Despite controlling the contest, the team lose 1-0 to SC Braga in the semifinal

Sporting Clube de Portugal's Taça da Liga campaign came to an end with a 1-0 defeat against SC Braga in the semifinals, sending them home from Leiria unable to defend the trophy.

The Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa was sold out for the Final Four game, with the overwhelming majority in the stands being Sportinguistas. Rúben Amorim made changes to his starting lineup from the game against Vizela: Antonio Adán and Paulinho were rotated out, as Franco Israel and Marcus Edwards came in.

Sporting CP were looking for their ninth consecutive victory in all competitions and fourth consecutive presence in the Taça da Liga final, and demonstrated this throughout the first half, laying siege to an unresponsive SC Braga. That was despite the opposition being the first to shoot, after two minutes, when Ricardo Horta's effort was easily saved by Franco Israel.

From then on, it was one-way traffic. Little by little, Sporting increasingly controlled possession and dangerous chances. On 11 minutes, the first of them came about: A move on the left saw Pedro Gonçalves play to Francisco Trincão to shoot, with Matheus saving. Soon after, and surprising everyone in the process, Gonçalves decided to strike from very far out, only being denied by the woodwork.

Trincão threatened again in the 23rd minute, with Matheus intervening, and both Gonçalves and Nuno Santos narrowly missed the target midway through the first half. SC Braga managed a timid response in the 34th minute, when Zalazar shot wide from distance, but Sporting CP were very strong at both ends. On the offensive, Sebastián Coates gave Matheus problems and, from the resulting corner, Nuno Santos smashed a shot against the bar.

Going into the break, Eduardo Quaresma had an excellent solo move end with a strike wide, and off a tidy counterattack, Nuno Santos sent a trivela against the upright.

Bad luck prevented Sporting CP from reaching the break in front after an opening 45 minutes that featured 11 shots and 62% possession.

The pace dropped slightly in the second half, but Sporting CP continued to be the only team continually looking for a goal.

In the 54th minute, from one of the first moves in which he had space in the entire match, Viktor Gyökeres was sent through by Marcus Edwards and put his left-footed shot wide. Soon after, from another counterattack, the Swede tried to return the favour to the Englishman, but a defender cut it out.

Gonçalves combined with Francisco Trincão and another strike found its way wide, then Nuno Santos applied too much power to his own chance.

The opportunities seemed endless, but the ball didn't seem to want to go in and SC Braga, in their first chance of real danger, put the ball into the net. Zalazar crossed and Abel Ruiz headed in to make it 1-0.

Amorim decided to send on Matheus Reis and Paulinho to replace Sebastián Coates and Ricardo Esgaio, but it was SC Braga who threatened in the 69th minute, when Zalazar took advantage of a Sporting CP error to shoot straight into Matheus Reis.

With 15 minutes remaining, Franco Israel made two tremendous saves: first from Víctor Gómez's shot and, off the rebound, from Ricardo Horta.

Trincão and Gonçalves both had unsuccessful efforts before the end, as a harsh 1-0 scoreline eliminated Sporting CP from the competition.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Eduardo Quaresma, Sebastián Coates [C] (Matheus Reis, 68'), Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio (Paulinho, 68'), Morten Hjulmand, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards (Daniel Bragança, 76'), Francisco Trincão and Viktor Gyökeres.

The squad prepare for Monday's home game in Liga Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal returned to training this Friday at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete, starting preparations for Monday's Liga Portugal game (8:45pm local time) against Casa Pia AC at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Coach Rúben Amorim called up six B team players for the session: Lucas Anjos, Geovany Quenda, Francisco Canário, Emanuel Fernandes, Guilherme Pires and Martim Botão.
Iván Fresneda continued his work with the club's Medical Department.

Os Leões will train on Saturday morning behind closed doors.

The coach previews the final four stage of the competition

Sporting Clube de Portugal take on SC Braga this Tuesday (7:45 pm local time), at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria, in the semifinals of the Taça da Liga.
Coach Rúben Amorim dismissed the fact that their opponents have won just one of their last four games, insisting that they will provide a tough game.

“We only need to look at last season. In the quarter-finals, SC Braga were doing very well in the league and we were not -we had been eliminated from the Taça de Portugal and the Champions League- but we managed to win. It will be almost a final around the city of Leiria and everything that has happened in the league will have no influence," the coach began by saying at his pre-match press conference, highlighting his desire to win the competition again.

“We spent a season without winning trophies, so it became mandatory to win silverware this season. We have this opportunity and I value the Taça da Liga a lot, because I won several as a player and it had a great meaning when I won it with SC Braga, in a difficult stage at the beginning of my career. It was a decisive moment for us, the coaching staff, to gain confidence to carry out our work."

