Match Pack: Athletic Club vs Sporting CP (Champions League MD8)

It's now or never for Athletic Club. A brilliant second-half fightback against Atalanta BC in Bergamo has left the Zurigorri's Champions League fate in their own hands.

Reigning Liga Portugal champions Sporting CP are all that stand between Ernesto Valverde's Lions and a place in the Champions play-offs. A win at The Cathedral would guarantee a spot in the next round, whilst a draw could be enough depending on other results. San Mames awaits.

 

Match Info

San Mames, Bilbao

UEFA Champions League, League Phase MD8

Wednesday January 28, 21:00 CET

Tickets can be purchased here

 

 

 

Team news

Ernesto Valverde has named a 23-man squad for Wednesday night's clash.

Athletic have a lengthy injury list: Maroan, Beñat Prados, Aymeric Laporte, Iñaki Williams, Nico Williams, Yuri Berchiche and Alex Berenguer are all unavailable for selection.
 

 

 

 

Valverde's and Lekue's pre-match comments

Catch up with everything the gaffer and Iñigo had to say.



 

The Opponents

One of Portugal's 'Big Three', along with SL Benfica and Porto FC, the Lisbon-based Sporting Clube de Portugal are the country's third most decorated team with a total of 57 major honours: 21 Primeira Liga titles, four Campeonatos de Portugal, 18 Taças de Portugal, four Taças de Portugal, nine Supertaças and one European Cup Winners' Cup.

The Leões can trace their origins back to 1902 and Sport Club de Belas. Sport Club disbanded quickly but was revived two years later as Campo Grande Football Club.

A rift caused by differing views on the entity's future direction saw José Alvalade and 17 other members break away to form a new organisation in 1906, Sporting CP's official year of foundation. Initially this new organisation was called Campo Grande Sporting Clube, before being renamed Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Sporting CP, backed by the Alvalade family's wealth, became pioneers of Portuguese football. In 1907, they played their first match, constructed the club's first ground, Sitio das Mouras, and faced SL Benfica (then called Grupo Sport Lisboa) in the first ever 'Derby de Lisboa'.

The Verde e brancos (Green and Whites) started to emerge as a powerhouse in the 1920s, winning several Lisbon Regional Championships and the Campeonato de Portugal, a predeccesor to the modern-day Taça de Portgual.

A 40-year period of total domination from 1940/41 until 1981/82, which included 16 league titles, 11 Portuguese cups and a European Cup Winners Cup (1963/64), was followed by a rapid downward trajectory. Englishman Malcolm Allison guided the Lisboan side to a domestic double in 81/82, but Sporting would not win a Primeira title again for another 18 years after that.

The duck was finally broken in 1999/00 and Sporting achieved a league and cup double again in 2001/02. However, it proved to be a false dawn as Sporting experienced a 19-year league title drought, only alleviated by Taça triumphs in 2006/07, 2007/08, 2014/15, 2018/19.

Ruben Amorim's appointment in March 2020 proved to be a crucial turning point for the Lisbon giants. Sporting ended their wait for a Primeira Liga in 2020/21, their only loss throughout the entire season coming against Benfica in the penultimate matchday after they'd already secured the title.

Amorim led the Leões to another league triumph in 2023/24 and set them on their way to further glory in 2024/25. The head coach left for Manchester United in November 2024, at which point Sporting were unbeaten in the top-flight. João Pereira then managed the team through a poor eight-match spell before his replacement, current coach Rui Borges, steadied the ship and steered the Verde e brancos to a consecutive league title and a Portuguese cup.

Sporting have played at the 52,000-seater Estádio José Alvalade since 2003. The arena recently underwent some renovations which were completed before the current season. 

The Lisbon-based outfit have more sports sections in addition to football, including: athletics, basketball, boxing, handball, rugby, swimming, water polo and volleyball, among others.
 

Head coach: 

The 44-year-old coach Rui Borges took over from João Pereira, himself a replacement for Ruben Amorim, during the 2024/25 campaign. 

A winger in his playing day, Borges spent most of his career competing in Portugal's lower leagues before hanging up his boots in 2017.

His first managerial break came at second division side Académico de Viseu in 2018/19. In a three-year period he cut his teeth in Liga Portugal 2 with Académica de Coimbra, Nacional, Vilafranquense and Mafra.

He moved to top-flight side Moreirense before the 2023/24 season, taking the club to a best-ever sixth place finish. At the end of the campaign he joined Vitória de Guimarães, who were sixth in the league and unbeaten in the UEFA Conference League when Rui was snapped up by Sporting Clube de Portugal.
 

