Sporting and Vitória SC will give, early this Friday evening, the ‘starting shot’ for the second round of the I League, with the clear mission of demonstrating that there are no reasons for alarm, despite the signs given at the start of the new 2026/27 sports season have not, at all, been the best.
The lions, remember, were unable to go beyond a 2-2 draw with Estrela da Amadora, at Estádio José Gomes, in a match in which they had a 2-0 lead, which they ended up wasting, due to individual errors by Eduardo Quaresma and Rui Silva, which gave rise to the first signs of contestation.
The Guimarães, on the other hand, ‘fell’ against Arouca, in the middle of the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, by 0-1, in the match that dictated the debut of the new coach, Tiago Margarido, on the bench, and which was also decided by a ‘slip’, in this case, by Óscar Rivas, whose bad pass culminated in Barbero’s goal.
The level of demand imposed by both clubs is well known, so it is clear that only a victory will serve to calm the spirits, especially because the home team will not want to lose sight of the leadership (which is tripartite between FC Porto, Gil Vicente, Arouca and Marítimo), and the outsiders will seek to leave the bottom of the table.
This will, moreover, be a game with a special ‘flavor’ for Rui Borges, who will face the team he guided in the first half of the 2024/25 sporting season, before being called upon by Frederico Varandas to ‘put out the fire’ caused by Ruben Amorim’s departure to Manchester United and the failed experience with João Pereira.
Sporting-Vitória SC’s kick-off is scheduled for 8:15 pm (Mainland Portugal time), at the José Alvalade Stadium, and will be judged by David Silva, from the Porto Football Association, who will have Carlos Campos and José Pereira as assistants, Flávio Duarte as fourth referee, Manuel Oliveira as VAR and Inácio Pereira as AVAR.
Coaches in direct speech
Rui Borges
First game of the season in Alvalade: “It’s a reason for happiness to return home, with our fans. I miss feeling Alvalade at its best, always supportive, full. Even for a young team, with many starters, it’s important to feel that affection in tomorrow’s game. We are very happy. In relation to the opponent, because I played in that house, it’s always a special game, with a team that has a different passion. The players who represent it must know Vitória’s passion”.
Controversies with Luis Suárez: “I don’t know about these episodes… He’s a Sporting player, he’s been training since the day we said he had to train. If he trains well, he goes to the game. If he doesn’t train well, he doesn’t go to the game. There was no episode, he’s called up for tomorrow. He trained well. In relation to Estrela da Amadora, we didn’t draw because of Luis, but because of everything. There’s no one to blame here. The biggest culprit will always be the coach, and I will always take that blame, without any problem and with all humility.”
He pointed the finger at Eduardo Quaresma: “Football is made up of collective and individual mistakes, if not, there would be no goals, but I will never point the finger at an individual mistake by anyone. I never did it and I won’t do it now. I spoke directly about Edu because people ask me directly about Edu. He played a beautiful game. Confidence is not even in question. He has had exceptional growth as an athlete, player and person, which is why he is among the captains, and I hope he continues to give the response he has given.”
Tiago Margarido
Defeat with Arouca: “The result in the first round was obviously not at all the result we wanted, but, on an exhibition level, it shows us that we are on the right track. In preparation for this week we focused a lot on finishing and getting things right in the last third, but we also anticipated different difficulties.”
Trust: “The statistics were overwhelming: 24 shots, almost 60% possession of the ball, expected goals of 2.22. We measure our quality through this statistic, but of course this says little because what matters is the result. However, the technical team and the players understand, and are intelligent, that we cannot let a result shake our confidence. On the contrary, we face the next game with Sporting with great confidence.”
Sporting’s potential: “We are counting on a Sporting team that is the same as in the first 70 minutes at Reboleira, very strong, overwhelming. They have reinforced themselves with eight players, more than 100 million euros invested in the squad, it is a team that plays well, already has traces of last year’s game idea and has a remarkable quality of play. This less good result will make Sporting want to give a strong response, they will want to enter the game strong, it is a result that does not play in our favor, but to our detriment.”
Latest results
Sporting: VVVEV
Vitória SC: VEVED
Last eleven
Sporting: Rui Silva; Georgios Vagianidis, Gonçalo Inácio, Eduardo Quaresma, Rodrigo Dias; Sergi Altimira, Issa Doumbia; Geny Catamo, Rodrigo Zalazar, Flávio Gonçalves; Fotis Ioannidis.
Vitória SC: Oliwier Zych; Miguel Maga, Thiago Balieiro, Óscas Rivas, João Mendes; Beni Mukendi, Gonçalo Nogueira, Samu Silva; Gustavo Silva, Oumar Camara and Alioune Ndoye.
Absences
Sporting: Nuno Santos and João Simões (injured).
Vitória SC: Gustavo Silva (in doubt).
