Ruben Amorim predicts a “decent game” in Poland

Sporting coach Ruben Amorim said today during his visit to Poland on Thursday in the third round of Group D that the club needs to beat Rakow to maintain its Europa League ambitions.

“For us, this is an ordinary game in which we must win. We have ambitions in the group and we have already lost the game. We can make life more difficult or easier for ourselves,” the coach said at a press conference at the club. Raków Stadium in Sosnowiec.

Having never won in Poland, after two games in that country, always with the Legia de Warsaw, the coach is not in the spotlight and breaking this “malapata” “is a curiosity.”

The goal is always “to win” and the same can be said for the change in mentality between different competitions. “There are no major changes here,” he suggested.

As for the opponent, he sees the reigning Polish champions as a team that includes several internationals “who are playing very well.”

“They are organized and made life difficult for Atalanta, they lost the other game. [com o Sturm Graz] for one detail. Nobody knows this, but our players and technical team know,” he analyzed.

In any case, the green-white leader’s “main goal is to become national champions again”, as she was also asked about less successful games with Olivais, Moscavide and Atalanta.

“This is the main goal of our team, but this does not mean that we are going to devalue other championships. We’re going to play the best team, given the travel and the wear and tear that comes with it. Working on multiple fronts gives us strength.” Our goal is to win the game, it is very important to win the group and continue the wave of victories,” he said.

In this sense, he relativized the possibility of rotation in the “eleven” because “there is no basic eleven” but “players who play more games than others” and “the strongest team is the one that can win the game easier”.

After beating Sturm Graz (2-1) and losing at home to Atalanta (2-1), the club will be hoping for a win to move on against a team coached by a “very young” coach.

“There will be three strikers who can start, the central midfielders change a lot, including on the flanks. Two very fast central defenders. (…) This will also be a game of duels, and we must be stronger in it.” aspect,” he said.

A three-man defense means that the Lisbon team, which will have Japan’s Morita in the starting line-up confirmed by coach, will look for the “weaknesses of the central defenders”, introducing a more mobile type of play, i.e. in the second half against Atalanta.

“I foresee a decent game against a team that is unknown but has many international players. We shouldn’t devalue it like they do to us when we play against teams from bigger leagues,” he added.

In addition, Ruben Amorim mentioned Geni Catamo, a young Mozambican who was included in the options and who “could very well become a starter at Sporting”, praising his development but refusing to comment on the possibility of a contract extension.

Ricardo Esgaio, in turn, set his goal to defeat Rakov, after the match with Olivais and Moscavide for the Portuguese Cup, winning with a score of 3: 1, which “was not the best game”, predicting a meeting with a Polish formation similar to the “Lions” .

“They are a very organized team, similar to ours, but we know what we need to do to get three points. We need to win to have ambitions to progress from the group, then we will see what happens,” said the right-winger. -back.

Atalanta top the group with six points, ahead of Sporting and Sturm Graz (both three), while the Polish champions remain level in Group D after two rounds.

The Rakow-Sporting match will take place at 17:45 (18:45 local time), and will be refereed by Greek Anastasios Papapetrou.