Estrela da Amadora 0 Sporting CP 3

The warm up

Two weeks is a long time in life, let alone in the world of football, so let's begin with a roundup of the Sporting players who were called up for their national teams since we last played;

Gyökeres was released by Sweden and returned for treatment which after his absence at the start of 2025 seems somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Thankfully the Swedes were only involved in friendly games, they may not have been as understanding had they been competitive fixtures. Given their 5-1 thumping of Northern Ireland on Tuesday I'm not sure how much he was missed. 

Morita flew a 22,000 kilometre round trip to play 45 minutes against Bahrain as Japan became the first side to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2026. He then returned back early to Lisboa injured. With the Japanese so close to qualification you'd have thought they might have been able to manage without him and allow him to continue to recover from recent injuries more fully but clearly not. 

Diogo Pinto is an unused substitute v England U21s. Eduardo Quaresma started before being withdrawn at half time in a 4-2 loss. Neither player was used in the previous game against Romania U21s which the Portuguese lost 1-0. João Muniz whose loan at Rio Ave was recently cut short played 90 minutes in both games. 

Debast returned to the back 4 as Belgium overturned a 3-1 loss to Ukraine with a 3-0 home win. The youngster had played the away leg in midfield.

Diomande played for the full 90 minutes in the Côte d’Ivoire 1-0 win over Gambia having been an unused substitute in their previous game. 

David Moreira was an unused substitute for Cape Verde against Mauritius and Angola.

Geny plays the full 90 against Uganda as Mozambique finish 3-1 victors. He then scores the consolation goal in a 5-1 mauling away go Algeria.

Mixed fortunes following the double header between Portugal and Denmark. Finally after all the waiting we see a Sporting youngster make his international debut at the José Alvalade of all places. It was clearly written in the stars… unfortunately someone didn't deliver the script to Roberto Martinez as Conrad Harder makes his debut for Denmark whilst Quenda once more looks on from the Portuguese bench. Neither player featured in the first leg. Rui Silva is an unused substitute for both games. Inácio came on as a substitute in the away leg and then played the 120 minutes at home. Hjulmand played every minute of both legs. Trincão an unused substitute in Denmark, was the man of the hour at the José Alvalade as he came off the bench to score twice in a 5-2 win after extra time. 

Araújo and Israel are both clocking up the air miles in the same vein as Morita. The former played the full 90 in Uruguay’s 1-0 loss against Argentina and the 0-0 draw away to Bolivia. Portugal to Uruguay is apparently 9,353 kms. Uruguay to Bolivia 2,627. Bolivia to Portugal 8,435 kms. And then people wonder why players form suffers for clubs or they pick up injuries. Araújo being suspended for Estrela will at least benefit him in this instance as his body readjusts. 

In news closer to home, Paulo Simão the 16 year old half brother of former Lion Rafael Leão has signed a training contract with Sporting.

John Pear Tree continues his Sporting Okey Cokey. Having gone from Sporting B to first team coach and back to Sporting B, he's now left the club altogether to take over as head coach of Turkish side Alanyaspor who currently sit 14th in the top flight four points above the relegation places. No one seems to have paid much attention to the announcement as Sami Ugurlu is still listed on Fotmob as their coach. 

*Alisson Santos whose move in January collapsed is now set for completion and he may even join the club earlier than the summer given Silas has frozen him out totally at UD Leiria. Whilst he won't be able to play it's hoped it will help him integrate faster into the first team squad. 

More outgoings potentially from a financial point of view as Diomande is set to cost the club an additional €1.66m if he plays a further 9 games for Sporting. 

Whilst the international break has been in play Sporting have been invaded by marauders from the English capital. So much for the longest peace agreement between any two nations in the world. A deal has been done for both Quenda and Essugo with Premier League Chelsea. Confirmation was made by the club to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission for the transaction values for both players. Quenda’s was €50,777,700 fixed and €1,358,841.32 in variables. I'd love to know what the €0.32 relates to. Essugo’s a more standardised flat fee of €22,272,275. Quenda will remain with the lions for another season. Essugo will join the Blues in the summer. 

