Supertaça preview from coach and striker Paulinho

Sporting Clube de Portugal will face SC Braga this Saturday in Aveiro, as the Supertaça opens the 2021/22 season. Ahead of the game, Rúben Amorim and Paulinho gave a press conference to talk about their preparation for the contest.

Coach Amorim acknowledged that the upcoming campaign "will be much more exhausting" than the previous one, but assured that he has his team ready to overcome any obstacles that may arise.

"It will be a huge challenge, competing in different competitions. We have more responsibility and we have to face this as something exciting, without any fear," he stated.

"We had a very good season, with some very low points when we were eliminated from competitions. We have to pay attention to those moments and make sure that the players are prepared. At Sporting CP there is a lot of demand and we have to deal with that. We are looking ahead to the new season with enthusiasm."

He also warned that, although Sporting CP do not have "the same budget or the same experience" as their direct rivals, their biggest responsibility "is to use common sense"

"Sporting CP fans want more every day. I draw attention to this so that no one clings to a trophy win to fall back on if something goes wrong."

As for SC Braga, Amorim believes they will cause more difficulties than Olympique Lyonnais did in the Troféu Cinco Violinos a few days ago.

"SC Braga will be different from Olympique Lyonnais; they know Sporting CP better. (...) Let's not kid ourselves. That last game doesn't tell us anything, as it was preseason. This will be very difficult. SC Braga have the ability to fight to win every match. They don't have the same responsibility, but that's a big advantage. It's good for the team and for the club. They're a very experienced team, but they don't have the same history as the big three. They have grown a lot, but there are things that take a long time to build."

The media had a first chance to ask the Sporting CP coach about signings, and he commented on the current squad.

"We have the squad that we want. I really like all the players, who all have different characteristics. We were looking for young players; we sought out Ricardo Esgaio because we are going to have more competitions to play in. Rúben Vinagre is a talented player. They are two players who were brought up at Sporting CP."

"Winning the next game gives us a trophy, and that is the most important thing".

"I don't know what the season will be like, but there's no doubt that Sporting CP are better than last year, because we are playing better. We're more of a team and we have more experience. Winning the next game will give us a trophy, and that's the most important thing."

In Paulinho's opinion, Sporting CP are in good shape for Saturday's game.

"We've had a month to work well and get into the routine. We're prepared for the game. Last season's trophies give us no guarantee that we have the victory in hand. The month of work that we've done gives us the guarantee that we are prepared, as well as the confidence we have in ourselves and in our teammates," he expressed.

Sportinguistas will be back in the stands, something that Paulinho will experience firsthand for the first time since joining the club, he stated that "in the final moments or in more tense moments, their support is essential. They give us extra strength. Sporting CP fans are eager to see the team that were league champions."

"I want to score in every game, but what matters is tomorrow's game and the focus is on this."

"When I arrived here I was coming back from an injury and I felt a lot of difference in the pace I was at. I got injured again and I never had enough consistency to perform at my best level. I believe that this preseason has already given me that," he concluded.

The coach is impressed by the Troféu Cinco Violinos showing from his side

Following the 3-2 triumph for Sporting Clube de Portugal over Olympique Lyonnais in the Troféu Cinco Violinos, coach Rúben Amorim analyzed the game and expressed his happiness with the performance from his players.

"It was an excellent game for our team, against opposition who are not just any team. We were a little looser physically than in the Algarve, which is normal. Everyone was able to prepare for the game that matters, which is the Supertaça. Obviously, I'm satisfied, but we know it's only preseason and things don't count for anything except for gaining rhythm and creating routines to start the season well", the coach said.

Asked about the showing of Paulinho, who scored two goals against the French side, he praised the striker, but also brought up the impact of Tiago Tomás, who entered the game in the second half: "Paulinho is a player who has more minutes, but it's important to emphasize what Tiago Tomás did and the way he improved his heading game to win first balls. He had a goal ruled out by centimeters for offside. His ability to understand the game and when to press are all good. Paulinho is proven and Tiago Tomás is getting better. I'm very satisfied with his development."

Amorim expects the Supertaça game to be much more of a demanding encounter for his side, commenting that "I don't know if the level of intensity will be higher, but the level of pressure will be, and also SC Braga know us. We're going to draw conclusions and improve what we need to improve. We conceded two goals today, which is not good, but we have a lot of good things from preseason to take advantage of and take into the Supertaça", he added.

Regarding the players who arrived later in preseason due to commitments with their respective national teams, Amorim warned that extra care needs to be taken with them: "Coates played an excellent game and it seems that he hasn't stopped, but we have to handle this with care. There are no 'starters' in our team, there is a group. They are all prepared for the Supertaça. Now, the players who were very important last season and who had international duty need time, and we have to take care with them."

