the nightmarish premiere of Ruben Amorim's successor

For his last match at the head of Sporting Portugal, Ruben Amorim left as a hero, after defeating Pep Guardiola's Manchester City (4-1). Three weeks later, his successor, João Pereira, made his debut on the Leões bench during the Arsenal reception. But this time, the José Alvalade stadium did not vibrate. Severely beaten 5-1 by the Gunners, the Lisbon side took a real beating and fell back to eighth place in the standings. Not enough to start the post-Amorim era in the best possible way. Questioned after the match, captain Morten Hjulmand did not hide his anger.

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“It was a difficult evening. Sporting cannot lose 5-1 to any club in the world, not even Arsenal. This is unacceptable. We have an important game against Santa Clara on Saturday and we have to focus on that.”he confided, followed by the team's star scorer, Viktor Gyökeres. “We didn't play very well offensively. It's difficult to do something when you receive most of the balls in midfield. But it happens sometimes. Now we're going to struggle for a day or two and then we'll put this behind us. »

“They may also say that it may be a casting error”

But the Lusitanian press mainly focused on Pereira's failed premiere. After knowing the leader Amorim, the local media were also disillusioned, especially since the new SCP coach made a rather unexpected comment in his post-match reaction. “It's important to win and we didn't manage to do it today. This weekend we will try to answer what happened here today. We must lift our heads and keep moving forward. The support of the fans at the end of the match is a strength for me and for the players. The players feel that the supporters are with them, they can also say to themselves that it is perhaps a casting error (his nomination, editor's note)”he declared, before correcting himself at a press conference.

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“Casting error? I don't remember talking about miscasting, honestly. Casting error… I don't remember. I don't know if I said that. I am responsible for the defeat. It's me who prepared the tactics, it's the coach who wants to give an answer now with Santa Clara. I made the players play and it was me who had to take this heavy defeat. What I can promise is to give the maximum and daily work to continue to make Sporting a winning club, to try to win more often and to continue playing good football like everyone is used to. » Great promises, even if his sentence on the casting error is repeated this morning by the entire Portuguese press.