Sporting CP 0 Borussia Dortmund 3

The warm up

‘I know what the European game needs right now - another two games of Champions League football!’ 

said no one other than bean counters and yet that's what we're faced with at a time when seven days off between fixtures would be far more beneficial for the Sporting players. Still beggars can't be choosers and so we play host for the first of two legs to BVB more commonly known as Borussia Dortmund. Last season's Champions league finalists warmed up for this fixture with a 2-1 loss at home to VfB Stuttgart having at one stage been 2-0 down and they would eventually finish the game with ten men. Luckily for them they didn't have the German equivalent of João Pinheiro and only lost the one man. The loss leaves them in 11th place in the table where they started the day albeit they were three points off 5th place and now they're four so whilst 11th might sound bad in isolation a few straight wins and they'll be in the European qualification positions for next season I'm sure. 

This will be the fifth meeting between the two clubs. The most recent being when they were in group C of the Champions League in the 2021/22 season. Sporting won 3-1 at the José Alvalade when Gonçalves missed the chance of tucking the match ball under his arm as he walked off at full time with a poor penalty easily saved by Kobel low to his right but Pedro Porro was on hand to knock in the rebound. At the Signal Iduna Park BVB won 1-0. Despite that win Sporting would finish second in the table above BVB albeit both clubs were a long way off Ajax at the top. A repeat of those two results on aggregate would of course be enough to send Sporting through to the last sixteen. Whether we need an extended stay in Europe is a different question entirely. Right now I'd personally settle for a seven day gap between fixtures so we can concentrate on trying to win the league, especially having conceded in additional time on Friday night in the Clássico to drop two valuable points. 

Niko Kovač has now taken over the reins at Dortmund following the recent dismissal of Nuri Şahin who himself only took over from Edin Terzić in June following his shock resignation. Kovač was at one point the rising star of German coaching as he moved from Eintracht Frankfurt to Bayern München but his stay in Bavaria proved to be short lived and he has since looked to resurrect his reputation in Ligue 1 with AS Monaco before returning to the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg. He had been without a club since March 2024 when the Saxony club associated with German car giants VW gave him his marching orders. 

Away from home in the league Dortmund have won two of ten fixtures including six defeats, scoring an average of just 1.2 goals per game and conceding 21 times. Their home form however is almost the opposite of their away form but having played a game more they've won six, lost two and drawn three. 

Serhou Guirassy poses the biggest threat to Sporting in an attacking sense having scored nine times in the Bundesliga which might not sound all that impressive considering Harry Kane has 21 goals to his name, however he has an additional nine in the Champions League making him joint top goalscorer with Robert Lewandowski. Oh and he's also managed two assists so nothing to unduly worry about. I have this horrible feeling he may well turn into another Sébastian Haller and add an additional five goals to his total over the next eight days. For all their perceived struggles in the league, they only missed out on a spot in the top eight of the Champions League by a point and they'd have had a better goal difference than Aston Villa, Lille and Bayer Leverkusen who would finish 8th through 6th. Let's be honest, despite Sporting's great start that had them second in the table at one stage we only made it through to the playoffs by virtue of goal difference with Dinamo Zagreb the poor club to miss out. I'm not sure if the Crotians would be comforted by me writing - I wish it was you that was here and not us! Our continuing injury crisis is bad enough without the farcical refereeing on Friday night which left Reis and Diomande facing bans after they both received their marching orders. Mind you I'm assuming the bans only take effect in Portugal so for Diomande I'm guessing that's Arouca, AVS and possibly Gil Vicente in the Taça or Estoril in the league. Maybe the rest will do him good and I think Reis will just miss Arouca and he only officially played a minute on Friday night anyway. 

