Sporting qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, by beating Spanish side Reus in the last round of the group stage. The lions join Benfica, FC Porto, Oliveirense and OC Barcelos, who were already qualified for the next phase, where five of the eight teams will be Portuguese. The rest are the Spaniards from Barcelona and the Italians from Lodi and Trissino. The Lions only needed a draw against Reus to progress, and they went further, winning, despite the scare in the final part, as they were leading 3-0, before the final 3-2. With Ângelo Girão on the bench, starting goal was the responsibility of Zé Diogo, who performed well against a team that put up a fight, but who arrived in Alvalade with no chance of qualifying, playing without their main star, Sergi Aragonès, and with some starters he started on the bench.
One of Sporting’s goals was scored by Nolito, a special goal for another reason as well. It was his 200th with a lion on his chest. “I’m very happy to reach this milestone but even more so for us to win and move on to the next stage. Now we’re going to try harder, but it’s going to be difficult”, stressed the Argentine, referring to his opponents in the quarter-finals.
The Leo coach also highlighted the importance of yesterday’s result. “It was important that we win and pass,” said Alejandro Dominguez.
Benfica, FC Porto, OC Barcelos, Oliveirense and Sp. Tomar (eliminated, like Valongo) also won yesterday.
Lions with the broad bean
The quarter-finals have already been defined and will be played on March 14th (1st leg) and April 11th (2nd leg). And there will be a Portuguese duel, meaning Portugal will have at least one team in the semi-finals and that will leave the clash between OC Barcelos and Benfica. Sporting, on the other hand, will face the almighty Barcelona, while FC Porto and Oliveirense will have Italian opponents, Lodi and Trissino respectively.
2024-03-01 06:39:47
#SportingReus #Portuguese #quarterfinals
