Iron Lion draws in Europe

Ruben Amorim made it clear this Wednesday, especially in the first half against the team he chose for the third time this season (again without a win), Atalanta, that Sporting’s main priority is the League, with the team leading the league. competition with a very difficult trip to Arouca.

The problem, however, is that the lion’s game in the first half was submissive to the transalpine power, and the coach had no choice but to put on the field some of the main weapons (especially Gjokeres and Julman) in order to avoid damage and see them close at the gates of Europe . While it was true that the second 45 minutes featured a more balanced left, it was equally true that the Italians were the better side and found another excellent opponent in Alvalade’s woodwork – Coates also taking the ball on the post… after his opponent had evened three times.

After Paulinho opened the scoring with a killer pass from Trincao, who was very well served by Mateus Reis (17m), Sporting endured seven minutes of pure horror – two balls in the post, two defenses from Israel and a precious strike from Coates. – and when the draw happened (it’s incredible how it happened), Atalanta were already masters of the game.

It’s clear that Amorim takes pride in what he does, and with these changes he was looking for balance. But at the other end Gasperini did the same and the second half was an “oh my God” moment for the Lions, especially the last 10/12 minutes. This means Europe hasn’t locked down yet, but if the lions haven’t learned Wednesday’s lesson well…

Paulinho good times
Called to lead Leonin’s attack, Paulinho performed admirably in Gyokeres’ absence. For the goal he scored, for the yellow card Hien received, and for everything he did to bring balance to the core.

This Edwards… doesn’t work
It’s easiest to say that Edwards is going through his worst stretch of the season. It was important to know the reasons. There is no doubt that Sporting expected a lot from him in this Wednesday’s game, but even Amorim did not have the patience…

Very disciplined German
A good game from the best referee in world football. Disciplinarily, the German received a yellow card four times and decided better in a disallowed goal against Toure (87′).

And
Alternative gyokers
Swedish striker Gjokeres was used as a substitute this Wednesday for the second time this season. The other was with Dumiense (8-0) in the Portuguese Cup.

“Everything is open”
“It was a difficult game. It’s very difficult to counter the way they play because it’s not normal to play one on one. But everything is open, and we go there to try to get through. Difficult to do analysis. now, but we need to see what we can improve,” said striker Paulinho, the scorer of León’s goal, this Wednesday.

“I felt like it was more about survival than the game.”
Ruben Amorim returned this Wednesday to highlight that the team is going through a moment of declining physical strength. “This was already felt in the previous game, and again we felt a little lack of energy. We were lucky with three balls in the post, we also sent one, but we are in the round, and we will see in Italy,” he said. Coach Leonina at the end of the match.
“It’s one thing when there are three days between games, another thing when there are two. The team feels tired even while running, but we participate in all competitions. [Esta quarta-feira]At times it seemed to me that it was more about surviving than playing and sharing a draw,” lamented the Lions coach, who is confident of reaching the next stage of the Europa League. “To play better, we just need to recover a little better.” . We keep the score in a draw, no away goals are scored and we always play to win. Everything is open,” the coach emphasized, justifying the starting line-up: “Only those who did not see the game with Farense did not see that Ghiokeres was at the limit, he lost almost all the individual matches.”

Fans criticized tickets costing 85 euros
On pro-Sporting websites, several fans criticized the price of tickets for this Wednesday’s game, which reached €85 for non-club members. Sporting will put tickets for the second match on sale in Italy this Thursday – from 16:00 and exclusively online. Each ticket has a single price of 25 euros.