Finally, he commented on Nuno Mendes' withdrawal in the second half: "Nuno Mendes is, perhaps, the player who has the most difficulty, because he was injured with the national team. Then he came back and we still had some recovery work to do with him. He perhaps takes a little longer than the others to get back into shape. We're going to do some individual work with him. It's nothing serious, just a knock to the head."

The team end preseason with a 3-2 win against Olympique Lyonnais

Sporting Clube de Portugal won the annual Troféu Cinco Violinos competition for 2021, beating Olympique Lyonnais 3-2 in their final preseason game of the summer.

In addition to the game marking the return to the Estádio José Alvalade, there was also a return for Islam Slimani to the stadium: The Algerian striker, now an Olympique Lyonnais player, represented Sporting CP between 2013 and 2016.

Rúben Amorim fielded a starting XI consisting of: Antonio Adán, Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates, Zouhair Feddal, Ricardo Esgaio, Matheus Nunes, João Palhinha, Nuno Mendes, Pedro Gonçalves, Jovane Cabral and Paulinho.

Paulinho was involved in the first chance of the game, heading a Ricardo Esgaio cross off target on six minutes.

In response, however, Olympique Lyonnais broke the deadlock to take the lead, when Houssem Aouar latched onto a pass from Moussa Dembelé and struck the ball into the back of the net.

The goal did not change the Sporting CP strategy, and two more chances followed at the end of the opening quarter hour: Paulinho hit the post with a shot, and Pedro Gonçalves put goalkeeper Anthony Lopes to the test.

Finally, on 31 minutes, Sporting CP made it 1-1. On the counterattack, Jovane Cabral set Pedro Gonçalves free with an audacious pass, and 'Pote' rolled the ball through to Paulinho. Although thwarted on the first attempt by Anthony Lopes, Paullnho converted the rebound.

It took just four more minutes for Gonçalves to get a goal of his own, when Gonçalo Inácio played a perfect pass to his feet and he converted the chance.

Although the team remained unchanged for the second half, the kit used did not: Sporting CP debuted their new away strip in its first public appearance.

The team continued to search for goals when the second period got underway: Jovane Cabral's great sprint down the left ended with a ball to Pedro Gonçalves at the far post, which he narrowly missed putting away.

Sporting CP did make it 3-1, in the 49th minute. In a magnificent move, Nuno Mendes recovered the ball in midfield, exchanged passes with Jovane Cabral and played to Pedro Gonçalves on the opposite flank. He picked out Paulinho for a clinical finish.

Anthony Lopes had to make a great stop from Nuno Mendes, before Rúben Amorim began to ring the changes: Nuno Santos was introduced in place of Gonçalves. then Rúben Vinagre for Nuno Mendes. This was followed by wholesale substitutions with 20 minutes remaining, as Sebastián Coates, João Palhinha, Jovane Cabral and Paulinho went off and Matheus Reis, Bruno Tabata, Gonzalo Plata and Tiago Tomás came on.

A Tiago Tomás goal was ruled out for offside by VAR, but Sporting CP remained in the lead. Tomás had another chance that was saved, amongst a series of opportunities for the home team.

There was still time, however, for Olympique Lyonnais to reduce the lead in the final minute of play, through former Sporting CP player Slimani.

3-2 winners of the Troféu Cinco Violinos, Sporting CP's next fixture comes against SC Braga in the Supertaça, on July 31st in Aveiro.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán, Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates (Matheus Reis, 69'), Zouhair Feddal, Ricardo Esgaio, Matheus Nunes, João Palhinha (Bruno Tabata, 69'), Nuno Mendes (Rúben Vinagre, 63'), Pedro Gonçalves (Nuno Santos, 57'), Jovane Cabral (Gonzalo Plata, 69') and Paulinho (Tiago Tomás, 69').

The squad prepare for the game against Olympique Lyonnais

Sporting Clube de Portugal's preparations for the Troféu Cinco Violinos game saw the team train on Saturday at the Academia Sporting, working on fitness and tactics with coach Rúben Amorim.

The preseason fixture features Sporting CP against French side Olympique Lyonnais, and will take place at the Estádio José Alvalade at 9pm local time on Sunday.

Pedro Porro, who continues to receive treatment on an injury, was the only absentee in the training session.

Os Leões beat French opposition 2-0 in preseason friendly

Sporting Clube de Portugal recorded another positive preseason result with a 2-0 win over Angers SCO, continuing to ready themselves for the start of the league campaign.

At the Estádio Bela Vista in Parchal, where Os Leões drew 2-2 against Portimonense SC previously, Rúben Amorim fielded a starting lineup of Luís Maximiano, Luís Neto, Gonçalo Inácio, Zouhair Feddal, Ricardo Esgaio, João Palhinha, Daniel Bragança, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Tabata, Paulinho and Pedro Gonçalves.

