The squad are back from a break to prepare their next game

The Sporting Clube de Portugal squad enjoyed two days off earlier in the week, but have been back in training as of Wednesday.

Welcomed back to the group was Nuno Santos, who undertook a full session after shaking off an injury.

Those players away on international duty returned to Lisbon on Thursday, to begin preparations for a trip to Moreira de Cónegos. Sporting CP play Moreirense FC on Matchday 25 of the Liga NOS season next Monday night.

The Brazilian talks to club media about his adaptation to Sporting CP

Bruno Tabata arrived at Sporting Clube de Portugal at the beginning of the season from Portimonense SC with high expectations, and some of those are already coming to fruition. The winger spoke to club media during the international break to express his happiness with the way things are going at the club.

"When you see it from the outside, you have an idea of what a club is like - and the one that I had of Sporting CP was very good. Now, being here and experiencing it, it's even greater than I had imagined. My expectations have already been exceeded", he explained this past weekend.

The Brazilian has played 19 games and scored twice, as part of a team who have yet to lose a single game in Liga NOS this term.

"The secret is the spirit within the group", he says. "We have a very close-knit group. The season is long and everyone has their individual goals, but we all put the collective first. There is a great mix of experience and youth, which is very important in all groups and very evident in our squad. We have very experienced players and very young players, but they all have the same objective, which is to help the collective. Our results are the fruit of that", he added.

The philosophy, so successful so far this season, is unlikely to change any time soon, states Tabata. "We cannot think differently to going game-by-game. What brought us this far was that. We just don't say it for the sake of it; we really live it every week and every game. We are not looking five games ahead, and the most important game is always the next one to be played."

"My only regret is not having been able to play in front of the fans. Their support has been fantastic. It is a pity that we cannot feel their warmth at the stadium, but their support on social media and when we travel has been incredible", concluded the winger.

Liga NOS' Coach Of The Month prize presented at the Academia Sporting

Sporting CP boss Rúben Amorim joined Sebastián Coates and Antonio Adán in receiving recognition for the club's success in the month of February, as he was named Liga NOS's Coach Of The Month.

"I dedicate this award to my players, to the club and to my coaching staff, as they are the reason for this distinction," said Amorim upon being presented with the award on Thursday.

Sporting CP's 5 wins and 1 draw, as well as 9 goals scored and just 1 conceded, were masterminded by the 36-year-old coach, who -appropriately enough- received 36.60% of the votes.

The Spaniard is named Goalkeeper Of The Month for the third time

For the third time in succession, Antonio Adán received the Liga NOS Goalkeeper Of The Month award for February this Wednesday.

“Once again, I want to thank all the coaches who voted for me as the best goalkeeper for the third month in a row. It is an honour to receive this distinction again, taking into account the quality of the goalkeepers who are currently playing in Portugal. I also want to thank my teammates, who contributed a lot to this award,” said the Sporting CP shot-stopper.

Adán received 31.37% of the votes, beating off competition from Matheus of SC Braga and Léo Jardim of Boavista FC in second and third place, collecting 13.73% percent and 9.15%, respectively.

The Spanish goalkeeper played six games in Liga NOS in February, and kept a clean sheet in five of them.

The captain is recognised by Liga NOS peers

Sporting Clube de Portugal captain Sebastián Coates was presented with February's Liga NOS Defender Of The Month award on Wednesday, receiving the prize at the Academia Sporting.

The Uruguayan racked up 29.41% of the votes from coaches around the Portuguese league, ahead of teammate Pedro Porro (8.5%) and Pepe of FC Porto (7.84%)

“Thank you very much to everybody who voted for me to win this award. I also want to thank my teammates for their help. It is an honour for me to win Defender Of The Month. I hope to continue like this," said Coates.

Playing in a total of six domestic games in the month of February, Coates was his typical solid presence in defence and also scored two goals - both against Gil Vicente FC.

Unseen moments from a 1-0 victory at home

Sporting CP claimed another three points for their Liga NOS tally this past weekend, with a first half goal from Gonçalo Inácio deciding the game against Vitória SC.

Whilst fans remain unable to attend matches in person, Backstage Sporting goes behind the scenes to recap the 1-0 triumph, which included a debut for 16-year-old prodigy Dário Essugo.

Stay tuned for more footage from the dressing room, unseen shots from pitchside, and more besides, in Backstage Sporting.

A Gonçalo Inácio goal and a debut for Dário Essugo come in a 1-0 win over Vitória SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal's Liga NOS title campaign continued apace with a hard fought win over Vitória SC, whom they bested 1-0 on Matchday 24 to keep a 10-point advantage over closest rivals, FC Porto.

Without the suspended Sebastián Coates and the injured Nuno Santos, coach Rúben Amorim made two changes to the starting lineup from the recent win over CD Tondela. He fielded a first XI of António Adán, Gonçalo Inácio, Luís Neto, Zouhair Feddal, Pedro Porro, João Palhinha, Daniel Bragança, Nuno Mendes, João Mário, Tiago Tomás and Pedro Gonçalves.

Opposition coach João Henriques also made adjustments, adapting to the suspension of his two first choice centre backs. Bruno Varela, Amaro, Jorge Fernandes, Mikel, Sacko, André André, Pepelu, Lameiras, Edwards, Estupiñan and Rochinha were all in his initial lineup.

Os Leões came close to an opener on 15 minutes, off a shot from João Mário that was kept out by Bruno Varela. Immediately afterwards, Pedro Gonçalves nearly made it 1-0, first from a tame shot and then from a strike against the woodwork from a Pedro Porro cross.

