Portuguese Cup: Sertanense's X-Ray

There has been a true revolution during the summer at Sertanense, Benfica's opponent in the 3rd round of the Portuguese Cup. 23 players came in, 21 went out and even the coach is new: João Manuel Pinto.

Playing in the Campeonato de Portugal for several seasons now, Sertanense is placed in Group C, where currently they sit 8th, with 12 points. In seven match, the team has three victories, three draws and only suffered one defeat. They scored seven goals and conceded 7.

They started the Championship beating Alcains in the opening round, by 1-0, but that was followed by three draws – Fátima (1-1), Oliveira do Hospital (1-1), Santa Iria (0-0) –and one loss against U. Leiria, by 3-0. They go into the clash with the eagles after two triumphs: Anadia (3-2) and Alverca (0-1).

In the 1st round of the Portuguese Cup they hosted Beneditense in the Campo de Jogos Dr. Marques dos Santos, in Sertã, and won by 2-0, with goals from Sócrates and João Jesus. In the next round, they played away at Vitória de Sernache. At the Estádio Municipal Nuno Álvares Pereira, o Sertanense was stronger and won by 1-3. Hugo Barbosa, Kevin and Ricardo Pires scored the goals from the team led by João Manuel Pinto;

Many new signings in a starting XI in 4x4x2

In the last match, against Alverca, Sertanense started with: Rafa Santos; Tito Júnior, Tiago Correia, Navarro, Bruno Pereira; Kevin, Tiago Baptista, Sele Davou, Hugo Barbosa; Pereirinha and Ricardo Pires. Only two players are not new features in the squad in 2018/19 and three new signing came on during the match: Filipe Mello, Sócrates and Cláudio Silva.

João Manuel Pinto traveled from Lusitano VRSA to Sertã and quickly implemented a 4x4x2 formation. The last starting XI is slightly different from the standard lineup: Rafa Santos; Tito Júnior, João Jesus, Bruno Pereira, Tiago Correia; Kevin, Sele Davou, Tiago Baptista, Hugo Barbosa; Pereirinha and Sócrates. The formation remains the same, but there are changes in the attack and in the center of the defense.

Transfer at Sertanense

Text: Marco Rebelo

Pics: Sertanense FC