PSV Eindhoven 1 Sporting CP 1
The warm up
Matchday two in the 2024/25 edition of the Champions League sees Sporting travel away to the side currently sat top of the Eredivisie and the current reigning Nederland's title winners PSV Eindhoven. The two sides were previously drawn against each other in the 2019/20 edition of the Europa League with PSV coming out 3-2 victors at home and Sporting winning 4-0 at the Alvalade. This was the same season which would end with Ruben Amorim coming in as the new Sporting coach. I found it interesting having looked at the Sporting teams for both those games that not a single player remains with the club five years on. Neto and Coates started in the 3-2 defeat with the Uruguayan scoring an own goal whilst Jovane and Camacho were amongst the substitutes but they all departed in the summer for one reason or another. I say all, I'm assuming Camacho has now gone on the basis of deduction that he signed a five year contract in the summer of 2019 and that it would have expired this summer. If anyone knows where he is the world perhaps they can let me know. What is it the kids say nowadays, you OK hun? Bruno Fernandes scored three times over the two games. Whatever happened to him? Oh yes that's right busy getting sent off for Manchester United against Spurs and picking up a 3 game ban. I'll have a couple of euro that he pops up in one of the boxes at the Alvalade soon enough. Pedro Mendes scored a wonder goal on his debut in the 3-2 defeat but that sadly was to prove the highlight of his entire time with the club. I appreciate it's been five years since I watched the game but my overriding memory of the defeat in the Nederland's is that Sporting were truly woeful and the 3-2 final scoreline flattered them immensely.
Sporting have certainly come on leaps and bounds since that performance and on paper it would appear to be very much a 50/50 game with very little to split the two sides. There are huge similarities between the two clubs. They both make up part of the so called big three in their respective leagues. They both play in a league that some may claim to be a farmers league. That however isn't the reason their fans have named themselves boeren which apparently is Dutch for farmers or peasants by the way, but a seamless link on my part if I do say so myself. I thank you. The home record of the two clubs last season is almost identical. Whereas Sporting won all 17, PSV won 16 and drew 1. Both sides have won their opening 7 games of this season with PSV’s goal difference +21 to Sporting's +23. As mentioned above they were of course both league Champions last year of their respective competitions. As I wrote after Friday's game this is the game for me that gives the biggest indicator of where we currently stand. The two teams appear level on paper at least so can this iteration of Sporting go away to the Nederland's and get a result in a stadium where only one Eredivisie side came away with a point all of last season and are yet to take any this season? Taking into account the 2022/23 season, until the present day they've dropped 9 points from a possible 111 on offer.
Any Sporting fans thinking the side is going to just rock up to the Phillips Stadion and take all 3 points are sadly mistaken. This game is going to be a big test for the Sporting players. Remember there is no return game at the Alvalade and if the expectation is that Sporting are unlikely to take anything from home matches against a Manchester City or an Arsenal then coming away with points in ties to clubs like PSV becomes all the more imperative if Sporting are to make the playoffs or knock out rounds straight of the competition. Every win is financially beneficial for the club with €2.1m on offer. Even a draw is worth €700,000 and in Portugal both are a lot of money. If you think Diomande is currently earning €300,000 per annum that's his wages paid for the year and a whole chunk of change if we just came away with a point. Long term it can be the difference between being able to say no to other clubs coming in around from Europe and wanting to poach your best talent unless they are willing to pay the termination clause. Sporting aren't being greedy when they say they want €100m for Gyökeres or €60m for Inácio per se. They simply don't want to lose either player. Sure at some point Portuguese clubs will always have to sell to balance the books, players have ambitions they want to fulfil in their careers but you can't build anything sustainable if you're constantly selling all your talent. A lot of fans of Premier League teams have a built in expectation that players from smaller leagues will naturally just want to come and play there but that's clearly not always the case. Gyökeres for example was already in England with Coventry and I'm sure would have had offers from Premier League clubs before joining Sporting. Only in the past week have online media sites stopped connecting him with a move to Arsenal as talk now begins linking the Gunners with a supposed move for Dušan Vlahović. That hasn't stopped the speculation regarding the Swede mind you having been ironically linked to the Serbians current club Juventus. They can't afford the €100m clause however and Sporting have once more said they won't budge. Any suggestions Barcelona are interested is laughable. There aren't that many financial levers in all of Catalonia they could pull to get that over the line. Spurs are alleged to be looking at the possible signing but whilst I don't doubt they have the money I don't see them paying the it and have just gone heavy in the investment of Dominic Solanke this summer from Bournemouth. I've said it before and I'll say it again especially if he repeats the numbers from last season, Gyökeres is not going to fit the model of what Chelsea are trying to do long term. The termination of clause of €100m is only valid in the summer transfer window. He will still have three years left on his contract come the end of this season so there's no danger that Sporting have to sell because of his financial value diminishing. In fact if he repeats his season from last it will only strengthen Sporting's resolve that he is worth the €100m in his termination clause and they will argue actually he's worth more I'm sure.