It's hard to get excited by European football. Not even the most ardent of Sportinguista's expect us to win the Champions League. It really is all about becoming domestic Champions again for a second straight season. A fit again Gyökeres would be good and if he could add a couple of goals before we depart the competition it won't do his reputation any harm as we await a potential bidding war from European clubs for his services. Maybe one of the Arab states clubs will put a bid in that is so financially lucrative for him that he cannot turn it down at this stage of his career. Wherever he ends up he really doesn't owe us anything. Maybe being a pragmatist a 1-0 win at the Alvalade would be good followed by a 2-0 loss in Germany. I'm not adverse to Benfica winning both legs against AS Monaco so they have more games to play whilst we concentrate on the league. Also good for Portugal's coefficient so let's add a good run for Porto and Vitória as well in the Europa League and Conference League too. Time to recuperate and time on the training pitch is worth more than money right now. We actually looked good from set pieces at both ends on Friday night. We need to see more of that please and less injuries. 

Rui Silva and Biel have both been registered for the competition following their moves in the winter window. João Muniz has also been registered. His loan deal was short with Rio Ave after he failed to make a single appearance so that must have been a pleasant surprise and a vote of confidence when he needed one the most. The final addition is that of 17 year old winger Flávio Gonçalves so at least we might see one Gonçalves in a Sporting shirt again very soon. 

Sporting will be without their captain Hjulmand for the first leg who is suspended. Gyökeres is at least set to play part of the game but his minutes will be limited either as a starter or as an option from the bench. Simões should recover from the knock that saw him withdrawn against Porto in the opening half of the Clássico to sit alongside Debast midfield with Morita still not fit enough to start the game.

I'd moan about Friday night but when someone has already said it better sometimes it's easier to leave it to them. Matheus Reis' wife took to social media with the most sarcastic post you're likely to read all season. Remind me not to upset her anytime soon;

"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the referee on his brilliant performance in the match. It is not every day that you see such innovative refereeing, where the rules seem to be adapted according to the convenience of the moment. Certainly, his decisions throughout the game showed a level of creativity worthy of applause or pity. It is rare to see someone so committed to changing the course of the match so efficiently. Congratulations on your professionalism. I thank you for your 'refereeing' and I hope that in the future we can witness more of your ability to transform football into a completely predictable spectacle. Finally, I would like to understand the criteria that make this excellent professional always referee our games against FC Porto. Well, his job is done, we will see each other in the next game Sporting Clube de Portugal x Porto. Just for a change, today's motto will be: 'Let's go Sporting, against everything and everyone!'"

In the markets 

Sporting 6/5

Draw 5/2

Dortmund 21/10

Team News 

Starting XI

Silva, Fresneda, Diomande, St Juste, Reis, Debast, Simões, Trincão, Araujo, Quenda and Harder 

Substitutes 

Israel, Callai, Inácio, Quaresma, Morita, Bragança, Esgaio, Brito, Biel, Gyökeres, Moreira and Lucas Anjos

When we were kids at school and got caught cutting corners in long distance running we were rightly punished, so it only seems fitting to me that Matheus Reis be made to do some running about after his sending off Friday. Allegedly he starts at left back but I've lost faith in predicted formations in recent weeks. Pretty sure he won't be in goal if that helps. If Reis was cutting corners that makes Inácio teachers pet and he gets to put his feet up. Either that or Sporting want to protect his market value by not highlighting the fact he's not actually that great. St Juste comes back in after his shortest ever injury lay off. Progress at last Jerry well done. 

My mother always said my brains were in my knees as a child because I was always knocking them but it it didn't stop me kicking a ball about and neither has it stopped Simões after his injury Friday who plays alongside Debast in for the suspended Hjulmand. 

Araújo is according to the formation pushed forward into the centre of a 3 behind Harder as the focal point up front meaning Bragança is the man to make way. 

A limited presence of youth in the squad compared to the Bologna game with the U19s playing against AS Monaco at 1300 hours tomorrow. A first call up for Lucas Anjos the 20 year old who clearly for you good at maths to feature in the U19s. Gyökeres and Morita again named amongst the substitutes as is Biel who still awaits his debut for the lions following his winter transfer. 

Some might suggest that Sporting aren't taking this game overly seriously and maybe instead have their attention on trying to win the title. Not me obviously I'm of course not that cynical. 

