Sporting CP 2 Lille OSC 0

Sporting CP v Lille OSC 
Tuesday September 17th, 2024
Estádio José Alvalade
Champions League Matchday 1

The warm up 

Sporting take on Ligue 1 side Lille Olympique Sporting Club in the first of eight champions league ties to follow within the new league style format. I'd have written 'welcome' instead of 'take on' had it not been for the fact that Lille are probably most famous in Lisbon for being the side that signed Rafael Leão after he rescinded his contract with Sporting in May 2018 following the attacks at Alcochete. I appreciate that it was under the regime of BdC but it's the new regime under Varandas that was left battling with the courts to be recompensed for the loss of one of Sporting's and Portugal's brightest talents. I'm not sure there will be many handshakes offered at boardroom level before the game if I'm honest. 

The French side finished last season in 4th place meaning they've had to come through the qualifying rounds to get into the Champions League proper. They overcame José Mourinho's Fenerbahçe 3-2 on aggregate and then Slavia Prague 3-2 again on aggregate. I get the impression Lille don't travel well. They drew 1-1 in Turkey, lost 2-1 in the Czech Republic and won only 5 of their 17 league games last season. Their last two games have seen them lose 1-0 away to Saint-Etienne coupled with a 3-1 home loss to current league leaders and last season's French champions PSG. They did however win their other two games 2-0. 

The two best known players are probably Jonathan David the Canadian forward who has scored 87 goals in 191 appearances and defender Samuel Umtiti who spent six years at Barcelona. There is another link between our two clubs; Rafael Fernandes started his career with Sporting B before arriving at Lille via Arouca. André Gomes is sure to get a warm welcome given his link to the pigeons across the road although that was a decade ago and yet let's be honest football fans never forget do they. They even boast an Mbappé in their ranks in the form of Ethan who decided against a move to Real with his brother in the summer to stay in France and made the move away from PSG. One to watch is the diminutive midfielder Angel Gomes who made his full England debut during the international break. 

I think I'd make a fine football manager, well for the ability to use footballing clichés at least as I admit that I've only just seen all our champions league opponents. For me it's that old adage of one game at a time. In truth I saw we'd drawn Manchester City and Arsenal and got all excited until I then realised they were both away. That's 'my away' on the basis I live in England just to clarify that. I missed out on the last Arsenal game by virtue of both a train strike and an underground strike. I mean nothing of note happened in that game so it's fine. Gonçalves didn't lob Aaron Ramsdale from the halfway line, Sporting then didn't go on to win the tie 5-3 on penalties. It's all fine. What? That did happen? Am I allowed to be lemon about it? I think so to, thank you. Actually I missed the first Arsenal - Sporting game for a job interview and then didn't get the job. For those readers going I should have gotten my priorities straight you're damn right. Next time it's the game every time job interview or not, trains willing. 

Whilst Lille were losing away to Saint-Etienne Friday night, Sporting extended their winning start to the season with a 3-0 win away to Arouca making it five from five despite fielding a much changed starting XI with this game in mind. Amorim was able to give rest to Diomande, Quaresma, Geny and Morita. The other change was enforced with Kovačević’s injury seeing Israel come into the starting XI. Top scorer Viktor Gyökeres continued his consecutive scoring run making it 8 goals in 5 games. If you include the 2 international games for Sweden he's scored at least once in the last seven he's played totalling 11 goals. The only game he's failed to score in was the season opener against Porto in the Supertaça. Much has been made the past week of his €100m release clause. He's proven his ability in the Championship, continues to do so in Portugal, in the Europa league and at international level. Now he gets the chance to prove he belongs on the biggest European Stage of all in the Champions League. You imagine a lot of clubs will pay particular attention to how he performs against last season's Premier League top two clubs Manchester City and Arsenal. We've got four and a bit months of dribble pouring from the sites of two bob outfits going Arsenal blah blah blah, Chelsea blah blah blah. Try writing about something of actual note people's. 