Speaking of the Swede, Friday night marked one of those incredibly rare occasions where not only did we not see him play the full 90 minutes but he also failed to register a shot on target. I'm going to caveat that statistic with the fact that neither Haaland or Kane managed a shot on target tor Manchester City and Bayern Munich in their respective league games against Newcastle and Leverkusen. What is it Rag and Bone Man sings, something about only being human after all? The big worry for Sportinguista's wasn't the lack of seeing a shot on target but the sight of a bag of ice being taped to his knee. First thought - shit which knee? Right one, phew. Second thought - well at least it isn't the left and please let him be OK for PSV. Third thought - why couldn't he have done it before the international break when Sporting have a chance to not send him away with Sweden? Sorry to any Swedes reading but he's all yours once someone pays the €100m and we all get our hearts broken and cry into our cornflakes every morning. PSV meanwhile did have the luxury of resting one of their main men Luuk de Jong in their 2-0 win on Saturday afternoon. He is set to make his 300th appearance for the club over two spells. I wonder how much advantage PSV playing in the afternoon is compared to Sporting playing at night? I'm not buying half a day's rest is going to make the difference but the body is a finely tuned organism which sets its own patterns and rhythms* and for Sportings players very rarely are they kicking off earlier than 8pm and even when they do it's certainly no later than 6pm. Estoril away in terms of distance will have felt like a home game. Is that an advantage for Sporting? More than half a day's rest would be which would no doubt be negated by having to take a flight no matter how short the transfer. Oh before I forget, post game on Friday I was saying well done for taking their foot off the gas assuming that had come from Amorim only for the mister to bemoan the fact they'd done exactly that rather than continue to press home the advantage. So to those who finished on the pitch I'll salute you especially if it means you can give it an extra 5-10% in the Champions League. No offence to Estoril by which I of course mean every fucking offence but Sporting could have gone off as a collective on 70 minutes and they'd still not have managed to level the game even against no opposition.
*Circadian rhythms. Good job my life didn't depend on remembering the actual name of what I was trying to describe when trying to make that point above. I do suspect a starting Viktor Gyökeres would be the more decisive factor however.
Anyone know out of interest what PSV actually stands for? Me and a mate of mine christened PSG as poxy sodding goatfuckers on account of them consistently losing us money whenever we laid them off. Let's hope it's not something like poised star virtuoso's in this game. I'm not going to write something that upsets my karma. However if we lose you've been warned.
In the markets
PSV 31/20
Draw 12/5
Sporting 17/10
Team News
More injury woes for Sporting as Reis joins the injury roster alongside Gonçalves and Edwards. Good news however as Dutch defender St Juste has recovered and has made the trip home. He was previously linked with a move to PSV so a bit like with Gyökeres and Arsenal there is a chance they'll see their man out on the pitch just not in the colours they had hoped. Please let him not breakdown again.
Team News
Starting XI
Israel, Inácio, Diomande, Debast, Nuno Santos, Hjulmand, Morita, Geny, Quenda, Gyökeres and Trincão
Substitutes
Kovačević, Callai, Quaresma, Fresneda, Bragança, Esgaio, Gomes, Harder, Araújo and Couto
Top scorer Viktor Gyökeres is fit to start after his injury scare on Friday night. Despite having travelled St Juste isn't even named amongst the substitutes and Sporting start the match one man light on the bench. Mauro Couto the 18 year old forward and Luis Gomes a 20 year old midfielder are both named amongst the substitutes. We'll have to see where Geny and Quenda start given Fotmob has Quenda in the left of a forward three and Geny wide right. You'd imagine that's got to be the other way around given which side they've played when both players have started in the same XI. Inácio comes back in alongside the Double D's which you'd have expected even if Reis hadn't have picked up the injury which forces him to miss out.
