Sporting vs Sporting. On Friday evening, the Mauves will travel to Mambourg for the clash with Charleroi - the second away game in a row. One day before the match, Besnik Hasi looked ahead to the encounter. His full press conference is now available on Mauve TV.
The coach cannot yet count on Ali Maamar and Anas Tajaouart, the freshly crowned U20 world champions. “They should return on Friday, after all the celebrations in Morocco and their reception by the King.” Naturally, Hasi followed their performances closely. “I know their coach, Mo Ouahbi, very well of course. He was my assistant for a long time and also worked in the RSCA youth academy. We’re still in touch, and I congratulated him on this fantastic achievement.”
Enric Llansana will also miss the trip to Charleroi. The midfielder picked up a knock during training and will not be fit to play, just like César Huerta. “César has some adductor discomfort and couldn’t train fully.”
Mihajlo Cvetković earned his first start against STVV and immediately repaid the coach’s trust with a goal. The striker had to stay in the dressing room at halftime with some discomfort. “Yesterday, Cvetković trained individually. Today, he felt fine and joined the group session, so he’s in the squad,” confirmed Hasi. Whether he will start - and be decisive again - remains to be seen.
Sporting are looking for three points away from home, something that has proven tricky this season. “But that’s the case for every team - it’s always harder to take all three points away than at home. On the positive side: we haven’t lost since August and only suffered one away defeat in the league this season.” Still, the coach admits that his team has been inconsistent on the road. “Against OHL we weren’t good and didn’t deserve more, but the first half against STVV was our best away performance so far.”
According to Hasi, the key lies not in small mistakes but in game management. “We have to approach every match the same way and manage games better.” Despite some dropped points, the coach remains positive. “If we start games like we did against STVV - pressing high - we create chances and score beautiful goals.”
We’ll see on Friday at 20:45 whether the Mauves can build on that first-half display against Charleroi.