No one expects Sporting to win the Champions League. They're 100/1 with the bookies but they might as well be a million to 1. It's not happening. They do however have a number of games where you hope they'll win especially given their phenomenal start to their current league campaign. I won't say the word expect. It would be ignorant and wrong of me to impose that upon this side. To reach the play offs would be the first aim, if they can reach the knockout stages of the competition personally I'd mark that down as an important achievement. I appreciate other fans may disagree but after the league start I can feel my feet start to leave the ground and it's better I nail them back down than get shot down in flames somewhere down the line. Let's be realistic, we're only two and a half years on from a 5-0 spanking at home to Manchester City even if we did manage to come away from the Etihad with a 0-0 draw. City probably played their under 16s in the second game. I've consigned it all to history. Being the best team in Portugal is one thing, playing what is probably the best team in European football, certainly English football and possibly world football is going to be a huge challenge. Yes we've also knocked out Arsenal from the Europa League but they'll take the Champions League a lot more seriously than they did when they fielded understrength sides against us home and away. Beating the likes of Nacional and Arouca is one thing, being competitive against Premier League clubs is another thing entirely. We'll see what happens. 

Head to head there have been just two competitive games played with Sporting winning both; 1-0 at home and 2-1 away. Those were back in 2010 so won't have any bearing on this game but I'll take this opportunity to remind readers that unlike previous years sides in this year's competition now only play each other once rather than home and away. Apparently despite being labelled as the Swiss system or Swiss model, the format is nothing of the sort. To be true to that system then your next opponents would constantly change based upon the last result to create games based on performance levels. That of course won't happen but if you like random trivia and don't mind coming across as the pub wanker then that one is for you. Let's be fair the Champions League is as rigged as the draw for this season's Carabao Cup in England. It favours the bigger teams with the biggest budgets and on that score nothing has changed with the new format. It's all about money which is a nice segue for something that has wound me up. 

I think it's probably worth mentioning ticket prices for this game. For members tickets start at €20 and go up to €50. For non members €31 through €80. Taking into account today's exchange rate that would be £16.88 to £42.21 and £26.17 to £67.53. One assumes that won't be the same for the visit of Manchester City and Arsenal but nevertheless it's a world apart from Aston Villa. Their Champions League four home games for season ticket holders are priced at between £70 and £82. For non-season ticket holders its between £85 and £97. Those gaps on the cheapest tickets available between Villa and Sporting irrespective of whether fans are season ticket holders or not is quite frankly staggering and disgusting in equal measure. I don't know how many €20 tickets there are for this Lille game but you stand a chance in Portugal at being able to afford to go watch Sporting in the Champions League especially if you have a family who all want to go. What Villa are doing is a massive kick in the teeth to their supporters made worse by hiding behind PSR as an excuse. You'd love it if all their fans collectively said ‘no we're not paying those prices’ and instead of trying to eek an extra few quid from all of their fans it ended up costing them millions because of their greed. It won't happen but there is no other word for it. It is pure greed on their part. I know this is meant to be a blog about Sporting but just whilst we're on the subject of ticket prices I want to draw attention to Fortuna Düsseldorf in Bundesliga 2 who have four home games this season where fans can go for free. Yes you did read that correctly. For FREE. Ground capacity? 54,600. Different class from the German club. Well done to their owner for looking after their fans and a massive fuck you to Villa's owners for the treatment of their ‘customers’ by way of comparison. 

In the markets 

Sporting 7/10

Draw 27/10

Lille 4/1

Team News 

Starting XI

Israel, Debast, Diomande, Inácio, Quenda, Morita, Hjulmand, Geny, Trincão, Gyökeres and Gonçalves.

Substitutes;

Callai, Silva, Reis, Santos, Fresneda, Bragança, Esgaio, Edwards, Harder and Araújo 

Quaresma joins the injured list and is expected to be out for four weeks with a sprained ankle. Diomande who was late back from international duty and only appeared as a substitute against Arouca comes back into the starting lineup as do Morita and Geny. Silva has recovered from his injury and joins Callai on the bench because goalkeepers are like keys, you put one set down and can never find them again so best to always have a spare set to hand. This will be for many tonight their Champions League debut but shout out to Quenda who gets the nod on the right flank despite his tender 17 years of age. Am I surprised? Maybe a little. That's not to say it's the wrong call at all. There won't be many if any players in the history of Sporting who'll be able to lay claim to playing in two Clássico's and a Champions League game in their first seven professional games and all under the age of 18. I always thought Paulinho grew in stature when he heard the Champions League theme so there's no reason to doubt the youngster won't rise to the occasion equally tonight. If he's phased by any of it then frankly he's hiding it really well out on the pitch. It's probably also worth noting that at 24 Franco Israel is the elder statesman of the defensive unit. Inácio is 23 whilst Debast and Diomande the double Ds are both just 20. 