I'm not going to lie, this is the first time I've been nervous before a fixture all season long. That really is saying something given I suffer immensely with the anxiety based condition OCD that for eight straight games in League and erm European League, I've thought you've got this. Actually make it nine because I was supremely confident we'd beat Porto and how wrong was I? Again. I'm taking the point if offered before kick off. Could be a Desmond coming up. I definitely can't see it being 0-0.
First half
PSV get us underway. Sporting attack right to left.
4 Tillan cross picks out de Jong whose header goes wide of the left post. He was a good couple of yards offside even if the flag didn't go up under the new system of officiating.
6 Sporting have now gone 600 minutes since they last conceded a goal in any competition. Nacional the last team to score, one of only two goals to have been conceded to date.
9 Sporting currently holding a defensive line around the 25 yard line and intent on trying soak up any pressure and hit PSV on the counter
12 Just to confirm Geny is on the left and Quenda on the right.
13 Mistake at the back from Inácio gives PSV an opportunity but Israel punches the ball to safety from a Til shot.
14 GOAL Another mistake at the back from Sporting fell to Schouten who smashed the ball back from 23 yards into the bottom left hand corner past Israel. PSV 1 Sporting CP 0. Poor ball out from Debast trying to find Geny. Fantastically struck shot to be fair to the midfielder but it's an opportunity that should never have presented itself.
19 Bakayoko pushes Nuno Santos off the ball and charges forward to unleash a shot which goes well wide of the right post from 20 yards. Nuno Santos remonstrated with the referee less than impressed.
21 Júnior shown the first yellow as he goes through the back of Trincão. Sporting just not competing physically
22 Free kick for a foul on Geny. At no point are the PSV players retreating ten yards from these free kicks. Three men around Hjulmand as he looks to take it. We've seen this all half. It is a succession of fouls from the home wide every time Sporting get on the ball.
25 Flamingo goes through the back of Gyokeres again. Hjulmand rightly pointing out this is getting ridiculous
25 Gyökeres with a little bit of retribution on Boscagli in a 50/50 flattens the defender.
26 Quenda with the nutmeg loses his marker and charges into the box. Defender plays it onto the youngster for a goal kick. First real sign of attacking intent from Sporting as we come up to the half hour mark
28 Nuno Santos found by Morita in acres of space wide left. Ball into the six yard box easily dealt with by Benitez
29 Diomande goes down in a heap. This doesn't look good. Tilman sportingly knocked the ball out of play. His ankle went fully under the weight of his body there. You have to think that's the end of his night. Sportings injury woes continue.
30 Diomande can barely stand as he's helped off the pitch by two of the medical staff supporting him either side
31 ➡️⬅️ Quaresma on for Diomande. Not been Sporting's night so far. I said this will be a test of our levels but so far we're failing it
32 Geny shakes off his marker but the ball deflects for a corner
33 Bakayoko flattens Geny and sends him off the pitch. How is that not a foul?
34 Trincão rides a challenge out right and manages to drag the ball back for Gyökeres but his shot is blocked. Best chance so far.
36 This is a night where you need an Acuna or Reis in the starting XI. Someone with a bit of grit and show some wiliness
Plus 3 shown
+1 Corner from the left finds Inácio but his header is well wide from 9 yards. Minimum had to be to get it on target from there.