In the first half, the team had some difficulties imposing their play and reaching the opposite area, as their French opponents were always very compact and had plenty of possession.

A first opportunity to score came on 35 minutes, when Ricardo Esgaio crossed from the right and Paulinho headed straight at goalkeeper Petkovic. At the other end, Luís Maximiano had more work to do, especially from set pieces, but managed to keep the opposition at bay.

In the second half, Amorim made two changes, with Antonio Adán and Nuno Santos replacing Maximiano and Daniel Bragança -which led to Bruno Tabata moving into midfield.

The coach would soon put in Rúben Vinagre in place of Nuno Mendes, and Sporting CP had occasional forays into the Angers SCO area. On one such chance, the deadlock was broken: Paulinho forced Mandréa to put the ball out for a corner, and after some confusion in the area, Gonçalo Inácio shot into the net with a French defender still trying to clear off the line.

That was the signal for further substitutions, and Matheus Nunes and Jovane Cabral came in for João Palhinha and Pedro Gonçalves.

Angers SCO put Adán to the test from set pieces, but it was from open play that he needed to produce two good saves to deny Taibi and Bahoken. Sporting CP reacted to this with a goal from Paulinho, after Nuno Santos broke into the area and struck the woodwork -the striker putting in the rebound to make it 2-0 on 86 minutes.

Os Leões will play the Portimonense SC Under-23 side in a behind-closed-doors training game on Wednesday, to end their camp in the Algarve.

The defender talks about his second preseason at Sporting CP

Zouhair Feddal will soon begin his second season as a Sporting Clube de Portugal player, but his opportunities to interact with fans have been limited so far due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, less than a month out from the start of the season, the Moroccan answered questions on the club's official Twitter account from the Algarve, where the team are undertaking a preseason training camp.

He also took further time out to chat with Sporting CP's official media about the summer and the season ahead.

"I feel better than last year," he explained. “Preseason is for us to find the best possible way of playing, and we are working well with the idea of reaching the Supertaça against SC Braga in the best shape. We're all training well and playing practice games against teams that work really well. That's why everything is going good so far."

“We are very happy when we are together as a group. It's the strength of our team. We are like a family and we like spending time together, training and also playing around. Everybody already knows that Nuno Santos and Eduardo Quaresma are always joking around -although when it's time to work we are all serious- and the atmosphere is very good,” stated the Moroccan international.

In the preseason camp there are 19 first team players, with several newcomers to the fold from the youth ranks. As one of the more senior members of the squad, Feddal sees this as a good opportunity to bring in new faces.

“The kids do their best when they train with us. They are very willing to succeed and have to take advantage of the opportunities that the coach gives them. He has a lot of confidence in them, and it's up to us to help them out. I was also helped when I was younger, and I know how the situation is. I hope that this year more youngsters can reach the first team and that they have a good career."

Feddal also looked ahead to 2021/2022, which promises to be a demanding campaign.

"That's football. We work to play many games and participate in the best competitions, like the Champions League. However, just like last season, we will take things game by game. We won't think about anything else."

“We have a young squad, with only a few players over the age of 30, and we are very hungry. We want to achieve great things and that's why we're going to work with great humility,” he concluded.

Porro undergoes treatment

After a week of training and preseason friendly games in the Algarve, the Sporting CP squad had another session in Lagos on Saturday morning.

Amidst intense heat, coach Rúben Amorim ran a demanding session that involved both ball work and tactics.

Pedro Porro, who was injured during the training game held last Thursday, underwent treatment rather than participate with the rest of the group.

Sporting CP will remain in the Algarve until Wednesday, when they return to Lisbon to continue the preparations for their Portuguese league title defence.

The team triumph 2-1 against Belenenses SAD

Sporting Clube de Portugal were in action for the second time in as many days this Thursday, beating Belenenses SAD 2-1 in their second preseason friendly -part of the club's training camp in the Algarve.

The match, played in Loulé at the Estádio Algarve, saw Rúben Amorim field an entirely different starting XI from that which drew against Portimonense SC (2-2) the previous night. Chosen for the task were a young side consisting of: Luís Maximiano, Zouhair Feddal, Luís Neto, Rodrigo Fernandes, Pedro Porro, Dário Essugo, Bruno Tabata, Flávio Nazinho, Jovane Cabral, Tiago Tomás and Nuno Santos.

The team started well and took the lead after just five minutes, thanks to an own goal by Sandro off a shot by Pedro Porro. Unfortunately, that was followed by an injury to Porro three minutes later, and he was replaced by the returning summer loan signing, Rúben Vinagre.

Bruno Tabata then came close to making it 2-0, with a low shot that Luiz Felipe pushed out for a corner.

Despite Sporting CP's superiority, it was Belenenses SAD who scored next, levelling the game with a goal from Ndour.

