BASKETBALL| In the name of leadership

2023-11-25 11:30:12

Eternal derby day in the Betclic League. Sporting and Benfica will star, this Saturday, in the great match of the eighth round and which could result in a reinforcement of the lion’s leadership or, on the contrary, a shared leadership in the event of the eagle’s victory. The Sporting team played in the middle of the week for the FIBA ​​Europe Cup, having gained access to the next stage of the competition. The fact that Sporting played during the week and Benfica did not play in the Basketball Champions League could lead to the temptation to consider the lion’s greater fatigue as an important factor. Even though it may be, we need to think about the other side of the coin: in a game of this magnitude, it is very likely that fatigue will give way to adrenaline. The direct confrontation also works in favor of Pedro Nuno Monteiro’s team. This Saturday’s clash will be the 26th in official competitions between both teams. For now, the balance is in favor of the lion, who has won 15 of the 25 matches played. If we only take into account the games played in the Leo home, it is still the green and white team that leads, but with a smaller margin (6-5). In previewing the match, Pedro Nuno Monteiro recognized the difficulty of the match and addressed the issue of fatigue, but did not want to find it an excuse for what could happen at Pavilhão João Rocha. Norberto Alves, on the other hand, did not analyze the derby as decisive in the final accounts, but recognized that it could be important in the regular phase, as well as in confidence. The clash between Sporting and Benfica is scheduled for 3pm this Saturday. At this point, the Lions lead with six wins in seven rounds, while the Reds have won five of the seven games. Pedro Nuno Monteiro in direct speech Difficult game: «SL Benfica is a team with a lot of quality, they have held championships with great quality and competence in recent years. We expect an extremely difficult game, as is everyone, but the players are confident, they know what they are going for and the objective of those at Sporting CP is always the same: to win». Fatigue: «We won’t have much time to prepare, but we have to win the game anyway. SL Benfica had a whole week of preparation, but our ambitions remain intact. If we want to travel in Europe, then we can’t make excuses. We have to learn faster and recover physically, despite the squad not being very large». Recipe for winning: «We have to do what we did in the last game: be collective, comply with the rules and the game plan. We are aware that it will be difficult, we will suffer and have bad times, but we must always be united and look for collective solutions». Norberto Alves in direct speech Preview: «It’s a derby between two good teams. Sporting is coming off an important victory in Europe, qualified and is motivated. But, objectively, we didn’t prepare the game any differently than the others. We establish a strategic plan and train it, looking at the confrontation, our opponent’s strengths and what we need to explore. We have to ensure that the players are focused on this strategic plan, communicate a lot when defending and, somehow, manage to stop their strong points and impose our style of play». Objective at this stage of the season: «We are trying to be more consistent throughout the game. Even in Europe, we have had good performances. In one of the games we were always good until the end, in the other two the second half was less successful. Therefore, we are trying to have more consistency at this point. Whether we like it or not, we are at a very early stage of the season. We have to take these small steps of consistency, not have too many ups and downs and not prolong our bad moments for too long. We think we have to improve.” Important derby, but not decisive: «Looking at the championship and the rounds that have already taken place, we see that there are four teams that stand out from the others: FC Porto, which has been doing very well, Sporting, Benfica and clearly UD Oliveirense, who has a good squad and is playing very well. But we know that this championship has a regular phase and then a play-off. What is decisive for us is to win, to seek the best possible classification – and this game is important for that -, but to grow as a team. Our team has very experienced players, but even these players have almost a new story every year. At this point, we want to win the next game, which is important for qualifying in the regular phase, but the most important thing is how the team will perform when the big moments arrive. This step is important for confidence and classification in the regular phase, it is not decisive, but we want to win».
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