Sporting Lisbon welcome Arsenal on Tuesday, hoping their superb form can continue in the Champions League despite the departure of coach Ruben Amorim to Manchester United.
The Portuguese club are flying high, second in the standings in Europe after a draw and three victories in their first four games — including a 4-1 romp over Premier League champions Manchester City.
Sporting appointed reserve team manager Joao Pereira earlier in November to replace Amorim and the coach enjoyed a 6-0 victory in his first outing against minnows Amarante in the Portuguese Cup on Friday.
Striker Viktor Gyokeres was among the goalscorers, continuing his own red-hot form this season.
The former Coventry striker boasts 21 goals in 15 matches between the Champions League and Portuguese top flight.
Sporting’s big stylish victory increased hope the club’s continuist approach by appointing Pereira will help them maintain their form.
“Everything stayed the same, including the ball progression, which was identical to what the team was doing under Ruben Amorim,” said Tiago Fernandes, Sporting’s former interim manager in the 2018-19 season.
“He didn’t have time to work with most of the footballers (after international break),” he continued.
“The best thing was to keep what was already in place.”
Former right-back Pereira was part of Amorim’s Portuguese title winning team in 2021, helping to end a near two-decade wait for domestic triumph.
The 40-year-old coach spent three spells at Sporting as a player and even came with a seal of approval from the departed Amorim himself.
“Joao Pereira is making his mark, I think he is an excellent coach,” said Amorim in May.
“He has all the conditions to become Sporting’s coach.”
‘An excellent debut’
Arsenal have not won on the road in their last five Champions League matches, with Sporting aiming to extend that bad run at the Jose Alvalade stadium in the Portuguese capital.
Amorim’s Sporting were able to knock out Mikel Arteta’s side in the Europa League last 16 last season on penalties after draws both home and away.
The thrashing of third-tier Amarante was a sign that the squad is still focussed and Pereira’s assistant Tiago Teixeira said the players had approached that match as if they were facing the Gunners.
“I think we were all calm, all the members of the coaching staff, it was an excellent debut, not only because of the result, because of another victory, but because of everything the players managed to do,” said Teixeira.
“We had little time to train and they were already able to take on board some ideas.
“They approached this game as if it were a final, as if it were the game against Arsenal — that’s what we wanted.”
The win was Sporting’s ninth consecutive victory across all competitions.
Despite the strong start, Teixeira said the new coach and his staff could not be expected to do an identical job to Amorim, who brought Sporting two league titles and two Portuguese Cups.
“It is a situation that is impossible to copy, the people are different, the technical team is different, the dynamics themselves are different,” he added.
“Of course, given we’ve got a team that is in a very good run, with very good dynamics, it would be a mistake to change everything.
“Obviously our idea has similarity to the previous one, but, little by little, you will see some differences.”