First Half

So not only is Reis awarded with a start in the XI after his sending off Friday he's also handed the Captain's armband. Anyone might suggest the dismissal was completely farcical. Dortmund get us underway. Sporting back in black with white and green horizontal stripes attack right to left.

1 Reis has indeed started left back and Araújo is just operating in the space behind Harder. The young Dane with a crunching tackle to win the ball back after 20 seconds in midfield. He's clearly up for the fight. It was of course his goal against Bologna last time out that secured this playoff 

3 Quenda is operating wide right. 

4 Reis overlaps with Araújo on the left. Good move in the buildup but the final ball goes behind Harder 

4 Reis brought down level with the left of the 18 yard box. Free kick in a dangerous position 

5 Quenda curled ball into the box headed clear as far as Harder whose shot from 17 yards centrally is blocked. He tries to find space for a second shot but Dortmund clear their lines 

7 Plenty of involvement for Reis in the opening encounters on the left hand side. Dortmund sitting in a low block which is allowing Sporting to basically sit with a back three and Reis to get forward

8 Reis passes into Araújo who pulls it back close to the line towards Harder. Knocked out for a corner with a last ditch tackle 

10 First sign of attacking intent from BVB as Gittens tries to get away wide right but Reis is equal to the challenge and puts the ball out for a corner 

10 Emre Can glances a header from the right hand corner of the six yard box over the bar 

12 Trincão with a burst of pace inside the box loses his marker but finds a sea of yellow shirts in the centre. 

12 Wild swing from Harder but was a country mile offside so wouldn't have counted anyway as the ball belts towards the stand

14 Dortmund set up to defend in a really narrow 4-4-2

14 Trincão loses his footing as he shoots from 22 yards and the ball goes straight at the keeper 

14 Araújo leaves the cross bar wobbling as he unleashes a drive from 20 yards. Kobel had zero chance there of getting anywhere near that 

19 Simões shoots from 22 yards from the left, deflects en route and Kobel claims easily enough 

21 Does Nico Kovač’s brother work with him or has he hired a lookalike to sit alongside him in the dugout? 

22 Fair play to the match officials who seem determined that nothing should really stop play. Also nice to see a side not trying to take lumps out of our lads every two minutes 

25 Lovely struck longball from St Juste finds Quenda wide right. He tries to give his marker twisted blood, quickly goes left and then right to create space for a cross which sadly he over hits. 

30 Guirassy penalised for a tug in the box. That's the first time we've seen anything from the competition's top scorer and even then it was a foul. 

30 Ryerson with a low diving header clears a header back from Reis into the six yard box. The danger still coming for Sporting mainly down the left, just the quality of the final ball missing 

32 BVB switched to a 3-4-3. Clearly a very fluid formation and well drilled despite Kovač having very little time with his new team 

34 Harder pings a shot in from 22 yards which is saved with the lower arm of Kobel. Looked odd but effective all the same 

36 Simões pulls his shirt up to his mouth and gives it a good bite after his shot from 17 yards is scuffed straight at Kobel. He knows he should have done better there. 

37 Gittens with an ambitious effort from 25 yards caught at the end of his stretch and goes harmlessly wide of the right hand post

36 I don't know what they charge from territory to territory for champions league subscriptions but if you were a neutral you'd have switched over to any of the other three games by now. If you're not watching and saving your money you're not missing anything 

40 Quenda corner on the nearside headed as far as Trincão whose effort sums up the opening half - devoid of any real quality as he skies it from 20 yards 

42 Guirassy goes down in the box under a challenge from Diomande. He waves his arms as if to say I'm not appealing, it was nothing which is incredibly refreshing. When you see the replay you can see why he did it as well. Basically fell over his own feet 

43 Gittens fires well wide again from the left of the area

Additional time plus one 

Not sure where they got the minute from 

45 Guirassy shot from 20 yards deflects off Simões and tipped over the bar by Silva

+1 Guirassy toe pokes wide from 8 yards. He was at least 3 yards offside anyway. 

