The beginning felt like a dream. Relaxed and smiling players after having stayed an hour longer than expected in training, ignoring the confusion that coach Igor Tudor was creating in the access tunnel to the field of play due to the delay of the Green and White elements who shrugged their shoulders for laughs, a goal at 55 seconds in a play that would be repeated shortly after but with a stop by Pau López.
Edwards opened the Chamber of Secrets, Adam preferred to go through the House of Horrors (the Marseille-Sporting chronicle)
Then everything turned into a nightmare. A clueless Adam every time he risked a forward pass, a team lost on the field with and without the ball, a red card to the goalkeeper in the middle of the first half, a goal conceded by Franco Israel when the goalkeeper had not even touched the ball, the ghost of the win that was stopped despite a more stable second half between the final 4-1.
In short, Sporting suffered only the first defeat in the Champions League group stage and will continue to lead the group but lost half of the six games played this season on the road (with 10-12 in goals) in what was also Marseille’s second win in the last 18 Champions League games. With that, the lions already have more defeats at this point than in recent seasons and also more goals conceded than in the initial seasons with Rúben Amorim. However, at the end of the game, the coach “clarified” Adan by remembering what he had done before and had a pragmatic analysis at the beginning.
????Sport losses after 11 games at that time (last 3 seasons):
2020/21: 1
2021/22: 2
2022/23: 4 – have suffered more defeats than in the 42 matches played in 2020/21 (3) pic.twitter.com/HDkTtBRYAg— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 4, 2022
“We started well, we scored the goal, we were able to score the second with controlled play within our idea and then the goal conceded with the rebound changes the game. We suffered a setback every time we wanted to recover and then the expulsion. We have to learn for the future. These are difficult times but we are going to turn around”, he began referring to the post-match press conference. “Talk to Adam? The more experienced they are, the greater their self-criticism. Nobody has their career without having a great self-criticism. You know how to analyze, you don’t need me to tell you anything, you’ve saved us so many times. He is going to work harder, he has Vital in mind. These are difficult times, we all go through them. It is part of it and it only makes us stronger, ”he stressed.
Goals conceded by Sporting after 11 games at that time (last 3 seasons):
2020/21: 10
2021/22: 11
2022/23: 15 pic.twitter.com/Aga7EoCKyg— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 4, 2022
“These are days that pass, in which nothing goes as well as you wanted. It is part of football and mistakes must be accepted as part of football, assume the responsibility that each one of us has on the court… It’s over. Tomorrow we have to get up again, train because there’s another game on Saturday. Obviously the match started well with Trincao’s goal, but football is usually like that. There are no more explanations… When mistakes like this are made, especially the expulsion, the team has to make a greater physical effort, the game is more difficult for those who stay on the field, but it is like that, they are part ”, Adan, a goalkeeper sent off midway through the first half, told Eleven Sports.
???????? 45′ | ???????? Marseille 3-1 Sporting ????????
Adán’s 21 minutes ???????? that result in the worst GP Rating awarded in the Champions League this season#UCL #Champions League #ChampionsEleven #OMSCP pic.twitter.com/MDAB1L4s1H
— GoalPoint (@_Goalpoint) October 4, 2022
“During the break the change wasn’t so much because of what they did on the pitch. We had to bring in new people because we had to be able to stretch the game. Nuno Santos had yellow. It was all together. When we want to win this game and all the others, we have to manage it carefully, change players, keep our legs fresh and take advantage of every moment to grow. I felt that the match was very difficult for us and Sotiris already has 45 more minutes in the Champions League, Nazinho as well and Marsà as well. At the beginning of the second half we were fine. We tried to create but we couldn’t. We started the game well and then all of a sudden the game completely changed. We didn’t even have time to adjust. At the break we said that there were days like this and we had to think about the future, we couldn’t lose players neither with yellow nor with red. To suffer, we would all have to suffer because it is part of our DNA. The changes weren’t because of what they weren’t doing but because of thinking about this game and the next one and what we have to conquer, ”he later added about the four substitutions.
Sporting lost half of the games played away from home this season:
➡6 games
➡2 wins
➡1 draw
➡3 losses
➡10 goals scored
➡12 goals conceded pic.twitter.com/WBOgmDaQVV— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 4, 2022
“Marseille has its merits but, let’s face it, the game was controlled. They were having trouble marking man to man behind. Marcus Edwards was perhaps the player who ran the opposition’s defense the best and created a lot of problems. Every moment of the match was against us. We have to say it: we should have done more to prevent this. It was one of those nights that cost a lot. It makes us grow and I guarantee that we will be better in the future”, highlighted Rúben Amorim, before concluding with the lessons that may remain from another tough defeat in the Champions League.
Sporting have conceded 4+ goals in a match since Rúben Amorim has been the manager:
2020/21 LASK Linz
Benfica 2020/21
2021/22 Ajax (2x)
Manchester City 2021/22
2022/23 Marseille pic.twitter.com/hUXhuI3MGX— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 4, 2022
“The team is competitive, we will be much more so in the future. We will try to avoid these mistakes that we made in the past and surely we will make them again because we have young players who do not have much experience. The truth is that they are mistakes. We can only look at the 20-odd minutes, the period before the expulsion. Of course, we will watch the game and see the adjustment. 11×11 we would certainly be in the game. With the expulsion, the game was over. The feeling I leave behind is that much of what happened is our fault and that we can beat Marseille. I had that very clear in my head, even knowing that it is a great team and has great players. The group is very balanced. The goal is to beat Santa Clara because you have to gain consistency. That is our main focus”, concluded the technician.
???????? Marseille’s 2nd win in the last 18 Champions League games (Oympiacos and Sporting) – lost the remaining 16 pic.twitter.com/WIy8Oo02ma
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 4, 2022
Source: Observadora