First half 

Lille get us underway, Sporting will attack right to left. 

11 Morita with the games first chance tries a shot from 30 yards centrally but it goes well wide of the right hand post 

12 ➡️⬅️ Inácio picked up a knock earlier after a challenge from Andre and hasn't shaken it off. He's replaced by Reis. 

14 Mandi goes down clutching his throat after a challenge by Gyökeres. Replays confirm the Swede didn't make any contact in that area. I wonder if Porto are watching, he'd fit in perfectly at the Dragão 

15 Gyökeres lays the ball off to Gonçalves just inside the Lille half. He continues his run into the box but surrounded by three defenders he could only put his shot wide of the right post from 16 yards. Sporting finally just starting to find their groove in an attacking sense. 

19 Yellow to Angel Gomes as he clips Trincão as he looked to break from the halfway line. 

22 Andre goes through the back of Trincão. He did it earlier to Gonçalves and Inácio. Nothing from the referee yet but he can't be far from a yellow. 

26 Trincão just pulls his shot from the edge of the D. Not a great effort but the buildup play was superb as Gyökeres, Gonçalves and Trincão combined with neat, quick little layoffs.  

27 Gonçalves played in by Gyökeres and goes one on one with the Lille keeper Chevalier who does well to block the shot to safety from 8 yards. The weight on that ball was inch perfect, Gonçalves times his run to come in between two defenders. Much, much better from Sporting. 

30 Play acting from Andre as he goes down following a 50/50 with Hjulmand. The crowd are making their feelings known as whistles ring out from all four corners of the ground as he gets treatment. Any justice and Sporting will score whilst he's off the field

37 GOAL Apologies to the neighbours. Sporting CP 1 Lille 0. Surrounded by 3 defenders Gyökeres takes two touches to turn his body towards goal and smashes it into the bottom right hand corner. Can he do it in the Champions League? As if there was any doubt. 

39 Yellow and a red shown by the referee. Lille are down to ten. Second yellow to Angel Gomes. He went through the back of Gyökeres. David was also booked presumably for something he said to the referee. 

44 The crowd is bouncing - quite literally. They're enjoying their return to the summit of European Competition. 

Plus five shown 

45 Morita yellow for a foul on David. Can't have any complaints about that one as his boot came down on the Canadians ankle. 

Half time 

Sporting CP 1 Lille 0

As a spectacle there have been better games but Sporting go into half time one goal to the good and Lille now have 45 minutes to play down to ten men. I rarely mention metrics like XG but given Lille’s is 0 it won't take a genius to work out that they've not had a single shot at all this half. Losing Inácio so early could have been a blow but Reis has slotted into the back three effortlessly. Morita and Hjulmand have screened the defence in rotation to give them that extra protection and outlet to move the ball when building an attack. Quiet night from Geny and Quenda so far but down to ten Lille will start to tire and there will be more space they'll have to cover. Gyökeres has been in a physical battle which he seems to be revelling in. Despite the close marking we saw with the goal just how good he is at finding that space. I'd like to think there's a second and a third in this game for Sporting. Time will tell. I've forgotten how annoying it is having commentators when you're watching football. 

Second half

➡️⬅️ Change as Hollywood, sorry, Bragança replaces Morita who just picked up that booking before half time. He also played away with Japan on international duty so maybe a double reason for him coming off. 

Sporting get us underway as they look to make it six straight wins in all competitions. 

46 Chevalier makes a hash of a clearance straight to Quenda who takes pity on the keeper and passes it back. I don't think that was the youngsters intention to be fair. Let off for Lille though. 