Essugo remains Sporting's youngest ever player. Not considered good enough for the first team by Ruben Amorim, he was technically relegated last season with Chaves and there's a chance he'll suffer the same fate with Las Palmas in La Liga this season. In total he made 12 appearances for the first team during which it's fair to say I didn't see anything that made him look like he was destined to become a potential Premier League player. I didn't see anything that made me think he was destined to become a Sporting first team player. I wasn't overly impressed the couple of times I saw him play for Chaves either. Mind you I was never overly impressed with William Carvalho and Mathews Nunes either but ironically when they didn't play I noticed the difference so maybe he'll fall into that category. I'm not sure what you'd label that category mind you. There are players such as Gonçalo Esteves, Ruben Vinagre and Ryan Gauld to mention just three names off the top of my head who I've watched at Sporting and thought hello there's a player there and they've all disappeared without a trace. One assumes that's why I'm writing this and not on the scouting squad of an elite football team. Never mind. 

Speculation continues that the club is set to move for the Georgian midfielder Giorgi Kochorashvili in the summer from his current club Levante. This might be an unpopular opinion but as gutted as I'll be to see Morita leave, now feels the right time given his season of injuries punctuated by ridiculous amounts of travel for international breaks. The club will also look to terminate its relationship with St Juste who is back in training. His time will sadly be remembered for his speight of injuries which have seen him sidelined for long periods of his time with the lions and his ill judged backpass earlier this season which led to the Rui Silva own goal. He signed at the same time as Vinagre, both moves cost the club €10m and will ultimately show as black marks against Hugo Viana. A bid of €6m plus a further €2m has allegedly been rejected by Panathinaikos for their 23 year old right back Georgios Vagiannidis who are holding out for €10m. I spent all last summer not mentioning the speculation with their forward Fotis Ioaniddis so only mention this now because it reminds me of BdC calling out the then West Ham owners negotiations over William Carvalho famously calling them the Dildo Brothers. I look forward to the Greeks losing their patience again and seeing what they can call Varandas. Mind you to the best of my knowledge having a doctorate may not be a good a starting point as the careers of the two David's Sullivan and Gold.

Estrela 

I've been trying to clarify who exactly owns the Lisboa club. Yes I'm sad and have nothing better to do, I don't need reminding. Patrice Evra in June 2023 announced in a Facebook post that he was the co-owner of the club. That followed an announcement a month earlier that 90% of the shares in the SAD were purchased by an American company called My Football Club (MYFC). Certainly the latter’s branding is shown over the club's shirts as the main sponsor. There were reported links of West Ham owner David Sullivan having invested alongside Patrice Evra but I cannot substantiate those. So I'm going to assume that Evra if still involved holds a percentage of the remaining 10% of shares and that his overall involvement is nominal at best. Or maybe he's an investor in MYFC? Shame Google is an utter pile of wank and now utterly hellbent on showing you adverts for shit you don't want or need. 

Situated 10 kms northwest of central Lisboa, the club is having to compete for eyes against two of the giants of Portuguese football in the form of Sporting and the dirty pigeons. This is heavily reflected in their average attendance to date of 3,141 albeit that average should be boosted post today's game and the forthcoming one against Porto. Commercial revenue is clearly hard to come by in addition to matchday revenue given their main front of shirt sponsor is the club owners. The hope for them long-term is to bring through talent from their academy to sell on but how do you compete for local youngsters when again the big two sides in the city will quickly hoover up the most promising players? I guess you cast your net back out and try to catch the ones who weren't considered good enough.

In the summer the club brought in Nani but after a solitary goal in ten outings the former Sporting player decided to call time on his career in December. Of their current squad Miguel Lopes, Alan Ruiz, Tiago Ferreira have all played for Sporting in the past. Jovane is another who finally made a permanent move in the summer for €800,000 having previously been loaned out to Lazio, Salernitana and Olympiacos. However he's hardly setting the world alight in his new surroundings with a solitary goal and assist in his 18 outings. Travossos on loan from Sporting B has also played 18 times and has 1 goal to his name. Unlike Jovane he has the excuse that he's a defender. 

Going into the game they lie 15th in the table level on points with AVS who occupy the last of the three relegation spots. Of 13 home games they've managed 4 wins and 4 draws with a goal difference of minus 3. Only the bottom 5 carry a minus goal difference. That seems unusual to me but it might be the international break has stopped my capability of any rational thought.