Analysing SC Braga, he told journalists “They are opponents who can change some players, as they have been doing throughout the season, and that changes the way they play. If you play Bruma, he is different from Rony Lopes. We are talking about internationals, they have a very good squad and one of the best coaches in the club's history. I expect a very tough game between two teams who want to reach the final and get the trophy. For us, it is mandatory to win trophies this season and we want to start that now.”
Amorim then confirmed the starting roles for Franco Israel, a goalkeeper who has been in the XI for every Taça da Liga game so far this term, and Francisco Trincão, who is in excellent form and has scored in three of the last four games.

“They will be two of the starters, in response to the impact they have had on the team, the importance they have and how we believe in them,” stressed the coach, revealing that Matheus Reis and Jeremiah St. Juste will be in the squad.

 “St. Juste is very limited in terms of playing minutes, but is another option for this match. Matheus Reis has recovered, trained for two days and he felt good, so we’ll see.”
As for the attack, the coach did not want to reveal Paulinho's possible starting role alongside Viktor Gyökeres.

“I'm not going to say if Paulinho will play with Gyökeres. I said Trincão would play but Artur Jorge doesn't know which side that will be. If I say that Paulinho will play, then he will know where Trincão will play”, he said, before informing that Pedro Gonçalves “is a doubt.”

 “He has a problem with his foot, tomorrow we will test him out and we will see."

Amorim concluded by talking about the current format of the Taça da Liga.

“I am more in favour of this group stage, even though it is shorter. Although it is set up to have a final four with the best teams, and this can be seen by the attention it creates, all professional teams must have the opportunity to compete. I am speaking against myself because it overloads our schedule, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices so that everyone has the opportunity to compete and to give more value to the competition.

"A Taça da Liga in which all professional clubs participate has more value than just the four main clubs competing against each other. I like this format because it gives everyone a chance to play and I value the competition a lot, because a trophy is a trophy and it's a chance for Sporting CP to get silverware again this season."

The coach reviews the 2-5 win over FC Vizela

After the match away to FC Vizela, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim reflected on the 2-5 win in his press conference. He started by addressing the team's offensive capacity at this stage of the season.

“It has a lot to do with the quality of the players, who are starting to get to know each other better and better, and also with the teams we faced, who are courageous and give us some space when they are trying to press higher. We now have this characteristic of attacking from deep," he began by telling the journalists.

“The goals in this game, because of the moment they came, were important, but it is worth highlighting the way we continued to play in the same way even after conceding first of all. FC Vizela scored two goals and rarely reached our final third. It's not a good feeling, but we created a lot of chances and are difficult to defend. Then, with the disadvantage on the scoreline, FC Vizela tried to get a little more on top of us, we had space and we killed the game off.”

“It was a very competent game from the players, and they were very strong under pressure."

Asked about the performance of Viktor Gyökeres, who added two more goals to his tally, Amorim did not hide that the Swedish striker “plays a vital role” in the way Sporting CP attack at the moment.

“There are players who define teams. We had that a bit with ‘Pote’ in our first season here, when he was very regular in his scoring and assisting. Now Viktor gives us a different ability to go deep. He transforms the team because he makes us more dangerous at all times in the game. He has great physical attributes that come through especially at the end of the game."

However, the coach then extended his praise to more members of the squad.

“We are dependent on all the great players, like Marcus [Edwards], who has now dropped off a bit because he was ill and Trincão came through. When one is out, there are opportunities for others and we never know what will happen”, he underlined, before speaking about the position at the top of the table with 46 points.

“We are top, but there is a lot of competition. The players have to focus, as all it takes is a draw and we lose the lead. There’s not much that we have to do other than win, game-by-game.”

“All tickets have been sold out very quickly and what we can guarantee is that we will always do our best, but there is still a long way to go,” he commented in praise of the fans.

A second half spate of goals earn victory on the road

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat FC Vizela 2-5 on Matchday 18 of the Liga Portugal season, making it 8 wins on the bounce in all competitions and keeping them top of the table.

On a cold night in the North of the country, Viktor Gyökeres (twice), Francisco Trincão, Paulinho and Sebastián Coates all found the net for Sporting CP.

Opponents FC Vizela started the game 17th in the league, with 13 points, but Rúben Amorim took the challenge seriously and almost repeated the starting XI from the 0-3 victory away to GD Chaves. He only made one change: Captain Coates returning in place of Matheus Reis, who was absent at the last minute due to flu. Ousmane Diomande, Hidemasa Morita and Geny Catamo were away on international duty, and Jeremiah St. Juste and Iván Fresneda both continued to recover from injuries.