48 Lovely crisp chip into the box from Reis out left having overlapped well with Geny. Found the head of Quenda around the penalty spot but it went a yard or two wide of the right hand post. 

50 Turn from Trincão on the edge of the centre circle. He charged forward but his eventual shot from 20 yards was deflected out for a corner.

52 Quenda has maybe had a little word or two of encouragement in his ear at half time. Twist and turns his marker and draws the foul. He's definitely having more impact since the start of the second half. 

55 Andre booked as he leaves his foot in on the top of Bragança. The only surprise is it took the referee so long to book him. See my notes from the first half. 

56 Geny tries from 14 yards wide left and drags his effort past the post. You feel a second goal is coming. Not with finishes like that mind you. 

61 Foul by Gonçalves. We've not seen much from him at all this half. 

62 Gonçalves with the block on Diakité. That was naughty. He got away with one against Arouca on Friday and he's done it again. His sum total of contributions this half has been two fouls. Edwards must be watching on thinking what do I have to do to get on 

64 GOAL Holy fuck. Sporting CP 2 Lille 0. Debast hits it first time from 28 yards straight into the top left hand corner to leave Chevalier stranded. What a way to score your first goal for Sporting in any competition from the 20 year old. Felt that had been coming. I wasn't expecting it to come like that though. Sorry to the neighbours again for the noise when that went in. 

67 Gonçalves draws the save from 18 yards from Chevalier. Chevalier of course means Knight in French and right now he's the only Lille player putting up any resistance. I say of course. I'll forgive you if you didn't know that. 

69 How was that not 3-0? Quenda drills his shot into the ground from 7 yards as he did in the Supertaça but it goes wide of the right post. That came about from a Bragança shot from the left from a tight angle saved by Chevalier which fell straight to the youngster. 

71 Yellow to Bouaddi for a shove in the back on Trincão. That was the sort of shove you'd see on a school playground and if it was Bouaddi's ball he'd have picked it up and said it's my ball I'm going home and stropped off. He doesn't want to be out there any longer than he has to. 

72 ➡️ ⬅️ More minutes for Araújo as he replaces Quenda. That will mean a switch of wings for Geny. 

73 Cabella sees a shot from 20 yards deflect for a corner. That's Lille’s first attempt on goal in the entire game. 

76 Superb defending in the box by Diomande. Late challenge on him by Bouaddi having been dispossessed. I think he's lucky to stay on the pitch there. The Ivorian has not put a foot wrong again tonight. I still struggle to believe he's 20. He is a natural born leader. Coates already starting to be a fading memory. 

79 Great step over from Geny to lose his marker but somehow wellies his cross out on the far side for a throw-in. You'd edit the first part into a highlights video, the second part into the blooper reel. 

83 Side netting from Gyökeres. Took a deflection off Chevalier for a corner. He hit that from the edge of the six yard box on the left hand side and I was almost up off my chair in celebration. 

84 Harder ready to come on for his Sporting debut. Wouldn't have gotten that at Brighton would he, debut in the Champions League. With his surname I do fear for his first goal especially if it's a great strike with my tourettes - Fucking yes get in there, Harder, Harder, Harder, oh yes, fucking yes. The Athletic or Guardian newspaper are never going to invite me to do the minute by minute are they. 

85 Debast shown a yellow for a late foul outside the box. 

87  ➡️⬅️ Trincão replaced by Harder. I'd like to replace Nigel Spackman and whoever the commentator is. No credit to Sporting, still asking can Lille get something late on from a game they've not been in at all. I reckon Spackman must have played with Scott Minto the dirty pigeon who could watch Sporting win 10-0 and still say they were woeful. Melt. 

87 Israel saves with the outstretched leg from Cabella six yards out.

Plus three indicated 

+2 Geny fouled wide right. Can Sporting find a third to put the gloss on this win? It was close! Harder with the flicked header on the edge of the six yard box just grazed the bar. 