Eleven players have found the net; Kikas and Rodrigo Pinho top scorers with 5, Bucca 2 and the remaining with a solitary goal per man. Well twelve if you count an own goal in their favour. They've managed a paltry 5 goals away from home in 13 games. Their chances of remaining in the top flight is for now dependent on their home form but with four away games remaining and two of their home games against Sporting and Porto it's not looking good. Their hope rests as much on Gil Vicente and AVS continuing to be equally as bad. 

Estrela are one of 8 clubs Gyökeres has outscored. He's one goal behind another two to boot. Of the leagues 18 clubs only Farense have a worse xG and whereas Sporting are outperforming theirs by 10.3 goals, Estrela are spot on with their xG ratio to goals; 20.9 to 21 scored. They're bottom of the table for big chances missed, although they do rank highly in interceptions and tackles per match on average. With their forwards doing very little their defence and midfielders are clearly busier. Fourth in terms of the total average fouls conceded per game, they've also the 3rd most yellows with 73. 

Positive news, Estrela have managed to score in each of their last three games against Sporting. I mean OK they've lost all of them but still… At the Alvalade this season they lost 5-1 with Gyökeres scoring four and Araújo the other. Last season's fixtures were tighter affairs, the corresponding fixture finished 2-1 and at the Alvalade it was 3-2. 

I asked Ai for some interesting facts about Estrela, here's the pick of what it had to say;

The club was established on May 1, 1932 (International Workers' Day) by a group of factory workers from Amadora, a suburb of Lisbon and was originally named Sport Grupo Sacavenense. 

Okay so back to Sporting. 

Araújo and Hjulmand are both suspended. Araújo for the straight red against Famalicão and the captain for his fifth yellow of the season. In positive news Pedro Gonçalves returned to full training during the week and hopefully should form part of the matchday squad for the first time since Ruben Amorim’s departure away to Braga. 

* update - the signing of Alisson has been confirmed for a fee in the region of €1.5m on a five year contract from Vitória de Bahia. As expected the ambidextrous forward has been placed with the B team with a view to integration with the first team come the summer. The Brazlian sports a tattoo on his neck which reads Tudo Passa - everything passes. Clearly wasn't brought up on videos of Bas Dost then. 

In the markets 

Estrela 8/1

Draw 4/1

Sporting CP 1/3

Team News

Starting XI

Silva, Quaresma, Diomande, Inácio, Fresneda, Felicíssimo, Debast, Reis, Trincão, Quenda and Gyokeres.

Substitutes 

Israel, St. Juste, Harder, Geny, Biel, Esgaio, Brito, Silva and Arreíol. 

Enforced changes with the suspension of Hjulmand and Araújo. The youngster Felicíssimo comes in for the captain whilst Reis comes into the left of midfield. Debast moves forward to replace Morita which Quaresma fills in for the space in the back three the Belgian vacates. Brito and St Juste fit enough to be named amongst the substitutes once more. Morita injured on international duty missing. Gonçalves still not fit enough to return to first team action. 

First half 

A man in the crowd looks through binoculars. If he needs them here imagine what he'd require at the London Stadium. Inácio captain in Hjulmand's absence. Sporting in white with green trim will attack left to right and get us underway. 

1 Just 32 seconds on the clock as Gyökeres brings out a save at the near post from 8 yards from Andorinha. The Swede played a 1-2 with Quenda on the edge of the area who provided a lovely weighted through ball for the talismanic Swede to run onto 

5 Reis strikes from inside the left hand side of the area and his shot cannons off the left hand post and away to safety 

8 The ball has been in the Sporting half for a good 30 seconds but only because the lions have been in possession. Estrela finding it near impossible to get out of their own half 

14 The home side for their lack of possession are still holding firm for now. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was an away fixture for them with the noise of the travelling fans. Alan Ruiz tries from 40 yards or more and the ball goes harmlessly wide of Silva's left hand post 

16 Could be an early end to the Ex-Sporting player and Estrela Captain Lopes night who went down off the ball. 

17 The game restarts after treatment 

18 This game has the feel of a typical derby with a series of niggly fouls from both sets of teams. It needs a goal. Sporting guilty as they have for much of this season for poor distribution in the final third 

20 Yellow shown for a shirt pull on Fresneda by Montóia

21 Debast with the free kick from 30 yards sails over the head of everyone and out for a goalkick. As I was saying just now about the quality of the final ball

22 Head tennis as a long throw into the Sporting box is flicked on by two Estrela attackers and finally cleared for a corner by Reis

23 Yellow for Keliano who pulls back Quenda as Sporting looked to counter from the corner. That's his seventh yellow of the season. 

