Sporting CP appear to have already found an answer to losing Viktor Gyokeres as their new striker produces another remarkable scoring record.
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When Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP in the summer, they took a striker who had score 97 goals with 28 assists in 102 games.
Replacing that level of output looked a significant challenge.
However Sporting, on their first try, appear to have found an answer in Luis Suarez (not the former Liverpool forward).
Joining the 10th club of his career, Suarez has gone on to score 31 goals and provide six assists in 40 games, an impressive return for the Colombian since arriving from Almeria last summer. The Portuguese club signed Suarez for €22.95m, roughly a third of the fee they received from Arsenal for Gyokeres.
The 28-year-old believes his strong start in Lisbon has been built on settling quickly with his teammates. “The quick adaptation to the team and the teammates, the harmony with them I think was one of the key pieces,” he told Sporting TV. “But at the end of the day this is my job, they trusted me and I think I am giving back in the form of goals and a lot of work every game.”
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Suarez is now preparing to try to help Sporting produce a remarkable comeback in the Champions League, with the side trailing Bodo/Glimt 3-0 after the first leg of their round of 16 tie.
The striker has already spoken about the scale of the challenge and the belief within the squad ahead of the return leg. “Yes, the game will be very complicated but we believe, it will be 90 minutes at our home, where we have become very strong and we will succeed.
“We have this faith that we are going to achieve a positive result and that we are going to move on to the next round.
“Yes, to the end! I think the last month was a stage where we showed on the pitch that we believe until the last minute and showed that we fight to the end and we can do it now too.”
Suarez also pointed to the club’s past as inspiration for the task ahead. “Yes, of course, everything this club has done in the past is an inspiration. In Norway, they made themselves strong with their fans, now we will have ours in favour, in our stadium, which we know perfectly. Above all, we want to make a magical night, which will be remembered by everyone.”
He also called on supporters to fill the stadium for the decisive match. “It is important to fill the stadium. We know that with you we are much stronger and it is believing until the end, it is 90 minutes, or 120, in our house, so it will be until the end!”
The winner of that tie will face the winner of Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen in the next round.
Gyokeres, meanwhile, continued his own strong campaign in north London, scoring his 16th goal of the season against Everton, to draw level with Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool across an almost identical number of minutes, even if the media portrayal of the two forwards has been markedly different.
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