Rui Borges and the downfall of Sporting: “I don’t have to apologize to anyone”

Athe cable of two victories, before Galatasaray (by 3-1) and Lens (by 0-2), Sporting suffered, on the third day, that which was the first defeat in the league phase of the Champions League, this time, before the LASK Linz, in the middle of José Alvalade Stadium, by 2-3, in a game in which he even put himself in advantage, right at the fifth minute, through a great penalty converted by Luis Suárez.

At the press conference that followed the final whistle, Rui Borges sought to explain what failed, discarding any kind of “ghost” from the last Lionnian outburst before the Austrians (in October 2020, for the Europe League, by 1-4) and devaluing the protest by the adherents: “I don’t have to apologize to anyone.”.

“The game took us to a level of physicality that we probably did not expect. LASK wasn't what it was today in the last few games, in strategic terms, it led us to a physicality we weren't expecting. It was different from Lens. Today, we had more moments with ball in offensive organization and with more time in the opposing midfield, but we lacked this big team growth ", he said.

“At the moment with the ball, we may have to have more patience and not miss so many passes. Today, I believe it has a lot to do with this despiration and lack of energy, more than growth pains. But of course this leads us to be more consistent, balanced and to grow, mainly, with games where the demand leads us to have more ball and other capacity ", continued.

“Perhaps, as our team is quite different from last year on an individual level, we cannot wait for what they were doing last year in the indoor game. They're different players and it's going to take some time to grow up in these aspects, but they give us other things. Today was a lot of despiration and some lack of energy. We cannot equal the physicality of the opponent ", completed.

“ We have an obligation to do more”

The coach of the green and white emblem also ensured that this ‘slip’ had nothing to do with a supposed increased pressure by the ‘Alvalade Court’, considering that the last game there played ended with a two-ball draw with Arouca (in this case, for the I League), which also gave rise to a ‘wave’ of contestation.

“ We were not able and we have an obligation to do more, regardless of whether the opponent has zero points or not. They have merit for being here, the opponent has quality. We have an obligation to do more, but we have not been able. And in the future, we have to do much more, if we want to win games in the Champions League, either at home or out ", shot.

“ The pressure is the same and the will is the same, which is to win. We'll always do everything for that. It was a less successful game, but nothing to do with Arouca's game. The championship... They are different things”, completed the mirandelense, before the journalists.