24 Lopes down again receiving treatment.

25 Applause as Lopes hobbles to the side from both sets of fans to be replaced by Pantalon. 

26 Sporting break with Quenda from the half way line. Gyökeres cut out left when maybe he'd have been better off staying central. Move breaks down disappointingly 

27 Estrela just being allowed more space with Sporting attacks starting around the halfway line. They're defending in a 5-2-3. I'd suggest the 2-3 part are totally ineffective at present 

29 Long ball into the box cleared by Reis once more. He's having his best game in a while and effective both ends of the pitch 

30 Silva quickly off his line to collect the ball before it reached the feet of an Estrela player. 

31 Alan Ruiz wipes out Trincão. Another wasted free kick. It's not pretty by the home side but it is effective as they clear their lines 

32 Space on the left for Estrela. A long ball to the edge of the six yard box chested out for a corner by Reis. 

32 The Sporting fans are bouncing in the stands. Presumably for something to keep them awake 

33 Montóia shown a second yellow for a late lunge on Fresneda. Estrela down to ten. He catches the foot of the Spaniard with the bottom of his studs. 

35 Montóia tries to make his case to the referee who is pointing to the sides. Finally the Estrela man makes his way off the pitch. 

36 Debast tries to help Montóia who has wandered onto the pitch as he slowly trudges off. He's not helping his own cause there. 

38 Trincão with a woeful hook from 17 yards high and wide of the left hand post 

40 Gyökeres fires a ball into the six yard box which cannons off a defender to safety. 

Again the ball goes into the area you want the Swede. All season he's been the player who creates the most dangerous chances yet rarely do we have players on his level who are there to finish them 

Plus six shown 

45 Reis run blocked off. Free kick wife left 

+1 Estrela clear their lines once more from the free kick 

+1 Fresneda down complaining he'd been fouled. Amusingly the Estrela player kicks the ball off him for a throw. 

+2 Bucca shown the yellow. Not sure if that was for time wasting or unsporting behaviour 

49 Keliano hooks a shot from 25 yards high and wide 

50 Debast with a first touch like a trampoline sees the ball go off his shin and out for a free kick. Sums up the entire half in terms of quality 

Half time 

Estrela 0 Sporting CP 0

It started so brightly with Sporting on the attack after 30 seconds and you're lulled into thinking this could be an easy game for Sporting. Apart from Reis hitting the post Sporting have offered very little in a somewhat tedious and dull opening 45 minutes. Despite being down to ten men Estrela haven't looked like really conceding in the same manner that they've not ever really looked like scoring. 

As always Gyökeres Sporting's main attacking outlet. Sadly neither Quenda or Trincão have been at the races. I know I'll sound like a broken record but the quality of the passing in the final third is once more Sporting's undoing. We've seen the lions struggle multiple times this season against sides prepared to sit back and defend. Recently they've invited teams on themselves to good effect but oddly going down to ten men may do Estrela more favours with no one able to find the key to unlock their defence. A point won for them would be more valuable than three potential lost points for Sporting in the title race. 

The performance of Reis the stand out in the first half alongside Gyökeres. Everyone else outfield needs to pull their socks up in the second 45. Hopefully the man advantage can count. Gyökeres needs to stay central but someone needs to provide him with the chances to score that he's providing from the flanks. I reckon the man with the binoculars has turned them round to add more distance. Less painful a watch. 

Second Half 

Geny pulls up his socks getting ready on the sidelines to come on. Said the outfield players needed to do that. He's on for Fresneda 

45 Estrela get the game back underway. 

46 Geny has gone straight out to the left

46 Alan Ruiz booked as he catches the toes of Debast

47 Diomande is down holding his face in the box. Given the penalties given against him this season he's looking for retribution. Ruiz catches him with the faintest of touches. That's poor form from the Ivorian, however the referee makes the TV symbol and runs off to the side. I'd book Diomande for play acting. That's never a penalty in a million years. Start giving those and we'll be in trouble. 

50 Crowd falls silent. Referee confirms a penalty. Ruiz looks at him as if to say really? Yes he catches his chin but that's soft. 