Half time
PSV 1 Sporting CP 0
Well this is more like the Sporting I know and love. PSV’S game plan might be a simple one; concede the foul when defending and force Sporting into errors when attacking but it worked a treat. We've seen flickers of what Sporting are capable of but I mean flickers. A little burst from Quenda, Geny and Trincão but no end product in the final third. Sporting will go away and lick their wounds at half time and need to come out with a different attitude if they're to take anything from this game. I'd imagine Harder will come on for Geny in the second half and provide a more robust presence and take over as the option as a target man to allow Gyökeres more freedom to do some damage. The good thing is PSV will think they've got the measure of this side based on the opening 45. We know we've got the players capable of unlocking this PSV side, they just need to be smarter with it. You look at the half time statistics for fouls committed; PSV 12 and Sporting 3. It really has been as simple a game plan as that. When Sporting attempt to cross the halfway line - kick them, pull them down, whatever it takes. The referee has punished one challenge with a yellow card so why Sporting haven't done the same I'll never know. All is fair in love and war.
Sporting have been in conclusion as bad as the bright green shirts they're wearing.
Second half
46 Quaresma with the mistake straight from the restart loses the ball. Second passage of play sees Saibari shooting from the edge of the D but his shot goes wide of the right post. Not even a minute played and Sporting in all sorts of trouble
47 Saibari finds Til open on the centre who somehow contrived to slice the ball into the crowd from 10 yards. No changes for Sporting at half time and whatever was said by Amorim went in one ear and out the other so far. They're worse this half than they were in the first
50 Secretly at half time I was thinking we'll get the point come full time. Now I'm thinking could be 3 or 4-0
50 Unmarked header straight at Israel. Saibari has contributed more in the opening five of the second half than Sporting have all game. Ironic whistles from the crowd as Quaresma concedes the foul. Remember PSV's ratio of fouls 4:1 in the first half.
51 ➡️⬅️ Bragança on for Geny.
52 Quenda swapped sports for volleyball as he sticks his arm out and concedes the free kick and rightly booked
54 De Jong with an incredible flick left Inácio ball watching and having done the hard work knocks it a yard wide of the left hand post
55 If Sporting play like this against City we'll get smashed for six or seven.
57 I just wonder if that De Jong miss is what costs PSV. It won't be, I'm just trying to kid myself
57 Bakayoko smashes a shot wide of the left post from 20 yards wide left. PSV tails are up. Sporting need to get the ball into space for Gyökeres if he's to stand any chance of getting clear and doing some damage
58 Bragança slips as he tries to shoot. That was the best we've seen of Sporting all half. Quenda knocked the ball through the legs of Boscagli for his second nutmeg of the game. We've been that bad that might be enough to give him my man of the match. Worryingly I'm not sure I'm joking either
63 Yellow to Tillman for a foul on Quaresma
64 Anything good is coming down the right hand side for Sporting. If Bragança wasn't so fucking laxidasical with his passing we might open something up.
65 Trincão sets Gyökeres away in the box but he slips at the critical moment. Somehow manages to nutmeg himself as he fell over. It's been that sort of night. If we get a shot on target we'll get a goal. Right now we can't get a shot on target
68 Point blank header straight at Israel from 4 yards from Til
70 7/2 the draw. Fucking hell Quaresma played through one on one. The nearest PSV player was in Feyenoord…and he fell over. Fuck me. His tackle to win possession back was amazing, quickly got to his feet, Morita laid him in perfectly. Had that been Gyökeres it would have been 1-1. I was up out of my chair, I believed. Shit Happens and it's miserable conditions out there in the rain.
73 Should be 2-0. Actually should be 2-1. Israel with the save from a Lang header from 3 yards out. The more PSV fail the more you have to believe we'll get one…and I finished that with my mouth open as Quenda tries to bend one in from 16 yards far right of the box and it didn't miss by much.
76 This underserved equaliser is coming. If I write it enough it might happen.
77 Lang knocks his shot over from 20 yards centrally. We can watch those all night long.
78 ➡️⬅️ Double bubble Harder and Araújo for Nuno Santos and Trincão. Genuinely surprised Harder wasn't brought on at half time given his ability to hold up the ball. He's built like a fucking wardrobe.
79 Bakayoko bends his shot from 18 yards past Morita who was trying to block the shot and 3 yards wide.
80 Bakayoko again draws a save low to Israel's left from 16 yards. If PSV don't win this they'll be kicking themselves
81 Fucking hell. Quaresma with an appalling back pass picked up by Bakayoko who rounded Israel and misses the target
82 Harder from ten yards straight at the keeper
83 GOAL Fucking said its been coming. Hollywood makes it PSV 1 Sporting CP 1. Cross in from the substitute Araújo wide left took a deflection en route into the box knocked into the net from five yards out. Sorry to the neighbours for the noise.
