Sporting coach on LASK tactics: "The coach's fault"

For LASK, it was a more than successful evening in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The Linz side won 2:3 away at Sporting. "That's madness!" - Magnificent LASK defied referee and Sporting >>>

Once again, the coaching staff around head coach Didi Kühbauer showed why a spectacular comeback and a double were achieved last season.

Tactical Move Left Sporting Frustrated

Tactically, Sporting coach Rui Borges was caught off guard.

"Obviously, we had difficulties developing our offensive play. I believe LASK watched our game against RC Lens and adopted some of what RC Lens showed defensively – but implemented it even better tactically. The opposing forwards marked our 'number sixes' and thus disrupted our build-up play. That surprised us with LASK, as they had never done it like that before," Borges admitted at the post-match press conference.

That was partly responsible for the defeat. "It was important to find passing options further up the field – we didn't succeed, and when we tried, we conceded the equalizer. Besides the lack of inspiration, our energy level was not as high as in previous matches. The match – just like the others – was physically very demanding, and we couldn't keep up," said the Sporting coach.

Coach Takes the Blame

In another aspect, the visitors from Upper Austria had an advantage. "We knew that we would be exposed to the athleticism of LASK's forwards in one-on-one situations, but it didn't even come to that. It was more about winning the second balls rather than the first," Borges said.

"We didn't win as many of those as we had intended. You only have to look at the goals conceded, which resulted from our own turnovers. We needed better balance; we worked on it, but we didn't succeed. That is the coach's fault, and I accept that with all humility," he added.

In the Portuguese camp, there was talk of a deserved victory for the Austrians at the end.