They are preparing for the match of the year in Portugal

Sporting Lisbon held their press conference early Wednesday afternoon. Their Belgium manager Franky Vercauteren spoke to the gathered media at the Jose Alvalade Stadium. It was somewhat surprising that the journalists did not really ask any questions about Thursday's group match. They were more concerned with next Monday's big derby match with Benfica. Sporting player Valentin Viola said that it would be the match of the season for them. Vidi.hu did ask Vercauteren about the type of match he was expecting on Thursday evening.

"Each match is important for us, and we prepare for every game to win it. Thursday's match will see some players get the chance, who have so far had limited pitch time in the Europa league this season. This does not mean that we will be taking things easy, and we are professional, and always battle to win. The supporters expect that from us. The targets in the next two games will be completely different, as for us the match with Benfica is much more important. We will need to really concentrate on none of the players becoming injured in tomorrow evening's game." - said the Belgium manager.