Sporting CP began the game in an authoritarian manner, pegging FC Vizela back into their midfield and providing two serious warnings in the first five minutes. However, both Nuno Santos' header and Viktor Gyökeres' shot were blocked by Hugo Oliveira and Rodrigo Escoval, respectively.

The home team, with the least prolific attack in the division, only needed one opportunity to take the lead before the quarter-hour. From a cross into the box, Soro headed in to make it 0-1.

Sporting CP had gone two games without conceding a goal, and their equaliser could have come soon after, but Gyökeres couldn't take advantage of a perfect pass from Nuno Santos, hitting the post. A few minutes later, the Swedish striker had a shot at goalkeeper Fabjan Buntic, while FC Vizela responded with a quick counterattack, sent wide by captain Samu.

It was during a very hectic period of first-half stoppage time that Sporting CP put the ball into the net: After a masterful pass from Trincão, Paulinho burst into the area and made it 1-1, however, the goal ended up being disallowed for offside by VAR.

Nevertheless, the persistence continued and was rewarded in the 8th minute of stoppage time. Gyökeres, who at the beginning of the move had a shot blocked by Buntic, struck low into the net to level.

Just a minute into the second half, after a recovery high up the pitch by Paulinho, Trincão crossed low from the right. The ball, without contact from Gyökeres, ended up going through and ended up being a goal in a third consecutive game for the number 17.

With great aggression after taking the lead, Sporting CP recovered several balls in the opposition midfield, and it was in one of these moves that they would extend the advantage. Trincão crossed into the area and Paulinho headed in his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.

The game was not resolved, however, and FC Vizela once again proved to be lethal in attack. Moving upfield at speed, Essende beat Antonio Adán in a one-on-one and scored shortly after the hour.

After Buntic denied Trincão a goal following a corner kick, it would be from another dead ball that the final blow was delivered. Pedro Gonçalves took the free-kick and captain Coates headed in brilliantly to take it to 2-4.

From that moment on, Sporting CP had complete control over the pace of the game and managed the remaining minutes with great confidence. Included were two late chances for  Gyökeres, one of which saw him set up by Daniel Bragança for his 13th goal in the league and 22nd of the season.

Next up is a change of competition, and a trip to the Final Four of the Taça da Liga. Sporting CP take on SC Braga on the Tuesday in Leiria.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Ricardo Esgaio, Eduardo Quaresma, Sebastián Coates [C] (Rafael Pontelo, 90+1’), Gonçalo Inácio, Nuno Santos, Morten Hjulmand (Daniel Bragança, 60’), Pedro Gonçalves (Dário Essugo, 90+1’), Francisco Trincão, Paulinho (Marcus Edwards, 79’) e Viktor Gyökeres.

​The coach previews the game against FC Vizela

The coach talks about a complete performance against GD Chaves

Reflecting on his side's 0-3 win over GD Chaves in the last game of the first half of the Liga Portugal season, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim highlighted his players' ability to adapt to the adverse conditions of the pitch, which due to the heavy rain created an unpredictable surface far from ideal for playing along the ground.

“When we managed to play well, we took the ball forward. After that we adapted, especially in the second half with long balls. We managed to control the game and created several chances, despite having missed some opportunities at the beginning of the game. Those misses could have made things more difficult because the result was always up for grabs," he began by saying at the press conference after the match.

“It's completely different going into halftime in the lead, compared to it being level. From the moment we scored, we felt more confident in changing our way of playing, taking into account the characteristics of the pitch. The impact of that goal was very big, not only mentally but also physically and, mainly, strategic.”

“We almost didn't allow GD Chaves to create chances, because we were always too far from areas where they could cross. We always pushed and pressured the opposition, because we knew they were dangerous. I'm very satisfied with the commitment and cleverness of the players in blocking the runners to prevent them from crossing. They followed the plan and I'm very pleased that we didn't concede goals, but mainly that we didn't allow them any opportunities. We were competent in that aspect, and it was a complete game played according to the conditions."

Amorim then justified his replacing Eduardo Quaresma with captain Sebastián Coates at halftime.

“It was a difficult choice to make. We started to see at halftime that it was difficult for the ball to move around fluidly, and we were losing some second balls in Quaresma's area of the pitch, despite him being the best central defender to hit passes to Esgaio and Trincão. He was doing very well, but then strategy comes in. We wanted to put Seba and the best players for headers on: Inácio is very good with his head and so is Seba. We already had an advantage and, as the game was going to turn into us playing long balls, even with pressure we could get more balls into the air. That's why Luís Neto came on, because he's also stronger off long balls. Quaresma was having an excellent game, but was sacrificed to protect the team. He will be ready for the next game,” he assured.