A disallowed goal for Tiago Tomás caused controversy, as VAR adjudged that the ball had gone out of play at the start of the move. Protests fell on deaf ears, and Sporting CP had to do it all over again.

Adán was finally tested just before the half-hour mark, parrying an Edwards shot. This was followed by an off-target header from Estupiñan that served as another warning.

The goal eventually came on 42 minutes, via a set piece. João Mário put the ball in, Tiago Tomás crossed and João Palhinha attempted a header, but it fell to Gonçalo Inácio. He nodded the ball across the line to hand Sporting CP the lead, although it was not without a delay to the celebrations: the goal was initially ruled out for offside, but after consulting VAR, referee Tiago Martins reversed the decision and awarded it.

After the interval, a Vitória SC side trailing the game offered up more of a threat, but were incapable of troubling Adán. The hosts probed with a Tiago Tomás shot from distance, kept out by Bruno Varela.

Rúben Amorim decided to shuffle the pack on 71 minutes, incorporating the returning Paulinho -back from injury- and Tabata in place of Tiago Tomás and Daniel Bragança. That made Sporting CP a more attacking side, albeit without an abundance of opportunities.

An exciting moment came with the introduction of Dário Essugo, a midfielder who made his debut for the first team just days after his 16th birthday, in a 10-minute cameo.

There was no change in the scoreline before the end, and Sporting CP took their 20th league victory of the season -setting themselves up well going into the international break.

"This is only the beginning", says 16-year-old talent

Just days after turning 16 years old, and in the week that he signed a professional contract with the club, Dário Essugo made his senior debut for Sporting Clube de Portugal in the game against Vitória SC. The midfielder thus became the youngest player ever to appear for the club.

Essugo spoke to Sporting TV after the game, expressing his delight with the opportunity.

"It is an indescribable feeling and it is something I have always wanted. I have always dreamed of this moment", he said.

"To have achieved this and to be the youngest player in history to debut for Sporting CP is a source of pride for me. I can only thank everyone who made it possible: thank you very much".

The teenager joined Sporting CP in 2014/2015, and upon the culmination of a long-term goal, said that "It's different with the first team. This is another level, but my teammates supported me on and off the pitch, and that made me feel even more relaxed".

"This is only the beginning. Now I have to continue working to continue to achieve more individual and collective goals with this club. I just have to thank Sporting Clube de Portugal for giving me this chance".

The coach runs the rule over the game against Vitória SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal are back at home this Saturday to play sixth-placed Vitória SC in Liga NOS action. In his press conference ahead of the match, head coach Rúben Amorim spoke about the opposition, absentees in his side and international callups as a reward for excellent performances.

"Vitória SC are a very good team. They are not in good form, but there are no better games than these, against the big sides, to change that. Our focus has been on the quality that Vitória SC have in their squad," he told journalists.

"They have absences in defence [center backs Abdul Mumin and Easah Suliman], but up front they have players amongst the best in Portugal, who can decide a game. Our objective this week has mainly been to continue to improve our team."

Sporting CP will have absences of their own, with the recent positive COVID-19 tests for Matheus Nunes and Vitorino Antunes meaning they join Sebastián Coates (suspended for five yellow cards) and João Pereira (shown a red card when on the bench against Tondela) on the sidelines.

"It is always bad to have cases of COVID-19; from the beginning we have done everything to avoid them, but there are things that we can't control. When a positive test comes up, we have to be even more rigorous, if possible, and keep testing and protecting the players. On Saturday we will use the players who are available, and we have many of them," added Amorim, who may call on some young talents.

"We have a lot of young players as well, and these situations give us the opportunity to bring them in to train and work with us."

One player who is back available is forward Paulinho, guaranteed the Sporting CP coach: "He is another option, and therefore that is good news for our team. We can play in different ways and Paulinho can offer us other things in terms of the creation of opportunities, more aerial play and more in the area, so he is someone else that can help, making the team stronger."

Sporting CP continue to lead Liga NOS with 61 points, ten more than their nearest rivals, and remain undefeated in the competition. However, Amorim still sees room for improvement.

"The other teams are also well prepared and we have to evolve as a team. We have more time together now, and the squad have already acquired everything we gave them in the first phase, so now we are trying to introduce other nuances. The important thing is to win and to improve the way we play -and our fluidity," he pointed out.

Finally, the coach expressed his satisfaction with the debut of Nuno Mendes and João Palhinha in a Portuguese national team squad list, and also for the first callup for Pedro Porro for Spain.

"It is due to their merits and that of their teammates. They have worked and evolved a lot. Nuno Mendes played some games for the under-23s when in the under-19s side, and now after a year he is a full international. I think [João] Palhinha's callup is because he has different characteristics to all the players in that position for Portugal.

"As for Porro, we gave him confidence and our system helps him, as he is better defensively and has more intensity. Now he is going into a completely different world with the Spain team. He has to take advantage of the moment, but tomorrow there is still a game to be played."

The squad's preparations continue for Matchday 24

The Academia Sporting was a hub of activity on Thursday, as the Sporting CP first team trained ahead of their game against Vitória SC.  

Absent from the session, the penultimate before the Liga NOS Matchday 24 encounter, was winger Nuno Santos, due to tendinopathy in his left thigh.

A 10am session awaits the squad on Friday, with coach Rúben Amorim giving his pre-match press conference at the Artur Agostinho Auditorium of the Estádio José Alvalade at 6:30pm.

The match against Vitória SC kicks off on Saturday at 8:30pm local time. In the reverse fixture, held back in November 2020, Sporting CP ran out 0-4 winners thanks to goals from Nuno Santos, Pedro Gonçalves (x2) and Jovane Cabral.