The former 'dragons' player acknowledged that "the current moment is very much in Sporting's favor", a club he coached during the 2011/12 season, but he stressed, in statements to the Lusa agency, "FC Porto's way of acting in these matches". "It is natural that Sporting is, at this time, a completely motivated team, facing an FC Porto that no longer has a chance of winning the title, but it will not want to give up the match without a fight", commented Domingos Paciência. For the coach, currently without a club, "Sérgio Conceição's team has already accustomed" the fans to this type of commitment and this was demonstrated in the previous clássico, against Benfica, which the Porto team won 5-0. "We have a very recent example of what happened in the last FC Porto-Benfica, for the I League, in which FC Porto was far from thinking that it could beat Benfica and it did. This is to say that FC Porto, at these times, surpasses itself and manages to play great matches", he recalled. The moment of the two clubs is also distinguished by the state of mind of the fans, with those of FC Porto experiencing "a different moment in the club's history", since, "perhaps, president Pinto da Costa has never had an election with this relevance", but this will not have any impact on the players. "They are professionals and we know perfectly well that there are matches in which, when we enter the field, our thinking, our concentration is very high in terms of what we want to do and cause in the match. And this happens alongside what is happening outside the four lines", commented the former 'dragons' striker. Sporting, on the other hand, may have an additional motivation, since a victory in the clássico could be worth the title, if Benfica loses to Sporting de Braga, on Saturday. "Everyone, at least those who fight to be champions, knows perfectly well that it is a year of many sacrifices, many hours of work, and it is natural that the players are super motivated and want to achieve this goal as soon as possible", he admitted. In addition to their performance in the championship, the two teams also diverged in the position of center forward, the one in which Domingos 'scored' 152 goals in 12 seasons in the service of the 'blue and whites'. At FC Porto, Taremi lost some of his brilliance, especially in the second half of the season, a moment from which Evanilson finally began to assert himself. "Taremi had injuries, he had the national team, some irregularity in his game. Evanilson took advantage of it, scored goals, was confident, we saw a different Evanilson. It is part of the forwards and this competition is always good in a big club", analyzed Domingos. On the side of the lions, the signing of Viktor Gyökeres "fit like a glove" because of the "great amplitude" that the Swede gave to the attack, in addition to the "work capacity" that he presents. "He gave Sporting the space for the creativity of Pote [Pedro Gonçalves], Edwards, Trincão. It was the best signing and much of what the team's performance is due to the characteristics of this striker", praised the coach, currently 55 years old. Trained at FC Porto, Domingos Paciência spent almost his entire career with the 'dragons', with the exception of two seasons with the Spanish team Tenerife, and scored 152 goals in 12 seasons, 11 of which against Sporting, between 14 I League matches (eight goals) and five Portuguese Cup matches (three goals). As coach of the 'green and whites', in 2011/12, he played 35 matches, with 19 victories, seven defeats and nine draws, one of which was a 0-0 against FC Porto, at the Estádio José Alvalade, for the I League, and he would end up leaving the command of the 'lions' before the end of that season, being replaced by Ricardo Sá Pinto. FC Porto will host Sporting on Sunday, in a match of the 31st round of the Portuguese I League, with the match scheduled to start at 8:30 pm, at the Estádio do Dragão, in Porto. The 'lions' lead the championship with 80 points, seven more than Benfica, and are two victories away from winning the 20th national championship title in their history, while the 'dragons' are in third place, 18 points behind the leader, with the same 62 points as Sporting de Braga, fourth classified. Sunday's clássico may even allow Sporting to secure the title, but for that to happen, Benfica needs to lose to Sporting de Braga, at the Estádio da Luz, on Saturday, and the 'green and whites' beat the 'dragons' the following day.