A trio of goals give victory against GD Chaves

Sporting Clube de Portugal took a 0-3 win home from their road trip to GD Chaves, rounding off the first half of the season as outright leaders in Liga Portugal.

On a very cold night with a smattering of rain, they were clearly the better team against the league's basement side. A 0-1 lead at the interval was followed up in the second half with two goals in the space of just four minutes, confirming a seventh consecutive victory.

Without Hidemasa Morita, Geny Catamo and Ousmane Diomande, away with their respective national teams, coach Rúben Amorim made four changes to the XI from the match against CD Tondela in the Taça de Portugal: Antonio Adán, Eduardo Quaresma, Matheus Reis and Morten Hjulmand all came in, whilst Marcus Edwards returned to the squad after recovering from injury.

After a somewhat lukewarm start to the game, not helped by the mixed state of the pitch due to accumulated water, Sporting CP tried to take over and create the first clear scoring opportunities.

GD Chaves goalkeeper Hugo Souza proved decisive and prevented an opening goal from two consecutive moves: In the first, he blocked a header by Viktor Gyökeres from the  heart of the area, as well as Esgaio's rebound. In the second, a few moments later, in almost a carbon copy, he denied Gyökeres again, and then Steven Vitória cut out the second ball shot by Francisco Trincão.

From here on, Sporting CP began to completely dominate the match, against a GD Chaves who rarely had the ball. Pedro Gonçalves threatened with two shots, the first of which went just outside the post and the second that was saved by Hugo Souza when through on goal.

Close to halftime, in the 44th minute, and after much persistence, they were rewarded with a deserved goal to make it 0-1. Following a corner from the right side, Paulinho took advantage of two bad clearances from the opposition defence and stabbed the ball into the net, handing his team the lead.

In the second half, with Sebastián Coates subbed on, Os Leões practically decided the game by scoring twice in the space of just four minutes. In the 52nd minute, Trincão followed up a cross from Nuno Santos, hitting a looping shot that left no chance for the goalkeeper. In the 56th minute Gonçalves took advantage of a bad clearance to make it 0-3 from outside the area.

With nothing to lose, and with the playing surface in increasingly worsening conditions, causing the ball to stop still in some areas, the home team advanced their lines and had more of the ball. However, they never managed to trouble Adán, who was but a mere spectator, and in the final stretch it was Sporting CP that came closer to scoring.

Gyökeres tried to score off a pair of moves in which he got through on the far side, even forcing Hugo Souza to make a great save on one occasion, but the action gradually petered out before the final whistle and a tremendous win for Sporting CP.

With this result, Os Leões end the first half of the season top of the league with 43 points. Another away game is coming up on Thursday, against FC Vizela.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [C] [GK], Eduardo Quaresma (Sebastián Coates, 45’), Gonçalo Inácio, Matheus Reis (Luís Neto, 85’), Ricardo Esgaio (Dário Essugo, 85’), Morten Hjulmand, Pedro Gonçalves (Daniel Bragança, 79’), Nuno Santos, Francisco Trincão, Paulinho e Viktor Gyökeres.

The coach reacts to a dominant victory over CD Tondela

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat CD Tondela 4-0 to make it to the quarter-finals of the Taça de Portugal, and coach Rúben Amorim reviewed the game in his post-match press conference.

He began by commenting on the debut of Rafael Pontelo, who started at the Estádio José Alvalade.

"I liked how he did. Obviously he has a lot to do, with training, gym work, a new city and new teammates. He made his debut after eight days here. It was stipulated that he would play 45 minutes and he looked natural. His teammates and the game helped because we killed the match off early. There will be growth and he has a lot of potential."

Of the performance as a whole, he said that  "We didn't start with the right speed and the first chance came from CD Tondela. Then we developed our play, with good combinations, but we could have had a different tempo. We took the lead, scored three goals, and we managed things in the second half. Sebastián Coates came on when he had to. It was a competent showing."

Asked about the reason for his side's prolific attacking production in 2023/2024, Amorim explained that this is due to "the players up front, who have talent. The routines help, as well as the calendar sometimes."

After commenting that Daniel Bragança "felt a twinge in his foot, but I don't think it's a big deal. If it was something serious it would be a problem, but he's fine, as far as I know," the coach spoke about the evolution of Viktor Gyökeres.

