Sporting Lisbon coach Domingos Paciencia claims that his side will have to try their best to secure a good result against Nacional at home, as nothing other than a win would do.
The Lions have been a dominant force in Portuguese football for most of their inception but recently with their summer spending, the club have propelled themselves in contention for the league title.
While http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 and Benfica are riding high in the Liga Sagres standings, Domingos Paciência’s side are not far behind and are 3rd with 28 points. But the league does not represent their best chances of acquiring silverware this term, instead the
Portuguese Cup is that avenue whose trophy is looking likely to end up at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
With the Portistas, Reds and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Braga-c40460 all out of the competition, the Lisbon giants are favourites to earn the first title of the campaign and will pressurize their rivals to match their feats, as well as giving the club some much needed confidence in themselves.
In their next Cup tie, Sporting take on Nacional and given the quality of the squad, the visitors should not be a much of a threat, especially as the Sportinguistas will be playing this one at home.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stijn-Schaars-c34229 has already reiterated the importance of a win against the Alvinegros, claiming that a victory on the 11th of January would be a great gift to the club and could lead them to silverware if they carry on.
His manager, Domingos Paciencia, has also backed his player and said that the team had to perform against the White-and-Blacks and score so that they can be at ease when the second leg comes around.
"We will do everything possible to ensure that we have a good result. We are playing at home and we need to get a result, so that we can approach the second leg with more confidence. We know that they are an opponent who have created many difficulties for
others in the league and we will need to play better in order to achieve what we want.”
The tactician added that the goalless draw against the reigning champions had not affected his team’s morale and said that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nacional-c39984 would have to play better than Porto to match his side.
"No way. They have to win to be more effect. Nacional will have to better than Porto if they want to win,” Domingos Paciencia was quoted as saying.
With Sporting in dire need of getting a return on their hefty investment, the Portuguese Cup is definitely the club’s best chance to do so. And they will edge ever closer to glory in the tournament if they are able to conquer Nacional at Alvalade today.
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