Sporting CP travels to Austria as favorites, in a game that marks the return of Pedro Gonçalves.
The clash between Sturm Graz and Sporting CP is nothing new, after facing each other last season in the group stage of the Europa League. This time, the stage is the Champions League which will put the two clubs face to face next Tuesday, at 8pm, in Austria, for the 3rd round.
It’s expected to be a well-fought game, with the Portuguese team being the favorite to win the match. Sturm Graz will try to take advantage of the home advantage and can take advantage of the strengths of their game, such as aerial play, but Sporting is going through its best form.
It is worth noting that Sporting travels to Austria without Edwards (in doubt), Diomande and Quaresma. On the other hand, Matheus Reis and Pedro Gonçalves are back training and Lucas Anjo, from team B, was called to train with the main team.
In this European competition, the Lions have four points, while their opponents are looking for their first points.
It should be noted that two difficult matches are approaching for Sporting, against Manchester City (5/11) and Arsenal (26/11), both in Alvalade.
Moment of form: Sporting and Sturm Graz leaders in the championships
Sturm Graz, like Sporting, leads its championship (Austrian league) and is experiencing a good moment of form and confidence. For the league, they have 22 points after achieving seven wins, one draw and two defeats.
In the last two games, Sturm Graz scored 10 goals, beating Red Bull Salzburg and Grazer AK 5-0 and 5-2 respectively. They have been a goalscoring team, scoring 32 goals in 14 games, resulting in an average of over two goals per game. In the defensive field, there are 18 goals conceded.
Sporting CP has the possibility of performing at its best against Sturm Graz, if we take into account their start to the season. Although it was in the Champions League that they slipped against PSV (1-1), the Lions are practically untouchable with 10 wins in 12 games this season.
So far they have only suffered one defeat, in the first game of the season, against FC Porto for the Super Cup. In the Portuguese league, they only managed to win with eight wins in eight games.
In attack, they remain protected by the league’s top scorer, Viktor Gyokeres, who has already scored 11 of the Alvalade team’s 27 goals. Also in the defensive sector they present excellent results, having only conceded two goals.
Confrontation history: Sporting 100% victorious
The two teams faced each other on two occasions, in the 2023-24 season, in the Europa League and the lions won both meetings (1-2 and 3-0). Despite there being two victories for Rúben Amorim’s team, the lions found themselves experiencing some difficulties against the Austrians, now having a good opportunity to eliminate any threat from Sturm Graz.
The Leon goals were scored by Gyokeres, Diomande and Gonçalo Inácio.
What the coaches say:
Rúben Amorim, Sporting CP coach: “We need everyone because of this sequence of games. Matheus Reis and Pote can already play some minutes and I think the team felt Pote’s absence because he has different characteristics. Now we are waiting for the others.”
Christian Ilzer, coach of Sturm Graz: “Sporting is a team that can be compared for example to Arsenal and FC Barcelona, it is a team that plays like one of the best in Europe. It’s a classy team.”
Arbitrator
Giorgi Kruashvili was appointed to referee Sturm Graz’s game against Sporting CP. The Georgian referee will referee next Tuesday’s game, accompanied by his assistants, also Georgians, Levan Varamishvili and Zaza Pipia. The fourth referee will be Giorgi Avazashvili.
The video referee will be handed over to Italians Aleandro Di Paolo and Luca Pairetto.