"He's doing better because he knows the way we play and his teammates better. What he is learning is the different moments of the game. He was on a team who used a lot of transitions, but now he's on a team with a lot of possession and he's adapting to that. He's improving and becoming a more complete player," he considered.

Regarding the competition in goal, with Franco Israel being the player chosen on Tuesday,  Amorim reiterated his confidence in his two goalkeepers.

 "We look at Franco Israel and we see a mature goalkeeper who gives us confidence. I won't say who will play, I won't promise anything. They have to work and we have the utmost confidence in both Antonio Adán and Franco Israel."

Finally, he spoke about Morten Hjulmand and the differences in relation to other names who have played in the same position.

"He's a player who has different characteristics from João Palhinha and Manuel Ugarte. I can't say which is the best. It depends on the opposition, the way of playing, the moment in the game, his teammates. For his age, Morten Hjulmand is very mature and has adapted very quickly. In terms of his timing in the game, he is better, and in other things they were better," he stated.

Sporting CP cruise past CD Tondela in the Taça de Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat CD Tondela 4-0 in the Fifth Round of the Taça de Portugal, securing a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI, including giving a debut to new signing Rafael Pontelo. On the bench, the highlight was the return of Sebastián Coates to the squad, with Marcus Edwards dropping out at the last minute due to flu-like illness. Youngsters Diego Calai, Dário Essugo, Eduardo Quaresma, Chico Lamba and Afonso Moreira, all from the youth team, were also among the substitutes.

There was dominance from the opening whistle from Sporting CP, but the first clear opportunity was for CD Tondela: In the ninth minute, from outside the area, Rui Gomes forced an excellent save by Franco Israel, who tipped the ball onto the post.

The  response was strong and, soon after, Nuno Santos set Paulinho up for a shot into the side netting. Moments later, Sporting CP opened the scoring; Viktor Gyökeres worked well on the right, placed the ball into a dangerous area and goalkeeper Leo Navacchio blocked, but Nuno Santos still got a shot off that hit a defender. On the rebound, Pedro Gonçalves made it 1-0.

Five minutes later, Gonçalves got his second: Navacchio made a mistake when CD Tondela were bringing the ball out, and gave possession to Daniel Bragança, who immediately assisted for Gonçalves to provide another quality finish. It was the Portuguese international’s ninth goal in 2023/2024.

After the initial scare, Sporting CP were on the rampage. In the 20th minute, Daniel Bragança shot from distance for a parry by Leo Navacchio, and the goalkeeper then denied Paulinho off the follow-up.

Shortly afterwards, it was Trincão's turn, in a good position, and Navacchio had to intervene again. At the other end, from one of CD Tondela's rare attacks, Rui Gomes headed wide.

The third goal became a reality in the 37th minute, when Trincão picked out Santos and he crossed for Gyökeres, who headed home.

Before half-time, Paulinho also put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Sporting CP held a healthy 3-0 lead at the interval.

Morten Hjulmand and Matheus Reis came on for the second half, with Gonçalves and Pontelo going off, and not even a minute had passed before Sporting CP scored again.

CD Tondela once again made a mistake in the build-up and Gyökeres was in an unforgiving mood, intercepting the pass, going round the goalkeeper and shooting into the empty net. It took him to 20 goals for the season and increased the lead to 4-0.

In the 52nd minute, another great opportunity for Paulinho was cut out by Navacchio with a beautiful save. Shortly afterwards, Daniel dos Anjos, with a direct free kick, forced Franco Israel into action.

Gyökeres and Gonçalo Inácio made way for Afonso Moreira and Coates, with the latter returning after almost a month on the sidelines.

CD Tondela had a consolation goal disallowed for offside, and Paulinho's cutback hit the post off a defender for Sporting CP, whilst late on a quick attack saw Essugo tee up  Trincão for a shot wide. In the 90th minute, it was Trincão's turn to deliver with a great pass, but Paulinho was denied by Leo Navacchio.

The 4-0 win takes Sporting CP through to the next round of the cup competition. They will now travel to GD Chaves for another round of Liga Portugal, with the match scheduled for 6pm on Saturday, January 13th, at the Estádio Municipal Eng. º Manuel Branco Teixeira.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Luís Neto [C], Gonçalo Inácio (Sebastián Coates, 59'), Rafael Pontelo (Matheus Reis, 46'), Ricardo Esgaio, Daniel Bragança (Dário Essugo, 73'), Pedro Gonçalves (Morten Hjulmand, 46'), Nuno Santos, Francisco Trincão, Paulinho e Viktor Gyökeres (Afonso Moreira, 59').