Frederico Varandas, early this Monday afternoon, put an end to the silence regarding the turbulent sporting situation that Sporting is going through, following the already confirmed dismissal of Rui Borges and the imminent hiring of the (still) Olympique Lyon coach, Paulo Fonseca.
“Right now… Soon, you will have an opportunity where you can ask all the questions you want. Right now, the focus is on the game. Very soon, we will talk and you can ask whatever you want”, he said, at the insistence of journalists, at Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, before the departure of the green and white delegation towards London.
The maximum leader of the green and white emblem therefore prefers to wait for the outcome of the match on the fourth round of the Champions League league stage, against Shakhtar Donetsk, to comment on this ‘musical chairs’, which, as reported by the Sport at the Minuteis on the verge of being implemented.
In this duel, remember, the Lions will be coached by Tiago Fernandes, who was ‘promoted’, on an interim basis, from the B team to the main team, in a scenario very similar to that which he went through in 2018, when he went to the Emirates Stadium to ‘rescue’ a goalless draw with Arsenal, between the departure of José Peseiro and the arrival of Marcel Keizer.
Sporting’s agenda and accounts in the Champions League
Shakhtar Donetsk-Sporting’s kick-off is scheduled for 5:45 pm (Mainland Portugal time) on Tuesday, at Stamford Bridge (‘home loaned’ by Chelsea), and will be officiated by Ivan Kruzliak, a Slovak referee who will be assisted by Branislav Hancko and Jan Pozor, as fourth referee Peter Kralovic, as VAR Marco di Bello and as AVAR Daniele Chiffi.
Before that, this Monday, in the early afternoon, the green and white squad will continue their journey towards the Land of His Majesty, with the traditional press conference scheduled for 7pm to preview the duel with the Ukrainian team, in which Tiago Fernandes will answer journalists’ questions, together with Spanish midfielder Sergi Altimira.
The Lions, remember, currently occupy 12th place in the Champions League league phase, with the same six points as Barcelona, ​​Como, Manchester City, Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund. Ahead, they will have the 17th ranked team, which has four points, as many as AS Roma, Atlético de Madrid and PSV.
Paulo Fonseca already has his debut at Sporting in sight
If everything goes as all parties involved hope, Paulo Fonseca’s debut on the green and white bench will take place next Sunday, at 8:30 pm, at the José Alvalade Stadium, in the match of the 11th round of the I League, against Moreirense, where the team is prohibited from wavering again, at the risk of seeing the current ‘gap’ of nine points for the leader, FC Porto, increase even further.
A break for international commitments will follow, which he himself will take advantage of to begin introducing new dynamics, before a hellish cycle, which will begin with consecutive duels with União da Serra (for the Portuguese Cup), Manchester United (for the Champions League) and FC Porto (for the I League), which could prove to be decisive on all fronts.
