With the chapter of the Portuguese Cup closed, with the elimination in the semi-finals against FC Porto, consummated on Wednesday, with a 3-1 defeat, the coach highlighted that the Minho team can still rise to third or fourth place in the five remaining games, starting with the visit to the stronghold of an opponent who is 100% victorious at home in the I League. "We have to be a compact, supportive team and close not only the interior spaces, but also the attacks in depth. With the ball, we have to be authoritative and know where to 'hurt' Sporting", said the coach, in the preview of the duel scheduled for 8:30 pm on Sunday, at the José Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon. Despite the 'lions' showing up for the duel with "greater pressure", in the face of the fight for the title, the Victorian 'helmsman' stressed that his team must be "at their best" to stop the team coached by Rúben Amorim, capable of "a lot of variability in the game". "Defensively, we will have to be a very meticulous team. We will have to have a lot of anticipation capacity and know the 'timings' to 'jump' to the pressure. There will be many duels and we have to be attentive", he added, regarding the clash with an opponent with seven consecutive victories in the I League. Convinced that his players can "write a beautiful page" in the history of the Guimarães club - also because they only need six more points, out of 15 possible, to surpass the record of points in the championship, 62, set in 1995/96 and in 2016/17 - Álvaro Pacheco also stressed that the team must ignore the atmosphere that awaits them, in a stadium that is expected to be full. "To be close to winning, we have to be close to our essence. Our opponent will have a full stadium. Sporting's last defeat in the championship was against Vitória [on the 13th round]. I hope we can be calm, ignore the atmosphere and focus on our game", he admitted. The 52-year-old coach also stressed that Bruno Varela will return to the starting lineup in goal, after Charles defended in the second leg of the semi-final with the 'dragons', that left-back Afonso Freitas has recovered from the injury suffered on Wednesday and that midfielder Zé Carlos has to "continue to evolve" to go beyond the 505 minutes he has played this season, a number below the 1,464 of 2022/23. "Whoever is playing is playing very well. He has to keep working and evolving. In this work process since we arrived [the coaching staff], everyone has evolved. Zé is part of our squad. Now we have to wait for the opportunity", he added. Vitória de Guimarães, fifth classified in the Portuguese I League, with 57 points, visits Sporting, leader of the championship, with 77, in a match scheduled for 8:30 pm on Sunday, at the José Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, with refereeing by Cláudio Pereira, from the Aveiro Football Association.