Paulinho spoke, this Sunday, with the Eleven Sports, and made the preview of the round of 16 of the Champions League. The Sporting forward assumed the favoritism of Manchester City, but did not hide the ambition of the lions.
“When the draw was made, I thought what all Sporting fans thought, that we had the strongest team, or one of the strongest, in the world. But then the thinking turned to the fact that if we want to be the best, we have to play against the best and that’s where we have to end the game. We are Sporting, a big team. It is logical that Manchester City is a candidate to win this competition because they have the best players in each position, but we must have the ambition, daring and respect for ourselves and for the club to fight for victory”, he shot, leaving praise for Rúben Dias, central of the citizens and colleague in the National Team: « Rúben is in the best eleven in the world, he is an incredible player, he has evolved in a fantastic way. I think he will be one of the pillars of European football for many years to come ».
Finally, Paulinho also addressed the beginning of Sporting’s European journey, with the heavy defeat against Ajax (1-5).
“To be honest, despite that result, it was a game in which we managed to understand where we went wrong and that is important. At the end of that game we believed, and even after the defeat in Dortmund, we knew it was difficult, but we managed. It was a result that, despite being heavy, had positive things for us”, he concluded.
–
