The Sporting CP coach reacts to the 1-0 loss to Juventus

After the defeat against Juventus, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim said he believed that his team can turn around the tie in Alvalade in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

“Talking about justice or injustice in terms of the result isn't worth much. We are 1-0 down on aggregate and we shouldn't be behind because of the way we played, the opportunities we created and, above all, the way we conceded the goal," he told the media in his post-match press conference.

"I think it sums up the season in a way, but the good thing is that we have another opportunity. We have one more game against them, at home, but it's a game in which Juventus will play the way that they want. They have an advantage, they don't have the pressure from their fans, they can wait for us to make mistakes and we'll have to be very smart and go for the win from the start -but aware that the game is 90 minutes, that Juventus are very experienced and that they will play very comfortably."

“What we feel today is that we can turn the tie around, but for that to happen we need to beat FC Arouca this weekend -because the greatest source of motivation is to return to winning ways."

Amorim added that “it's frustrating, but I'm confident because we had a good game. We can fight back next Thursday because the score is only 1-0, but we have to be very smart. We have to understand that the game is going to be completely different, that we have to manage that and that we have the capacity to win with the help of our fans."
He also expressed his confidence in Antonio Adán, who was unfortunate in the Juventus goal.

“Here, when one player makes a mistake, we all make a mistake. Without him we would not be at this stage of the competition, nor would we have been league champions. He has the confidence of his coach because I know the kind of goalkeeper he is. Everyone at Sporting CP can still turn this tie around and forget about this first leg. We know that we can't concede a goal like that again and that we missed many chances. Against teams of this caliber, even sometimes in our league, it's impossible to win when you miss so many opportunities."