51 GOAL Gyökeres spots the ball. Checks the bottom of his boot. Steps up and fires the ball into the bottom left hand corner to make it Estrela 0 Sporting CP 1. Keeper goes the right way but the ball was pretty much in the net by the time he'd even dived. 

52 Another yellow shown for a foul on Felicissimo to Pantalon. 

53 Someone has turned the volume up a couple of notches on the stadium as the Sportinguista's sense another three points 

54 Geny is fouled and another yellow shown. I'll be amazed if they finish with ten men. Ferro the latest player booked. I've lost count of how many that is for them. 

56 Gamesmanship from the home side as the keeper goes down for treatment and the entire Estrela side go to receive instructions from their coach Zé Augusto

57 Eight yellows shown including the second for the red to Estrela. 

59 Slow trudge off for Ruiz as he's replaced by Jovane. 

59 Geny brings out a diving save from 16 yards low to the keepers left. Quenda flashes the rebound across the six yard box but there's no one there to get on the end of it 

61 Gyökeres aims a pass to the edge of the six yard box. Cleared once more but Sporting knocking on the door for the second. 

62 Sporting need a goal of real quality to wipe the stain of the soft penalty. I'd be fuming if that was given against us. To be fair I wasn't impressed with the penalty given against Diomande recently but two wrongs don't make a right. Reis tries to pick out Trincão at the near post but the keeper was quick to clear the ball 

63 Geny has certainly lifted Sporting this half. He tries from ten yards but the ball was going towards the far side for a throw in. 

65 Ironic applause from the home fans as Reis is shown the yellow for a foul on Pinho

67 Pinho fouled on the half way line takes a quick free kick with Silva off his line but it goes well wide of the left hand post 

67 Estrela fans actually making a chant you can hear. They've literally not had anything to cheer all game.  

68 Trincão with three men around him breaks clear inside the box as goes down. Referee awards the free kick against him

70 Quaresma fouled inside the Estrela half. Had forgotten he was playing he's had that little to do 

71 Green smoke billows from the far corner where the Sporting fans are huddled. Game is stopped as two flares burn on the pitch. Cut to Varandas in the stands rubbing his temple in frustration at another fine coming his way. Sporting fined during the week for a knife thrown on the pitch on a previous game. What is wrong with some of our fans?

74 Another Sporting pass goes astray in the final third. Christ you'd not want to watch this game again 

75 Estrela with a throw level on the edge of the 18 yard box headed clear. That's the furthest they've been up field all half. Kikas goes down holding his face claiming a penalty against Reis. The referee waves away his protests. 

77 Gyökeres fires from a narrow angle wide right and his effort is saved at the near post 

78 Kikas catches Inácio with his studs. That looked painful. Almost as painful as watching this game 

80 Estrela 0 Sporting CP 2. Quenda picks up the ball on the right hand side of the box. Beats his marker and instead of passing to Geny wide open on the edge of the six yard area drills it between a defender and the keeper from a narrow angle  

82 Estrela have the ball in the net. Flag was straight up. Banza broke away from the defence, rounded Silva and slotted home. Good finish but it won't count. 

83 Trincão and Reis replaced by Esgaio and Harder 

85 Geny scoops a shot over the bar from 20 yards. 57 cms offside according to the maths replay for the disallowed goal. Looked a lot tighter than that from the initial replay albeit from one of those stupid angles no where near the actual play so you can't ever really tell. 

86 Harder fires the mother of all volleys which rebounds to Gyökeres who's pulled down in the box and penalty given. The Dane must have hit that from 30 yards or more. Another red shown to Lima and Estrela down to nine. Said I'd be surprised if they finished with ten men  

88 Gyökeres goes the same corner to make it Estrela 0 Sporting CP 3. 

90 Quenda and Felicíssimo off. Arreíol one of the men on 

Plus four shown 

+1 Arreíol penalised for a free kick. Biel the other substitute 

+2 Harder spins and tries from 16 yards but his effort goes out for a goal kick. 

