Lion’s claw landed on feet in Europe

It was a proud and energetic Sporting CP who drew 1-1 against Juventus this Thursday but ended up knocked out of the Europa League with a 1-0 first-leg loss in Turin.

Amorim asked the crew to calm down, but the lion entered in a hurry. With direct football, he brought danger to the gates of the Italian.

The José Alvalade Stadium was buzzing with the arrival of the team, but a bucket of cold water arrived soon after as Rabiot took a confusing corner to make it 1-0. A goal that made the lion’s task even more difficult as he had to recover from Turin’s disadvantage. But this European lion is different. It’s fearless. Brave.

He stood up from a blow to the stomach inflicted by Rabiot, and went to fight. The unbalanced Edwards and the all-terrain Ugarte appeared.

The Englishman looked like a master key, opening gaps in the Italian defense. In one of these races, he went into the penalty area, and Trincao even dodged the post. The ball fell on Ugarte, whom Rabiot knocked down in the penalty area. Great penalty that Edwards took and famously converted (1-1).

The Italians were startled. As happened in the first match, which was also dominated by the lions. The lion carousel created labeling problems at the front. In addition to a mobile attack with Edwards, Trincao and Pote, Nuno Santos, Ugarte and even Diomandé appeared in front, striving for the goal.

In the second half, Juve looked more aggressive and twice came close to scoring thanks to Vlahovic.

Gradually, the “lions” eased the pressure and approached the gates of the Italians, although they did not create real scoring chances. And Esgayo even had a goal on his feet, his shot came out strong, but from above.

Already in desperation, center Coates was a centre-forward and nearly scored in the 88th minute. The lion landed on its feet.

Ugarte and Edwards
Ugarte was in everyone, he attacked and defended, and did not even convert a penalty. Marcus Edwards, on the other hand, seems to be built for big games.

It was unbalanced and may have attracted a few more fans.

lion efficiency
In this, Juventus is not superior to Sporting, but the inefficiency of the lion’s attack is striking. Creates good scoring chances, but does not score. At a high level, you can’t lose that much.

Good on penalties
On the right at the signal for a penalty for Rabiot’s foul at Ugarta. A few minor errors in terms of fouls in midfield, he handled the disciplinary chapter well, even yellowing Edwards for simulation.

“They were lucky in a draw, we were better in both games”
“I felt that we were the best team, but that’s subjective. They were lucky in the draw, we were better in both games. details of small groups,” said Ruben Amorim at the end of the meeting, clearly disappointed with the result.

As for the next games, the Sporting manager said he just wanted to win “as many games as possible without thinking about classification”. Meanwhile, Amorim misses the league game against V. Guimarães due to suspension.