Tiago Tomás was making life difficult for the opposing defence, and it was through his endeavour that Sporting CP would go back in front: Sandro hauled him back in the box, with Jovane Cabral stepping up to convert the resulting penalty.

Five minutes later, after an excellent pass from Cabral, Nuno Santos also sent the ball into the net, but his goal was ruled out for offside. Before the break, Belenenses SAD came close to equalising again, as Afonso Sousa forced Luís Maximiano to make a good stop.

Before the second half got underway, coach Rúben Amorim brought on Pedro Gonçalves and João Palhinha in place of Jovane Cabral and Dário Essugo. The Belenenses SAD coach took the opportunity to make three substitutions.

In the 57th minute, Amorim made further moves, resting Vinagre for Nuno Mendes to be introduced. The defender did not take long to set up Tiago Tomás for a shot that required goalkeeper Luiz Felipe to push the ball away.

A new incumbent between the sticks was also tested before the end, as Tiago Tomás fired a shot Álvaro's way on 76 minutes, but the score remained 2-1 at the final whistle.

The next warmup game for the team is scheduled for Sunday at the Estádio Algarve, against Belgian side Angers SCO.

The team are held to a 2-2 stalemate in a preseason friendly

Sporting Clube de Portugal drew 2-2 in a Wednesday friendly with Portimonense SC, as part of the preseason training camp in the Algarve. Held at the Estádio Municipal da Bela Vista, in Parchal, the match saw goals from Gonçalo Inácio and Daniel Bragança.

For this fifth game of preseason, Rúben Amorim fielded a lineup of Antonio Adán, Eduardo Quaresma, Gonçalo Inácio, Matheus Reis, Gonçalo Esteves, Matheus Nunes, Daniel Bragança, Ricardo Esgaio, Tiago Ferreira, Paulinho and Joelson Fernandes.

Gonçalo Esteves and Joelson Fernandes – who combined especially well with Matheus Reis – were the creative forces in the first half, with the winger sending in a free kick that Inácio converted on 28 minutes, putting Sporting CP ahead.

In the 40th minute, Joelson Fernandes also had a chance on goal, but Ricardo Ferreira saved the shot. Matheus Reis would then hit the woodwork..

Os Leões went into halftime with a slim lead, and Amorim decided to maintain the same eleven players for the restart -while Paulo Sérgio changed the entire Portimonense SC team.

The match remained evenly balanced, and Portimonense levelled on 60 minutes through Renato Jr. Adán had kept out a Ricardo Esgaio deflection from a free kick, but the striker turned in the rebound.

With 30 minutes to play, Sporting CP –who remained unchanged until the end – went searching for another goal. Matheus Nunes nearly provided it with a shot just over from the edge of the area, but it was up to captain Daniel Bragança to find the net on 85 minutes with a beautiful goal, having been set up by Paulinho.

Portimonense SC would get back on terms before the end, however. After a punch clear from Adán, the ball hit Matheus Reis, Gonçalo Inácio couldn't get it away, and Renato Jr. made it 2-2 just before the final whistle.

The goalkeeper speaks at the start of preseason training camp

Antonio Adán is back with the Sporting Clube de Portugal squad to prepare for his second season at the club, and his second preseason training camp in Lagos.

Speaking after the first session in the Algarve, the goalkeeper explained his feelings ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

"It is a joy for us to be here. We are at a great hotel, which brings back some good memories and is a place where we can prepare very well for the coming season," he began by saying.

"We have the same unity that we showed last season. If anything has changed, it is that we have shown that we are capable of becoming champions. That gives us the confidence and experience to face this season, but the foundations of last season, which are humility, unity and work, must continue every day."

"Sporting CP are the favourites to win every game. That's our mindset. That's how we approached the league last year and it will be like that this year too. Being champions was something beautiful for the club and for all of us players, and a club like Sporting CP must always be in that fight, but having become champions doesn't mean we are favourites for the title this year. We are favourites to win the next game. This is our mentality."

It is a sentiment that coach Rúben Amorim has maintained.

"The coach's message remains the same. That's his mentality, taking things game by game. We know that things change a lot from one year to the next, and that's why we have to be very focused and face each match with humility. If we think that because we were champions last year, we don't need to show the humility, work and dedication of last season, then we are mistaken," commented Adán.

"The responsibility is the same as last season. We represent a club with a huge history, with many fans worldwide. This is our greatest responsibility and our greatest pride, and that's why we want to do everything very well -for everyone."

Adán also spoke about the Supertaça against SC Braga, scheduled for July 31st.

"Winning it is the first objective for the season. We are all looking forward to having the fans back as well, after a year and a half without anybody in the stands. We are eager to feel the support of our fans, and even the pressure of the opposition fans."