Full time 

Sporting CP 2 Lille 0

The final word 

I surmised in the opening to this post that Lille don't travel well and they've done nothing to sway me from that opinion based on that performance. Shame about the new league format cause I'd have been confident of another three points off them in France but it's not meant to be. PSV up next for Sporting.

It's important to note whatever the commentators on TNT would have you believe had you been watching in England that Lille were never in that game and it wasn't three points by virtue of them simply having gone down to ten men. They could have had twelve men quite frankly and still not have come away with anything. Newly promoted Madeira minnows Nacional gave Sporting more problems in their opening 45 than Lille did. Fourth straight loss for them. On that showing you wouldn't bet on them even reaching the play off spots at the end of the league format. 

Truth be told if you didn't watch the game you didn't miss much. You can watch the highlights on YouTube in a neat two minute package and get the same level of satisfaction from the win had you watched the game in it's entirety. It was a game with flashes of quality like both goals par exemple mon petit fleur's. Oh no he's like Bart Simpson when he goes to France. Now he's waffling nonsense in French. The Debast strike is how he should have struck the ball in the Supertaça instead of the sliced clearance that lead to Galeno scoring. I doubt you'll see a cleaner struck ball in the Alvalade all season long. 

You might want to sit down when I write for the second game on the trot that I was really impressed with Israel. His distribution was great and he made a great save late on. Lille also had the ball in the net late on and I think it was disallowed for a dubious foul on Israel but don't quote me on that. Nevertheless it didn't count and I'd actually keep him in for the next game. I've never written that before. 

I was even impressed by Bragança's cameo appearance in the second half. I know there's a player in there somewhere, he just isn't consistent enough for me. Too much fannying around with his Barnet and trying to score the spectacular goal. Give me five tap ins from two yards young Sir. I don't need the fluffy nonsense. 

Hjulmand put a huge shift in tonight and if he was your man of the match I could see why you might have chosen him. Solid rather than spectacular. I was a little surprised Quenda got the nod on the right wing. Geny looked better in both this game and the Arouca one for swapping wings and at 17 time is on his side. He looked jaded again in the opening 45 though he could well have capped his Champions League debut with a goal and we saw glimpses of his talent in the second half before he was taken off. 

Gyökeres performance was industrious. He was an utter nuisance and at the very heart of all Sporting's attacking output. Right now you expect him to score every game he's that much on form. Lille had players around him likes flies around shit and I'm guessing he loved every minute of it. The link up play between him, Gonçalves and Trincão when it comes off is a joy to watch. We only saw it to or three times tonight but this is the Champions League and overall from Sporting this was a far more mature performance. The way Reis slotted into the back three truly was effortless. It was like the cigarette burn in old movies in the top corner when they'd changed reels. Unless you were looking for it you wouldn't know a change had happened. 

Regular readers will know I'm playing Guess Who to work out my man of the match and it really comes down to the Double Ds; Diomande or Debast. What is there to separate the two? A goal and the well timed tackle late in the second half? Neither player looked flustered at any point, their distribution was spot on. The only black mark against the young Belgian was the booking late on for a clumsy challenge. It's a coin toss, it really is 50/50. As well as his goal was struck when the keeper doesn't dive there's something in my brain that devalues it almost and I've never known why for all goals scored when that happens. Look you could say it was anyone of Debast, Diomande, Hjulmand or even Gyökeres and there's the width of a cigarette paper to separate all four performances. You could even throw Reis into that list and have to discount him only because he was on the pitch for 77/78 minutes. I'm going to go with… Diomande. I'm weird like that. What can I say. He's my flawless Diomande right now. His leadership and marshalling of that defence is incredible at 20 years of age. Clubs will be kicking themselves for not picking Gyökeres up for €20m last summer. well there was a deal to be had for Diomande this summer and quite frankly I think a few clubs have fucked themselves. He's the real deal. Well they both are. The Ivorian will go on to captain a Premier League side before he retires and it will be criminal if it's not for one of the so called big clubs in the Premier League. He is playing in the champions league like he's the one with the captain's armband on like he's been doing it for seven or eight seasons straight. I hope Guardiola leaves City this summer because he's Peps sort of defender and I don't think I can give him higher praise than that and I don't want to see him go.