Standout players:

Sporting have a strong squad with a blend of international talents and promising young Portuguese players. The club's current captain is Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand, whilst their top goalscorer is Colombian striker Luis Suárez, who's scored 24 times in 31 appearances this season.

Other full internationals in the squad include:

Goalkeeper: Rui Silva (Portugal)

Defenders: Maxi Araújo (Uruguay), Zeno Debast (Belgium), Gonçalo Inácio (Portugal), Ousmane Diomande (Ivory Coast) and Georgios Vagiannidis (Greece)

Midfielders: Geny Catamo (Mozambique), Hidemasa Morita (Japan) and Giorgi Kochorashvili (Georgia)

Forwards: Fotis Ioannidis (Greece), Francisco Trincão (Portugal), Pedro Gonçalves (Portugal)

Added to their academy, Sporting have an extensive scouting network in Africa, South America and Europe, often unearthing serious gems. These are some of the emerging players in the first-team squad: Alisson Santos (winger, Brazil), Iván Fresneda (full-back, Spain), Geovany Quenda (winger, Portugal), João Simões (midfielder, Portugal) and Flávio Gonçalves (midfielder, Portugal).
 

Recent form:

The Portuguese side are 10th in the League Phase standings. The sides from sixth to 13th are all equal on 13 points, separated only by goal difference, heading into the final matchday.

So far this season, Sporting CP have defeated Kairat Almaty (4-1), Olympique Marseille (2-1) and Club Brugge (3-0). Their sole draw was a 0-0 stalemate with Juventus in Turin, whilst their only defeats have come against Napoli (2-1) and Bayern Munich (3-1), both on the road.

Rui Borges' outfit are having a strong domestic season, despite being second in the league to Porto FC. From 19 fixtures, they've won 15, drawn three and lost once, a 1-2 defeat to Porto in August. Their last outing was a 1-2 away victory against FC Arouca, with Luis Suárez scoring both goals for Sporting.
 

Interesting facts:

• Sporting played in the very first UEFA European Cup match, against Partizan Belgrade in 1955.
• Along with Benfica and Porto, Sporting have never been relegated from the top flight.
• Their motto is Esforço, Dedicação, Devoção e Glória (Effort, Dedication, Devotion and Glory).
• The Academia Sporting has produced two Balon d'Or winners: Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
• They have over 179,000 members, making them one of the largest sports clubs in the world.
• Sporting have played in the UEFA Cup/Europa League 36 times, a competition record.

 

Previous meetings

This will be the fifth official meeting between the Basque and Portuguese Lions, and the 13th in total.

Our first pre-season clash dates back to a 4-4 draw at the old José Alvalade in 1947. The most recent match was a 3-0 loss in Portugal against Ruben Amorim's Sporting CP side before the 2024/25 campaign. From our eight friendlies, Athletic have won two, drawn four and lost two.

In terms of competitive fixtures, we've met four times in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. The Lisboans emerged victorious in a round-of-16 tie in 1985/86. Athletic won the first leg 2-1 in Bilbao, but Sporting advanced after a 3-0 victory at the Jose Alvalade.

Our encounter in the 2011/12 Europa League semi-finals is fondly remembered by all Athleticzales. Four thousand fans travelled to Lisbon for the first leg. Jon Aurtenetxe gave Los Rojiblancos the lead, and a vital away goal, but Pablo Insua and Diego Capel struck late to give Sporting a slim advantage.

The second leg was no less dramatic. Markel Susaeta levelled the aggregate scores with a lef-footed volley early on. Ricky van Wolfswinkel struck in the 44th minute but Ibai Gómez responded almost immediately, netting just before the whistle. Fernando Llorente booked Athletic's spot in the final with a historic goal in the 88th minute.

 

How to Watch

Check out our global TV guide to make sure you don't miss the match. 

You can also follow the fixture, and keep up to date with everything Athletic related, through the official Athletic Club app, as well as on our website and social media accounts:

Twitter

Basque: @Athletic_eus

English: @Athletic_en

Spanish: @AthleticClub

Facebook

www.facebook.com/ATHLETICCLUB/ (Spanish + Basque)

Instagram

@athleticclub (Spanish + Basque)

Website

Basque: www.athletic-club.eus/eu/

English: www.athletic-club.eus/en/

Spanish: www.athletic-club.eus/