Sporting more than matched Juventus in their Europa League quarter-final, but a series of glaring misses over the two legs meant the positive performances counted for nothing as the Italian team progressed to the last four.
In front of a packed crowd in Lisbon tonight, an early goal from Adrien Rabiot gave Juventus a 2-0 aggregate lead, but Sporting soon hit back through a Marcus Edwards penalty.
In a hard-fought match of few chances, the hosts came closest to scoring again in the second half as Ricardo Esgaio and Sebastián Coates blazed extremely presentable chances over the bar.
“We played – they scored” - Amorim
The defeat will be hard to stomach for Sporting’s players, coaching staff and fans given that the Portuguese team played the better football both in Turin and Lisbon, but were undone by poor finishing.
“We played the football – they scored the goals,” was the simple summation of the tie by Sporting coach Rúben Amorim, and it is difficult to argue with that assessment.
Sporting had arguably put in a better performance in the 1-0 defeat at the Allianz Stadium last week, but tonight three players deserve special praise for their individual displays.
Ousame Diomandé had Federico Chiesa in his pocket all night, Marcus Edwards was electric throughout the 90 minutes, and Manuel Ugarte put in a typically indefatigable effort. The talent shown by Sporting constitutes a genuine bright spark for next season, provided they can keep hold of their best players.
That said, perhaps the biggest factor that will determine whether Sporting can repeat their positive campaigns of the previous two seasons in 2023/24 is the club’s ability to retain the services of Amorim.
Despite an awful season on the domestic front, the young coach has arguably further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with excellent showings in high-profile matches in European competition.
By Tom Kundert at the Estádio José Alvalade
Goals:
[0-1] Rabiot, 9’
[1-1] Edwards (pen), 20’