+3 Harder is having to be restrained by the assistant referee on the far side. Not sure what that was about 

Full time 

Estrela 0 Sporting CP 3 

The final word 

Christ almighty that was a hard watch. You've got to feel sorry for the home side as they finish with nine men and on the wrong side of a ridiculously soft penalty decision for the opening goal. They're sleepwalking into relegation on the basis of that showing albeit not helped by the referee Gustavo Correia. When you hear the fans of smaller clubs saying that match officials favour the bigger teams you'd not be able to argue against them given that game as evidence. Eight yellows and a straight red, a soft penalty conceded. I'd be super pissed if I was an Estrela fan. That being said they offered nothing all game apart from the offside goal. Some matches you watch the referee not penalise any challenges with a booking and then finally the elastic snaps and out comes the card. Their players should have realised quite early on that the referee wasn't going to let anything go so really they have themselves to blame as much as the Portuguese Postman Pat in the centre. 

I guarantee at some point in the near future some halfwit pundit in England will bring up how many goals Gyökeres has from the penalty spot. I'll give you odds of 1/200 it's that much of a certainty. For anyone who doesn't watch his game and gets given a stat pack you'd probably be forgiven for falling into that trap. Yet we all know watching on he's everywhere. Not only is he going to be a massive loss for us next season but for the Portuguese game as a whole. He is proper box office to watch. You wonder if he's got ADHD because he can't stand still. He's like a magnet to the ball on either flank. I guess next year we'll find out it we have any decent wingers because they'll have all the space from both channels to operate from that he vacates to find out. 

At the end of the day it's three points won. I don't really care how we win them at the moment, only that we do. Talk already this title will come down to the Derby which is dangerous. We've seen all season that every team is capable of tripping over their boot laces. Braga and Porto have a massive say in the outcome of the title and to suggest otherwise would be disrespectful in my humble opinion.

Credit to Reis. On the odd occasion that Estrela did attack in the first half he was the man soaking up the pressure and had he scored in the fifth minute it could have been a different game altogether. Let's be honest the back three didn't have an awful lot to do and the one time they really did they had the benefit of the offside flag to get them out of jail. Felícissimo quietly went about his business all game. 100% completion of his 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, won both his aerial duals. Sometimes it's about the numbers because I can't really remember thinking that much about him at any stage other than when he got chopped down around the half way line. A bit like Quaresma getting fouled in the second half and going oh yeah you're still on the pitch. 

Quenda will have added to his highlights reel with a rare goal which will be discussed in the same manner as Gyökeres total goals from the penalty spot as proof of something that is far from the truth. The Athletic during one of their podcasts about Chelsea's early transfer business likened him to Lamina Yamal. The only thing the two of them have in common is their position and the fact they're 17. The Spaniard is light years ahead of Quenda. Don't be fooled into thinking because Chelsea have parted with €51m and he's scored today that they've got a bargain. He's a long way to go domestically and internationally where he's still to make his Portugal debut under Roberto Martinez. 

Trincão after being the hero of the day for Portugal in midweek came crashing back down to earth with an underwhelming performance here tonight. Inadequate finishing, other than his turn inside the box under pressure he added little. I think he's found his level with Sporting and if it wasn't for the fact his agent is Jorge Mendes and Barcelona don't have a pot to piss in with 50% of his contract, there's no way he'd be linked with moves to the likes of Manchester City or United. Two plus two does not equal four just because Amorim is on one side of the City and Viana the other. He failed at Wolverhampton last time around and when things are going great in your career finally, I think it would be a huge mistake to leave. Time will tell. 

Impressive second half from Geny who reminds us of his usefulness either as a starter or coming on with the keys to unlock defences. Quenda went for goal and fortunately for him it came off. Had it not done Geny could rightfully have pointed the finger of blame at him. He was in the correct spot to slot it home. The spot Gyökeres needed for all his passes in the first half so define irony right there. 

Man of the match - not hard to guess is it. Thankfully for Gyökeres I don't have a trophy to award him because he'd need an extension built to house them all as I award him another one. The man's a cheat code. He could prove to be the best buy of all time in Portugal come May even if he's only in the country for two seasons. Time will tell. He is the talisman for this side. When he's in this form you'd bet him to score every game. I mean I have and they keep offering 10/11 anytime which seems ridiculous to me. I mean I offered you 1/200 earlier so you'll not get rich off me that's for certain. Enjoy him while we've got him Sportinguista's.

Whoever keeps throwing shit onto the pitch please stop. Every € in fines is money that could be better spent. When I first started watching a decade ago you'd always have fire marshalls in attendance at the games and they've vanished so things have improved in some senses. Flares in the stand is one thing. Flares on the pitch - come on people's. Please.