Statement from Sporting Clube de Portugal's Clinical Director

Today (Tuesday), an antidoping team left the Sporting Clube de Portugal Academy at 22h30. In 10 years as a doctor with professional teams in the first division, I have never seen such a thing happen: antidoping tests for the whole in the middle of the night, a day before a match.

In the last seven days, the club has been the subject of control four times. 7th of December (UEFA), 8th, 11th and 13th (ADOP) of December. The following players were submitted to urine and blood tests:

- Twice: Adrien, Gelson, Coates, João Pereira, Zeegelaar, Schelotto, Douglas, André, Paulo Oliveira and Meli;

- Once: Rui Patrício, Beto, Jug, Esgaio, Semedo, Jefferson, Petrovic, William, Bruno César, Alan Ruiz, Bryan Ruiz, Bruno Paulista, Elias, Matheus and Bas Dost.

We have nothing to hide and Sporting Clube de Portugal supports all measures taken in contribution to true sportsmanship and the eradication of illicit acts which damage the health professional athletes. The lack of common sense and respect for the squad shown by the undertaking of antidoping control during the night before a match is saddening. The procedure not only disturbed our afternoon training session, but also in the recovery and rest of players who have three matches in one week in addition to an eight hour plane trip. Perhaps these four controls (in seven days) could have been undertaken after the match or on the following day.

Frederico Varandas

(SCP Clinical Director)

Jorge Jesus looking forward to this week's Portuguese Cup action

Jorge Jesus sat down with the press this Tuesday evening, looking ahead to the midweek Portuguese Cup encounter against Vitória de Setúbal.

"It is good that we have this game. We are coming out of an important match, that we didn't win. We have been playing well in this competition and it is important for us to go on a good cup run", said the Alvalade boss, going on to speak about the opposition in more detail: "Vitória de Setúbal are a good side in this competition and they have won it twice. We want to get through this round and give our fans something to smile about."

France Football awards Cristiano Ronaldo a 4th Ballon d'Or

The Alvalade shotstopper Rui Patrício was named as the world's 12th best player this week by France Football.

The Portuguese international, who was also named as the Euro 2016 Goalkeeper of the Tournament, tallied a total of 6 points and finished ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba, Robert Lewandowski, Dimitri Payet, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the overall winner of the prestigious Ballon d'Or, with the Alvalade prodigy winning the award for a 4th time.

João Pereira brushes off Sunday's Lisbon derby defeat

João Pereira took a moment to speak with the press at the final whistle on Sunday, affirming that the loss will do little to shake Sporting CP's title chase.

"I thought we had a great second-half. Nothing is going to shake us, we are in the fight. Even when we were losing 2-0, we did everything we could to turn the result around. The boss looked at Benfica's weaknesses and told us how we could get at them, but unfortunately we didn't get the result", said the Portuguese international.

Jorge Jesus unhappy with the evening's refereeing

The Lisbon derby's refereeing was the obvious choice for the first round of questions in Jorge Jesus' post-match press conference on Sunday and the Alvalade boss didn't pull his punches.

“We were penalised. There were two crucial incidents that Jorge Sousa didn't see. Pizzi involuntarily controlled the ball with his hand inside the area, which led to the counter attack that Salvio scored from. Then it was another bad decision from the referee in the incident with Nélson (Semedo). We are being constantly penalised and it takes points off us. The refereeing team was not up to the standard of the big teams. We were penalised and we lost, despite being the best team. The first incident didn't give Benfica a goal, but if the play had been stopped like it should have then the attack would never have happened", said Jorge Jesus.

The Alvalade boss was also asked about his decision to bring off Bas Dost in the second-half, to which he responded: ""Dost isn't the fastest player and he was tired. We needed pace and a player who could push the intensity a bit. That was the idea behind bringing on André."

Jesus went on to analyse the evening's encounter in greater depth, considering his side the most dominant after the break: "For me, it was a good match between two great teams. Sporting CP did a lot better in the second-half and Ederson was the best player on the pitch. Rui (Patrício) didn't have a lot to do in the first-half and straight after Benfica's second goal Bas Dost hit he post. Without taking away from how Benfica played, we were beaten by refereeing decisions."

Two clear penalty appeals waved away in harsh defeat in Estádio da Luz

Sporting CP missed out in Estádio da Luz this Sunday evening (2-1), on Liga NOS matchday 13.

Jorge Jesus' side made an encouraging start to the encounter and in the space of two minutes (8' and 9') the first two chances materialised, both down the same flank. First it was Gelson who tried his luck after tricking his way into the box, but the youngster's shot lacked venom and was comfortably collected by the Benfica keeper, before Bas Dost came up an inch short of linking up with a pin point pass from Bryan Ruiz.

