms of quality. We know that this will be a difficult match because of of the quality of their players and because they have a good coach, but we are confident", affirmed the Alvalade boss, adding: "The fact that we will travel to Braga means that we won't have time to prepare for the match. We have just focused on recovery like Braga have, who also played on Sunday. The most important thing is that luckily we haven't picked up any problems, with the exception of Teo who we already knew about. It will be a hard game and we will suffer a lot, because Sp. Braga will make life difficult for our defence."

In parallel, Jorge Jesus responded to a question on complaints being made by Sporting's rivals about match refereeing, while highlighting that Sporting are top of the league on merit: Look, the Refereeing Council is the same, the president who picks the referees is the name. What is changed is that Sporting is in first and people aren't used to it. That is all that has changed, everything else is the same. Nobody can take credit away from us for what we have done in every competition. We won the first trophy this season and we are at the top of the league with 11 wins and 2 draws in 13 matches. Now we are playing in the cup again, where we have already beaten one of our rivals and we will face the same team we did last season in the final. The people who are speculating are doing so because they were not expecting a strong Sporting at the top of the league."

Sp. Braga-Sporting will get underway at 20h00 on Wednesday the 16th of December, in the Braga Municipal Stadium.

Portuguese Cup visit to Braga

Sporting Clube de Portugal would like to release the following information for Wednesday the 16th of December's Portuguese Cup visit to Braga:

- Sporting fans leaving from Lisbon should meet at Estádio José Alvalade at 13h00.

- Preparations have been made for Sporting fans to meet at the Decathlon next to the stadium at 18h00.

Jorge Jesus' side drawn against the in-form Germans

The Europa League draw this Monday morning has set Sporting against the German side Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayer Leverkusen was founded two years before Sporting, by two employees of the pharmaceutical company Bayer. Hailing from the North Rhine-Westphalia region, Leverkusen have a UEFA Cup (1988) and German DFB Cup (1993) to their name and have finished fifth in the Bundesliga on five occasions (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2011).

The German side currently sit in sixth place in their domestic league, with seven wins, three draws and six loses. Leverkusen's European campaign this season actually started in the Champions League, but a difficult group topped by Barcelona and Roma saw them eventually finish in third.

In terms of previous encounters between the two sides, Sporting have drawn one and lost three, in the 1997/98 and 2000/01 Champions League group stage. In fact, Leverkusen represent a bit of a curse or the team from Alvalade, with Sporting never actually having managed to win a game in Germany in European competition.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN STATS

- Founded: 1st of July 1904

- Stadium: Bay Arena (30,210)

- Coach: Roger Schmidt (German 48 years old)

- 2014/15 Season: 4th in Bundesliga

- Current Season: 6 in Bundesliga after 16 matches

- Main Players: Lars Bender, Cälhanoglu, Bellarabi, Chicharito and Kiessling

- Last XI used (B. Mönchengladbach, 5-0): Leno; Hilbert, Toprak, Tah, Wendell; Kramer, Kampl; Bellarabi, Cälhanoglu; Chicharito and Kiessling

Jorge Jesus on his side's 3-1 win over Moreirense

Jorge Jesus was understandably pleased after watching his side extend their run of Liga NOS wins to seven.

“Some of the players we used didn't play on Thursday and that brought quality to the team. We scored first, which was really important for us to manage the fatigue. The lads did well, but better at some moments than others. We could have held down possession a bit better. I thought that William and João Mário in the middle would help, but it created a bit of instability. It was a shame for us to concede from a penalty, but football can be like that", opened the Alvalade coach.

Jorge Jesus went on to share his thoughts on Wednesday's Portuguese Cup visit to Braga: "We will of course be feeling confident for our next matches, because we have been winning. There is no reason for us to feel any different with the results we have been getting. Braga is always a hard match and it was like that when I was the coach there as well. It is another difficult match that we will face."

Gelson Martins' reaction after his first goal in Alvalade

Gelson Martins was back on Jorge Jesus' team sheet this Sunday, this time putting in an instrumental performance in his side's 3-1 win against Moreirense. Speaking at the final whistle, the young winger proved happy with having contributed with the first goal of the evening.

“It was an important win. We played well, we scored early and we got our seventh consecutive win. It was my first goal in Alvalade and hopefully I can contribute with more", said Gelson Martins, before speaking about the coming Portuguese Cup encounter with Braga and the league meeting with FC Porto come the new year: "We always play to win, against FC Porto or any other team. The team is feeling confident right now for our next game against Sp. Braga and we will go for win."

Sporting tally 7th consecutive win with strikes from Gelson Martins, Aquilani and Slimani

Sporting breezed to a comfortable 3-1 win against Moreirense this Sunday evening, on Liga NOS matchday 13. Gelson Martins and Aquilani were on target in the first-half, with Slimani bagging the third after the break.

