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Borges: "Our level of demand has to be at its fullest" 07 Aug, 2026 The coach previews the game against CF Estrela da Amadora Sporting Clube de Portugal kick off the 2026/27 Liga Portugal season this Saturday against CF Estrela da Amadora at 8:30pm. Ahead of the visit to the Estádio José Gomes, coach Rui Borges talked about the game and the summer transfer activity. Being prepared for the start of the season "Above all, I think the team responded very well in this preseason, even considering the changes we've had in the squad over this time – some of which we had anticipated and had been working with the expectation of from the beginning. Obviously, we are growing individually and collectively, even though things have gone well to start with, but I think the players are focused and all have a huge desire to compete. Now it's also about understanding how, starting tomorrow, we can handle the pressure and anxiety of serious games, games we want to win and in which there is no margin for error. Things are different in preseason; starting tomorrow there's the pressure on us to win, and we'll see how each player feels with that, especially since we have a team with many young players who have just arrived and are still understanding what the reality of Sporting CP is really like. It will also be the first game for our opponents, who will be equally motivated and will want to steal points from Sporting CP. Our level of demand has to be at its fullest. We have to continue what we showed throughout the preseason games, but now in a serious situation." Unavailable players for the game against CF Estrela da Amadora "Maxi is unavailable due to suspension, Zeno and Ba are also unavailable because they are only now starting to train at 100 percent. I believe they will be available for the next matchday. Simões and Blopa are sidelined due to injury, and Nuno Santos is still getting back to his best form. Pedro Gonçalves and Daniel Bragança will also not play." Doumbia’s varied positions during preseason “He’s a kid with enormous potential, and we tried to sign him early because we knew that if we waited until the end of the season it would be more difficult to have him with us. He still has to grow a lot, but he gives us many solutions because he adapts very well and has very good characteristics. He has a great future ahead of him, but he has to remain true to what he has been up to now. He likes to listen, he likes to learn, he likes to train, and he’s happy -and that’s very good. He also knows the demands of playing for Sporting CP, and that’s felt every day -not only by him but by everyone.” The uncertainty of the squad due to the transfer market “Honestly, I’m not worried about that. It’s natural that at Sporting CP, until the transfer window closes, there will be a lot of noise about arrivals and departures. Sporting CP have great players, Diomande is one of them, but he’s in the squad for tomorrow’s game.” Strong investment in the transfer market bringing more pressure “I look at it with satisfaction because I think the club do an exceptional job nationally and internationally in terms of balancing the books. We buy, but we also buy because we sell, and for me the pressure is the same as on the first day I arrived here. It's the pressure to win, to do the best for Sporting CP and to win trophies. We didn't manage to win the league last season, but we want to win again, and Sporting CP have been the team that have won the most trophies in recent years.” News regarding new players “We are trying to understand what will happen. With Mangas' departure we only have Maxi and Dias, who is a player from the B team, on the left. He has given a good response, but we have to understand what the market can offer us in that sense as well.” The changes in the squad “It’s not about the end of a cycle, these are changes that had to happen and ended up happening, by mutual agreement. There are players who had been here for many years and who also wanted to take on other challenges. They haven’t lost the will to win, but complacency is normal in general. Because there was a lot of dialogue over time, we realised who we were going to lose and we were able to anticipate some signings that we wanted. Regardless of everything, we did a very good job in that sense. Sporting CP are a selling club, who develop players and sell them; we know that and the president knows that better than anyone.” Changes possibly being more suited to Rui Borges’ style “The idea is the same, although the players themselves also define their own needs. It's not about what they do individually. This year we have new players, with different characteristics, but the idea remains the same as last season because we also have to adapt, as coaches, to keep Sporting CP strong and capable of fighting for every honour.” Ibrahima Ba “Signing him was an opportunity based on what we believe he can be in the future. Given the financial circumstances that Sporting CP have, we were able to move early and keep him -regardless of whether we had four or five central defenders from last year.” Luis Suárez “I'm not worried about his situation and I even think some things that are said are ridiculous. There's no problem whatsoever, and if there were any disciplinary issue, you would know. Nobody is above the respect of their teammates or the coaching staff, but absolutely nothing happened in that respect. Training ended and he was frustrated with what had happened in training -especially since he's looking for his best form. We had just played a 10-a-side game, he was near the exit and he left the pitch, because the players know they can go straight to the dressing room when I blow the whistle. That day he had to do a supplementary training session of one or two minutes and I went to call him. He came back, did everything calmly and went back to the dressing room again.” Sporting CP's frontline “Luis had a very exhausting season at Sporting CP, he went to the World Cup and his body paid the price. Maybe he needed more time off than the others, but that's football. He's looking for his best form, but he's available to play. Nel is a first-team player and is growing in the way we envisioned last season for Rodrigo, who ended up leaving in January. What we want is for him to grow alongside Luis and Fotis, who are two great examples to follow, and in the future we hope he will be like them or even better than them.”