A classic marked by a “mistake” at Sporting and uncertainty at FC Porto | Soccer

When, on July 3, the calendar for the I Liga 2023/24 was announced, a classic between FC Porto and Sporting four rounds before the end of the championship was highlighted as one of the duels that could arouse the most interest. Logic pointed to a clash on the 31st round that would certainly have a decisive weight in the final results of the competition. Almost ten months later, the reality is very different.

However, with the two teams separated by 18 points and the “lions” one small step away from the national title, what would happen within the four lines took a back seat. the day before the game. In the preview of FC Porto’s reception to Sporting, Sérgio Conceição sought to avoid questions about the announcement of his renewal and the uncertainty that the Porto fans were experiencing on election day, while Rúben Amorim admitted the “error” of having traveled to England, on a rare moment of discomfort for the Sporting coach at press conferences.

Under normal conditions, the big news in the preview of the face to face between “dragons” and “lions” would be the revelation made by Amorim: “Matheus Reis is not fit, Antonio [Adán] is not fit and Viktor [Gyökeres] There is a problem there, he will be called up, but he is still in doubt for the game.” However, the news that Sporting’s top scorer, the strongest candidate for the championship’s MVP, may not be an option for the game at Dragão, has passed into the background. Blame it on the “error” of the “Leonine” coach.

Seeking to resolve the issue once and for all, when he was confronted for the first time with his trip to London on Monday, Amorim used his usual bluntness to “remove the elephant from the room”. The coach began by mentioning that “the club was aware” of the trip, which “is important and changes the context”, pointing to the “most important point”, the coach recognized the mistake he made.

“Obviously my trip was a mistake, the timing It was completely inappropriate, it didn’t seem like it to me at the time. It was inappropriate, even more so when I am so demanding with my players and always the first to say that each one’s problems cannot be taken over by the team. For much less I have already removed players from the squad. It was my mistake, I have to accept it and live with it.”

Once the clarification was made, Rúben Amorim bypassed all questions on the topic, trying to talk about football and what awaits him in Porto. “It will be the most difficult game of the championship. We know what club it is, we know its coach [Sérgio Conceição], the pride he has and the pride of his players. They are not in the fight, we are, we want to win and we still have to score six points to be champions.”

Two dozen minutes after the end of the Sporting coach’s press conference, it was Sérgio Conceição who sat down in front of the journalists, but the coach only agreed to answer a question on the most popular topic, devaluing the announcement of his renewal the day before. of the most competitive elections in the history of FC Porto: “The timing is the one that least affects the opinion of all FC Porto members. I believe that it will not be on the last or penultimate day that they will decide anything that is within the candidates’ program. I wanted to say that I put on paper something that had already been discussed with the president.”