Jorge Jesus' charges quickly set out their stall at the opening whistle, throwing men forward and stretching Moreirense out wide. Esgaio broke down the wing with the first attack of the evening and set up Bryan Ruiz at the edge of the box, but the Costa Rican was unable to keep his shot down. Sporting were determined to find the back of the net early and two minutes later Stefanovic's goal was again under threat, this time with Teo creating space down the left and whipping a dangerous cross into the box that the visiting keeper did well to clear.

Again Sporting pushed forward and again Moreirense could do little but bunker down. A hashed clearance landed at Gelson Martins' feet at the edge of the area, but the young forward put his shot straight at Stefanovic. Next to try his luck was Slimani, after Teo battled back possession high up the pitch, but Stefanovic was again at hand to deny keep the scores blank. Moreirense finally broke a minute before the half-hour mark, when a quickly taken free-kick released Gelson Martins in the area to finally beat the visiting keeper.

The early goal did little to slow the Sporting charge and Moreirense could barely get out of their own half as attacked continued to rain down. Searching for a second, some persistent work from Gelson Martins saw the younger float a cross in for Slimani, but the Algerian's header ended up in the hands of the grateful Stefanovic. However, the save was just delaying the inevitable and on 37 minutes Slimani held down possession deep in opposition territory before picking out Adrien. The Portuguese international spotted the on rushing Aquiliani and the Italian midfielder obliged with a tap in finish to make it 2-0.

The second-half got underway with Moreirense's best chance so far, when Luís Carlos put in a dangerous cross that the Alvalade defence did well to turn away. Sporting responded with a third goal, this time from the penalty spot after Slimani was brought down in the area. The Algerian himself took the spot kick and although his initial effort was stopped by Stefanovic, the imposing striker reacted well to convert on the rebound.

Although trailing by three, Moreirense responded with some attacking play of his own and were only denied by a fantastic save by Rui Patrício after a shot by Boateng. However, the Portuguese international keeper could do nothing to extend his streak of clean sheets when Rafael Martins converted on a penalty. The goal boosted the visitors' morale and a handful of attacks followed, but Patrício was proving to be in impervious form and pulled off another fine stop.

João Mário had a chance late on from range, but his shot was kept out by Stefanovic. Another win for Sporting - the seventh consecutive in the league - and another three points to keep Jorge Jesus' side at the top of the table.

Euro 2016 draw places Portugal in Group F

Portugal has been drawn in Group F of Euro 2016, along with Iceland, Hungary and Austria.

The Portuguese will begin against Iceland in Saint-Étienne, before facing Austria in Paris and finally Hungary in Lyon.

Rest of the draw in full:

Group A: France, Romania, Albania and Switzerland

Group B: England, Russia, Wales and Slovakia

Group C: Germany, Poland, Northern Ireland and Ukraine

Group D: Spain, Czech Rep., Turkey and Croatia

Group E: Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Italy

Nuno Almeida for Liga NOS matchday 13

Nuno Almeida, 40, from the Algarve Football Association, has been named to take charge of Liga NOS matchday 13, between Sporting and Moreirense.

Paulo Ramos and Pais António will act as linesmen.

Sporting-Moreirense will kick off at 18h15 on Sunday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Jorge Jesus' pre-match press conference ahead of Moreirense

While accepting that his team is flying high right now following Thursday's Europa League win, Jorge Jesus cautioned to the danger posed by the visiting Moreirence this Sunday.

“It is another game on top of a midweek game for us. The team is feeling good, because winning if of course the best remedy. The lads are on a high right now and tomorrow will be business as usual for us: a defensively oriented team, who have already taken points off one of our competitors. It will be difficult to find space as it always is and we will see is we have the capacity going forward to score", opened the Alvalade boss, adding: “Sometimes the games you would think are easier are actually harder. You just can't predict it and if we did then we would all be bet. Our league is really competitive, but all that matters is that we defend first place, regardless of who we play against."

Revealing that Ewerton will be included in the squad, Jesus highlighted that consistency will be the key in the run at the end of the season: "What determines the league are the last matches of the season, that is where the winner is decided. Of course to get to the end of the season with a chance you have to win now. Right now we are in first and the squad is feeling really confident. We deserve to be in first and now we want to defend that position."

To finish, the Sporting coach responded to a question on what is the best squad he has worked with to date, as well as Thursday's Europa League win against Besiktas.

“The situation here at Sporting is new for me and for the players. Everyone is really excited about what we are doing, but we have to carry on growing and I believe that we will be even better in the second half of the season. The players have shown a great level of intelligence and it has been a pleasant surprise. With my way of training, intelligence is really important. The way we work needs the players to make use of different resources beyond just simple quality. I honestly am really surprised at how far we have come in such a short time."

“(Besiktas) was a really important game for us in the Europa League and I didn't think we would keep our cool the way we did. If we can have the stadium tomorrow the way it was on Thursday, it would be the best way to help the team win."

Sporting-Moreirense will get underway on Sunday the 13th of December at 18h15, in Estádio José Alvalade.