In a press conference previewing the sixth Lisbon derby of the season, which will take place this Wednesday at 5:45 pm, Mariana Cabral admits that there is a great deal of knowledge between the two teams and, therefore, little room for surprises.

"We know that a final is always very balanced and a very competitive moment that can fall to one side or the other. I think the two teams know each other very well, but that doesn't mean they know what one or the other is going to do, because as we have so many games, it becomes not only football, but also a bit of chess", she considered, showing herself attentive to the details.

This season, Sporting and Benfica have faced each other five times, for three different competitions -- Super Cup, national championship and Portuguese Cup, having been defeated only once in regulation time. A positive record that the Sporting coach wants to keep after the League Cup decision

"In the championship, Sporting beat Benfica twice, so it wasn't that way. We have to focus on ourselves and that's why we want to do our best in this final. We have a lot of quality, we have been competitive in all competitions and unfortunately in the Portuguese Cup we will not reach the final and in this final we are. The responsibility is ours and we have to do our best", she pointed out.

After failing to win the Super Cup and failing to reach the Portuguese Cup final, Mariana Cabral looks at the League Cup as an opportunity to win a deserved trophy.

"The encouragement for those who are in Sporting is to win trophies. That is the goal, that is what we work for every day and therefore that is where we want to be, it is in the finals and to be able to win trophies, regardless of the opponents, our work since the first day of the pre-season has been to focus on being better and better as a team, to make the younger players grow and fight to the maximum for all the trophies", she pointed out.

Insisting on the idea that "things take time", Mariana Cabral admits that the teams may be at different moments of their respective seasons, but that does not mean that she does not point out that the mission of her players is to "reach the game at maximum capacity" to put into practice, with a successful performance and result, the progress they have been making over the weeks.

Defender Ana Borges also anticipated the challenge between Sporting and Benfica and gave an account of the team's positive spirit for the League Cup final, sharing her coach's idea about the importance for the green and whites to concentrate on playing their game.

"If we do what we are asked to do and play the football we know, we will certainly be closer to winning, whether against Benfica or against any team", argued Ana Borges, determined to lift the trophy for the Alvalade club this Wednesday.

After the 'lionesses' secured their presence in the next edition of the Champions League last weekend, the defender identified that this will be another encouragement for a dispute that is expected to be difficult.

"Obviously it is a reason for great pride to know that we are playing the Champions League again, because we know the club we are in and playing against the best. We always have to give titles to our fans", recognized the Portuguese international.

Sporting and Benfica face each other this Wednesday, at 5:45 pm, in the final of the League Cup in women's football, in a match that will be played at the Estádio do Restelo, in Lisbon, and refereed by Sara Pereira Alves, from the Viana do Castelo association.

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