Rui Borges said on Friday that Sporting are putting the I Liga title ahead of the Champions League as they head into a demanding stretch that starts with a trip to Estrela da Amadora on Saturday at 8:30 pm. Sporting visit José Gomes Stadium in Amadora in the 29th round, three days before their second leg against Arsenal in London.
Borges was direct about the balance his side must strike after this week’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal at José Alvalade Stadium left Sporting with work to do in Europe. He said the club are not giving up on the Champions League, but that the championship remains the main objective. Sporting are second in the league with 68 points, and if they win in Amadora they will move to within two points of leader FC Porto, who do not play until Sunday.
“We really want to be champions and that is our main objective,” Borges said, adding that the players’ mental demands can drop a little at this stage of the season and that Sporting cannot let that happen. He also said the squad must stay fully switched on because, in his view, the pressure is not reserved for the bigger names at the top of the table. “We are well and confident, with the quality of play well above average, but we know that the difficulties are not just for Benfica and FC Porto, they are for us too. We have a difficult trip,” he said.
The match comes against an Estrela side that Borges described as needing points and facing “very complicated games” until the end of the season. He said they are one of the teams that rely most heavily on long passes in the championship, but that coach João Nuno has tried to turn them into a possession-based side with better attacking rhythms. Borges said Estrela are strong in quick attack, have technically gifted players in the final third and are also physically formidable, with tall players and an above-average height across the squad.
Sporting’s manager said Geovany Quenda will be called up, while João Simões is a doubt. He also said the club remain hopeful that Luís Guilherme and Ioannidis can recover before the end of the season. With Arsenal due on Wednesday and Porto waiting in the title race, Borges framed the weekend as another test of concentration rather than a chance to drift between competitions. “If we are not mentally and physically demanding, we will have problems,” he said.
