The coach is confident of a turnaround against Arsenal

Following their 0-1 defeat in the first leg, Sporting CP face Arsenal this Wednesday away from home in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Having just arrived in England, coach Rui Borges gave his usual pre-match press conference at the Emirates Stadium.

The mission ahead
“I’ll be very cold about things: The team have to be true to ourselves. Just as we have been so far, regardless of the opponent and the competition. I don’t need to talk about ‘hunger’, because this team demonstrate the ambition, courage and pleasure we have in every game. We also have to enjoy the game, with the responsibility of going after something unprecedented for the club. We are aware of the difficulties we'll have against a great Arsenal side, and of doing what no one has done yet: Beating this team in the Champions League. We know this, but we believe very much.

The importance of the Champions League
“I'm calm and our driving force is ambition. We are among the eight best teams in the competition, when perhaps no one thought Sporting CP would be, and it is the result of the individual and collective quality of this team. There will be two great teams on the pitch and it will be an important week for us. We are at the end of the season, the games are becoming increasingly decisive, but we are still involved in every competition and want to win them. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, nothing erases this team's great season.”

Exclusively focusing on Arsenal
“We are fighting for a place in the semi-finals, so it's the most important game right now and we're going all out for it. We do so with enormous ambition and courage, thinking solely about this game and wanting to win. That's what we want, to continue making history for the club. Our focus tomorrow is only on the game against Arsenal.”

The message given to the group regarding this week's challenges
“My message is clear and if there's one week I don't need to talk to them, it's this one. For tomorrow, they are worried about knowing the starting XI, because everyone wants to play. They already know the responsibility of representing Sporting CP and, therefore, I don't need to wear myself out too much in that sense, but rather on the idea for the team and resting them so they are fresh throughout this week. I look into their eyes and feel the desire to play the game and believe in going through. Both football and life give opportunities to those who believe strongly, and if there's a team that believe strongly, it's this one.”

Recent negative results for Arsenal
“We're talking about a great team. It's natural that a great team don't always win, but I think it will motivate them even more. They'll be very 'switched on' and with high intensity to advance to the semi-finals. I believe that one or two less successful games don't define the season they're having and the great team they are.”

Iván Fresneda as a confirmed absence 
“He has been an important player for us and he has had a great season, but he is not one hundred percent fit and, therefore, we opted to leave him in Lisbon. Tomorrow's game demands one hundred percent from everyone. Edu gives us some things there and is a competent full-back, Vagiannidis is a natural, offensive full-back, and Blopa gives us speed, intensity and competitiveness. There are three different players we believe in and who can play."

Possible absences for the opposing side
"It doesn't make things difficult. We're talking about a team that have three great players in some positions. Of course, the characteristics change their behaviour in strategic terms, but it doesn't change their identity. Coaches and players have to have the ability to read the game to neutralise that."

The reasons for believing
"It's what brought me here: My work. If there's a team that believe, that is ambitious and committed, it's this one. It's a sign that we have the capacity to do it. Things happen for a reason, I'm very positive and this team, when put to the test, have the quality to overcome the challenge. In the last 20 games at home, Arsenal have two defeats. We know the difficulties, but we have this hope and we believe it can happen."

The importance of the game in the coach's career 
"It's another important game for me." We are in the competition that everyone dreams of playing in. First and foremost, it would go down in the history of Sporting CP, and that's what we want. This team deserve to make history for Sporting CP. That's what I feel, because it's a great group. It's about believing. 

The value of the two squads
"It's subjective. A Mercedes goes 200 km/h, but a Peugeot does too, and the Mercedes is worth twice as much. We have to know the shortcuts, the road, and know how to maybe get ahead of them."

The opponent's strength on set pieces
"They are a great team from set pieces, but they haven't scored goals like that in a long time. They earned that reputation through their competence. They have players who, in ten free kicks, put ten in the area the coach asks for, and then there are always six or seven players who are very athletically strong in duels. They are a very strong team on set pieces, but we have also been strong, and I am very confident in the team's ability."

The role of counter-attacks in the match
"Sporting CP are not only strong on the counter-attack, and the first game showed that, especially since possession was balanced. We like to have the ball, that's what we will try to do, but we know that in these games there may be more moments of quick attacks, where we have to be deadly. We know there may not be many opportunities, just like in the first leg, where we had more and still ended up losing. Above all, we have to be very balanced at all times during the game.”