It’s 3rd versus 4th in the match of the weekend in Portugal on Sunday as Sporting travel to Braga.
The game marks the first return of Domingos Paciência to the club were he consolidated his reputation as one of Portugal’s top up-and-coming coaches. Domingos enjoyed tremendous success at Braga, leading the club to runners-up in the Liga in 2009/10 (their highest ever finish) and the Europa League final the following year.
“Returning to a ground were I was so happy is a very good feeling. I can’t say if it is an advantage for me. The only advantage may come from the fact I know most of Braga’s players and their strong and weak points,” said the Sporting coach.
With Sporting having won only one of their last four Liga matches, Domingos knows his team cannot afford any more dropped points if they want to make a serious challenge for the title this season.
“We are prohibited from dropping any points. To win we will have to put in a much better first-half performance than we did against Académica, FC Porto and Nacional,” added the Sporting boss.
Sporting must make do without top scorer Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Either Bojinov or January transfer window signing Sebastian Ribas will deputise.
Braga go into the match in a hot run of form having won five and drawn one of their last six matches. The Arsenalistas are further boosted by the inclusion of midfielder Luis Alberto in the squad, who was signed from Nacional last week.
“I expect to face a very strong Sporting side,” said Braga coach Leonardo Jardim. “They made a big investment in the summer and this is the strongest team they have had for several years. But despite all the respect we have for Sporting, we want to win the three points,” said Jardim.
Kick-off at 8.15pm local time at the Estádio AXA, Braga on Sunday night.
“Returning to a ground were I was so happy is a very good feeling. I can’t say if it is an advantage for me. The only advantage may come from the fact I know most of Braga’s players and their strong and weak points,” said the Sporting coach.
With Sporting having won only one of their last four Liga matches, Domingos knows his team cannot afford any more dropped points if they want to make a serious challenge for the title this season.
“We are prohibited from dropping any points. To win we will have to put in a much better first-half performance than we did against Académica, FC Porto and Nacional,” added the Sporting boss.
Sporting must make do without top scorer Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Either Bojinov or January transfer window signing Sebastian Ribas will deputise.
Braga go into the match in a hot run of form having won five and drawn one of their last six matches. The Arsenalistas are further boosted by the inclusion of midfielder Luis Alberto in the squad, who was signed from Nacional last week.
“I expect to face a very strong Sporting side,” said Braga coach Leonardo Jardim. “They made a big investment in the summer and this is the strongest team they have had for several years. But despite all the respect we have for Sporting, we want to win the three points,” said Jardim.
Kick-off at 8.15pm local time at the Estádio AXA, Braga on Sunday night.
