The coach prepares the team's opening match in the competition

This Tuesday at the Estádio José Alvalade, Sporting Clube de Portugal host CD Nacional in the quarter-finals of the Taça da Liga.

At the press conference before the game, coach Rúben Amorim first commented on the situation with Nuno Santos, who was seriously injured in the game against Famalicão at the weekend.

"Nuno will always be here with us. We will really miss him complaining, his screams in the corridor, but he will be there and the physiotherapists will have a hard time putting up with him. We will help him, he will recover and come back stronger. He's very resilient. Of the players I've coached and known as a player, he's one of those who always wants to play -even when in pain," he told journalists.

Regarding the match against CD Nacional, the coach reminded those present that it is "a knockout game" in which "there are penalties immediately" in the event of a draw, with no margin for error.

"We really want to win this competition, just like everyone else. We are going to make some rotations because we have games very close to each other -and because we want other players to have the opportunity. It will be a Sporting CP team with starters and we are prepared for the difficulties: a longer low block, transitions that are different from those of FC Famalicão, and a defensive line of five -or even more.

Asked about the new format of the competition, Rúben Amorim admitted that "it doesn't give as much opportunity to everyone."

"This competition had the brilliant thing of having other teams other than the big sides that have already won it, but I realise that you have to listen to the calendar. It isn't so beautiful now, but it helps us with the calendar. Liga Portugal are the ones who make these choices."

After highlighting that Iván Fresneda "returned to training more in the position of winger," following a conversation between the coach and the Spanish player in which it became clear "that the future does not involve him in a centre back or fullback position," Amorim mentioned João Simões, the 17 years old, who is another option.

"Nuno Santos has incredible numbers and has that spirit. That is difficult to replace. We'll look at the options we have," he added.

Another topic that came up was Sporting CP's lack of effectiveness from direct free kicks.

"We stopped taking direct shots because we weren't performing well. In training, they score a lot of goals - especially Trincão. Before this season, we gave Seba [Coates] a lot of free kicks. Besides that, I have no explanation. Of course, we would like to score from a free kick, but we are scoring in other ways," explained Rúben Amorim.

Stating that Maxi Araújo "is an option" to fill Nuno Santos's absence, Amorim mentioned that he has no doubt that the group really want to win this season "to give some joy to Nuno."

"He has already said he could be back for the last two games of the season," he reminded the journalists, before talking about the return to fitness of Marcus Edwards.

"He trained today and will be able to play  a few minutes tomorrow,  while Eduardo Quaresma is a little further behind in his recovery."

Sporting CP and CD Nacional have already faced each other in 2024/25, in Liga Portugal in August, and Sporting CP won at Choupana 1-6.

"There was a focus on this game because we care a lot about individual characteristics. There are differences, because we've seen CD Nacional playing differently since then, and their coach changes things a lot depending on the opponents. We're a better team now and we are playing at home."

Finally, Amorim spoke again about the format of the Taça da Liga.

"Since we are making the sacrifice [of making the players play many games], we should include everyone. If we start to narrow it down so that there is a Final Four... It would be good to have all the teams in the competition. However, it's easy to talk here and organising tournaments is very difficult, so I don't want to criticise. What we coaches will be missing most is time to train, think of new ideas and set out routines."