The game was actually brought to a temporary halt in the 15th minute, when referee Jorge Sousa was forced to ask for Sporting CP's technical area and a section of the pitch to be cleaned, due to the number of papers being thrown onto the pitch. In the second-half the same problem came up again, this time with the stadium announcer requesting the fans to refrain from throwing the papers from the evening's choreography onto the pitch.

Everything looked to be going to plan for a dominating Sporting CP, before referee Jorge Sousa failed to pick up on a handball by Pizzi after a clearance by Lindelof (24'). To add insult to injury, Salvio opened the scoring from the resulting attack. The evening's official again attracted the negative limelight five minutes before the break, this time by not punishing a handball Nélson Semedo.

The second-half got underway with a stinging shot against the post from Bas Dost (46') after a pass from Joel Campbell, who had been introduced at the break for Bruno César. Jesus was looking for an injection of pace and that is exactly what the Costa Rican brought, reflecting the work being done down the other flank by Gelson Martins. A minute after the Dutchman's attempt, Raul doubled Benfica's lead following some sloppy play in the area, before Sporting CP finally got a more than deserved goal (69') that in all honesty did little to help the fans forget the evening's refereeing.

Jorge Jesus expecting Adrien and Gelson to be available for Sunday's Lisbon derby

Jorge Jesus spoke with the press in a much awaited press conference this Saturday afternoon, ahead of a Lisbon derby that sees Sporting CP and SL Benfica currently separated by just two points at the top of Liga NOS.

"The derby is always special, independent of who the two teams are doing in the league. What the table looks like right now doesn't mean anything and both sides are under pressure. Both sides have to win. Honestly, it will be the team that controls the emotional part of the game that will be best positioned to win", opened the Sporting CP coach, before speaking about his options for the Liga NOS matchday 13 encounter: "We have had a few problems with a couple of the players since coming back from Poland, particularly Adrien and Gelson, who haven't trained since we arrived. We will see how the lads are tomorrow, we still still have a bit of time."

The press were understandably keen to provoke a reaction out of Jorge Jesus, with the Sporting CP coach having managed both Lisbon giants. However, the Alvalade boss played it cool: "Both of us lost in the Champions League and we both have the chance to be at the top of the league. We are both on the same level right now and this will be an intense game for both of us. We are confident in how we play and we know we can win the three points. The way this team has grown, both defensively and offensively, over the last 18 months means that we can deal with whatever Benfica throw at us."

To finish, Jesus highlighted the importance of the extra experience in his side, which is packed full of Euro 2016 winners: "Being a European champion is a sign of the individual quality of a player and that reflects in our team. If my memory serves be right, not a single one will be playing against us tomorrow. Each derby is a derby and this will be my 20th. It will be a really intense game and this is the kind of occasion that the players love."

Lazar Markovic shares his thoughts on Sunday's Lisbon derby

Lazar Markovic was inevitably called upon to share his thoughts ahead of this Sunday's Lisbon derby, having played on both sides of the fence.

"We will be looking for the three points for our fans and to put us top of the league. Our coach knows what he is doing and we believe in ourselves", said the 22-year old Serbian in an interview with Sporting TV, before going on to reflect in his time at Alvalade so far: "It is a great club. I am really happy to be here and I will carry on doing by best."

Information for Sporting CP fans travelling to Estádio da Luz

Sporting CP would like to note the following information for fans travelling to Estádio da Luz for Sunday's 18h00 derby:

- For security reasons, we recommend that all Sporting CP fans join the police escort being organised from Estádio José Alvalade;
- The escort will be accompanied by the PSP and will leave Alvalade at 14:00;
- The objective of the PSP is to ensure that all Sporting CP fans enter the stadium on time for kick-off

Jorge Jesus on Wednesday's defeat in Poland

Jorge Jesus pointed the finger at his side's lack of efficiency in front of goal this Wednesday, as Sporting CP's European adventure for this season was brought to an end with a harsh loss in Poland.

“It wasn't because of the referee that we were eliminated. We took on a team who believed they could qualify and a team who had already scored against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. We knew they would be dangerous on the counter attack, but that is exactly what happened in the first-half. They took the lead and then defended it. We tried to equalise and we had chances to", opened Jesus in a conversation with the press at the final whistle, adding: "We took a lot of risks in the last ten minutes, especially when we were a man down. André could have done it for us, but it just wasn't to be. Legia knew what to do and how to play. We have been missing a bit of luck, but not today. We showed that we can do better, but we didn't score."

To finish, Jesus turned his attention to the coming Lisbon Derby: "Preparation for Benfica isn't made any harder because of this loss. Time is the main issue, as we will get into Lisbon at five in the morning and will be pretty much two days without training. Of course we spent ourselves emotionally tonight, but the two matches have nothing to do with each other."