84 Bragança yellow card. Missed what that was for. Professional as ever. Me not him.
85 Lang booked for his over the top reaction at the ball going out for a goal kick. He thought he should have had a corner. Replay confirms it was a goal kick. One thing making a twat out of yourself. Another doing it when you're completely wrong and getting booked for it.
89 Goal kick Sporting. Israel just needing a drink before he kicks it. That's top drawer time wasting. Usually I'd criticise it but PSV haven't gone back ten yards for any free kick all game so that's a bit of karma.
+3 shown. Large intake of breath from me.
+1 I can barely watch. It's like being six years old watching Doctor Who behind my fingers. Bakayoko smashes his shot into his teammate. Sporting won't hurry to take this goal kick.
+2 Harder fires in a volley saved and pushed away for a corner
Full time
PSV 1 Sporting 1
The final word
Sporting were clearly playing Monopoly on the flight over. Bragança with the get out of jail free card. I'm sat smug having taken the draw on 70 minutes at 7/2 because sometimes you just know. Regular readers know I don't edit these post game to make myself sound clever. I call the games how I see them and I said it was coming. Yeah OK I said it and I bet it but would I have put my life on it. Nahhhh probably not but you never know.
I'm sorry fans of PSV. You were robbed.
I called it as a 50/50 before kick off and the scoreline suggests that I was right but I'd be lying if I tried to claim that was the case come the final whistle. In football you have to take your chances, Sporting got a chance and were clinical when it mattered. I've seen Porto do this to Sporting so many times I've lost count. Amorim has shipped out the type of player they need in this contest. Yes the weather didn't help as Quaresma will testify with his run through on goal that ended in him going down faster than the Titanic but at the end he gave everything he had and left it all out on the pitch and I'm not about to have a go at him for losing his footing in wet conditions. Were too many playing in moulds rather than studs? Probably to their detriment.
Diomande's injury looked really bad which is a real worry. Quaresma looked like he finished with a knock too. One more game before the international break to navigate as the squad gets thinner every game. Still better to get them all out of the way now rather than in the run in. St Juste would have gotten crocked just looking at the rain so probably best he wasn't in the squad after all. Importantly Sporting remain unbeaten and they'll hopefully learn from the game. That point could prove invaluable after match day eight. By rights they should now be level on points with PSV in the table but instead they've a three point cushion. They can't afford to be even half as bad against a City or an Arsenal though that's for certain.
So let's pick through the bones for the positives other then the undeserved point. Quenda looked good at points wide right. You wonder if Geny would have been better suited there and Harder should have started up top on the left but these things are easy to write after the Lord Mayor's show and we've got a lot of shit to shovel through.
Nuno Santos had his best game by a country mile in a long while. His final ball in the last third may have been lacking but from a defensive point of view you can't have any complaints.
Debast on another night might have got away with the stray pass that lead to the opener. It's a great finish and I doubt many keepers would have gotten a hand to it to keep it out. If you were editing highlights to make Sporting look better than they really are then weirdly you could find them. Trincão had a good couple of runs, Quenda had two nutmeg's, Araújo had a mazy run past a few players and the cleverly weighted ball by Morita if you didn't then show Quaresma slipping over. Just don't show anything PSV did.
So man of the match time. I think I'm going to give it to… regular readers sit down for this one… Franco Israel. Yes you read that correctly. Can't fault the lad for the goal that was scored. He did his job and kept his teammates in the game to find the equaliser. He actually looks like something has switched in his game since the summer. Is it confidence? Maybe. Has the penny finally dropped that to be the number one starter you need to start earning it. His decision making has improved. His agility seems to have also improved. I am currently eating humble pie and it tastes delicious. I don't care if it comes with gravy or custard quite frankly. If I'm critical it's never because I don't want a player to do well. There's nothing more that I want than to be corrected.
Did I mention we were shit? Yeah you're right I do love it. That's the loudest I've cheered a goal all season. That's the Sporting I fell in love with.
.svg%20(1).png){kind=logo}
Comments
Post a Comment