Sporting still dreaming of Champions League progression, claims Jorge Jesus

Jorge Jesus insists Sporting CP have not given up hope of reaching the Champions League knockout stages despite Wednesday’s damaging defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund’s leading striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was conspicuous by his absence for Thomas Tuchel’s men, but it was stand-in Adrian Ramos that grabbed the only goal of the game at Signal Iduna Park.

The win puts Dortmund into the last 16 from Group F, but Sporting are now five points adrift of second-place Real Madrid – who played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against Legia Warsaw.

Sporting face a crucial encounter against Zinedine Zidane’s side next time out and head coach Jesus is confident of securing an upset on home soil.

“The teams that we have faced are great teams,” Jesus said. “We demonstrated a quality game and created several chances. 

“The strategy that we set up with, we knew we would have a lot of quality ball.

“In the first half, Gelson [Martins] was twice in the face of goal, but you can’t win with no score. We at least deserved a point.”

“We expected another result of Real Madrid, the tie with Legia let us stay in [the competition]. 

“Playing at this level we believe we have a chance to beat Real Madrid in Lisbon, we have shown quality play against these elite teams, we still have a glimmer of hope.

“We’re playing with the best, we must invest in a competition in which we want to be in. We were unlucky in Madrid and here in Germany.”