FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.09.2008 19:02

Sporting Clube here for the win

David Puig

Sporting are not here to mess around with Barça, and claim their only aim is to collect three points. Manager Bento and captain Joao Moutinho claim their team only ever seeks to win, and the fact they are playing Barça will do nothing to change that.

With the utmost respect, but also ambition, Sporting Clube de Portugal claim they are only coming to the Camp Nou with the intention of winning their first Champions League fixture of the season. Both manager Paulo Bento and team captain Joao Moutinho are ambitious about their prospects. “A draw would be a good result in principle, but we always play to win against anybody, and Barça are no exception”, said Paulo Bento. Mountinho added that “Barça are favourites, but we always play to win. We know it will be difficult but we will assume the risks and go out there looking for a good result.”

Utmost respect for Barça

In his press conference prior to the Sporting Club training session on the Camp Nou turf, Paulo Bento said he was not going to let Barça’s league results affect him. “I have the same opinion of Barça as I did fifteen days ago” he said. “It is a top quality team and they always play the same way. Guardiola is a tightly linked manager to the club, and had a great career as a player, and Barça are favourites to top the group, and one of the teams most fancied to win the Champions League”.

Experienced Sporting

The players have learned what it means to play in Europe, and generally feel they have not obtained results that reflect the way they have played. We hope we have learned our lesson. We played well against Roma, Bayern Munich and Manchester United but did not win. We did against Inter, who are also a great side. I hope the veteran players can bring some experience to this game, and then we can all work together to try to get a good result at the Camp Nou” he added.