Half time 

Sporting CP 0 BVB Dortmund 0

Despite Sporting having the better of the opening twenty minutes and the Araújo effort off the bar, in truth 0-0 is very much the fair result as the two sides make their way into the tunnel at half time. The fact it's 49/51% in terms of possession says a lot I guess in addition. I used to keep a really close eye on the Bundesliga but stopped at the start of last season as I've done with many European leagues to be fair so I can't really say how true a performance this is by the German side. It's been underwhelming but certainly effective nevertheless. Both sides in truth lack any cutting edge in the final third. BVB really narrow when defending which makes it harder for Sporting to attack with bodies behind the ball. BVB tending to knock long balls into the box which is just heading practice for the Sporting defenders. Gittens whose name gets bandied around a lot in England has been underwhelming. You wonder how Guirassy is the top scorer in the competition he's been a total passenger and his contribution so far has been a toe poke when offside, falling over the ball and tugging a shirt from a free kick. 

As I said at the end of the minute by minute breakdown if you're not watching then you're not missing anything. You'd be forgiven for thinking both teams are more interested in qualifying for next year's competition on the domestic front which is a strange irony. 

Second half 

Goals in all the other games tonight. Not sure we're likely to see one on the evidence of the first half. 

Sporting get us underway.

48 Flag goes up against Harder. Not sure that was the correct decision, he looked onside to me 

50 Gittens with a great ball into the box almost finds Guirassy but Silva was quickly out to come to punch clear

52 Silva comes to claim again. Crashes into Guirassy who just stood his ground. Keeper awarded the free kick a little unfairly there 

53 Corner Dortmund as Gyökeres is stripping off on the sidelines. Sporting clear their lines. The Germans certainly look more adventurous the second half 

54 Best chance of the game falls to Adeyemi who stings the hands of Silva from 16 yards. Great save from the Portuguese who was awarded save of the week in Portugal 

57 Gittens shot blocked for another corner to BVB. Sporting holding on 

58 Rest bite as Harder pushed in the back and a free kick awarded. That's his last involvement in the game as he comes off for Gyökeres

59 GOAL Sporting CP 0 BVB 1. Guirassy who couldn't have hit a cows arse with a banjo from two yards in the first half with a wonderful header from six yards back across goal to open the scoring 

61 Morita replaces Simões. Bragança takes the captain's armband as he replaces Reis 

63 Debast with a poor effort from 20 yards goes well wide of the left hand post 

65 Guirassy shown the first yellow of the night as he goes for an acrobatic volley and catches Araújo across the side of the head. Second time in two games someone's tried to take his head off his shoulders after Pepe on Friday night

67 GOAL Sporting CP 0 BVB 2. All too easy for the Germans. Ball in from the right found Groß who puts it in with his thigh from 7 yards with Silva flat footed. Guirassy with the assist. 

69 Araújo finds Gyökeres in the box who's taken out by the diving Schlotterbeck. Not mentioned because it was a claim for a penalty just the fear of our boy getting injured again

70 Bragança hits a shot straight at Kobel from ten yards. Not sure if he kicked a BVB player or the floor there when he hit it but he's done himself some damage somewhere

71 Corner BVB finds Beier unmarked at the far post. He can only find the side netting

72 Debast and Fresneda off, Quaresma and Biel on. That's all five substitutions for the lions 

73 Gyökeres effort blocked for a corner 

74 Diomande shoots with his left from 18 yards but goes a yard over the bar. First touch wasn't the best in fairness. Came back off of his chest and eventually into a good position to get his shot away. If he claimed he meant to do it then you can shout liar liar pants on fire 

77 Trincão with a yellow for a late tackle on Schlotterbeck. Forwards tackle if ever there was one 

79 Guirassy will be kicking himself as he fires straight at Silva from ten yards. That should have been 3-0 to Dortmund 

80 Adeyemi shown the yellow for a foul on Bragança under the nose of the referee. 

81 GOAL Sporting CP 0 BVB 3. Sporting left one man back at a free kick. Poor ball in from Trincão only found a defender on the edge of the area. Long clearance to Adeyemi. Pass on the overlap to Brandt played back to Adeyemi at the far post to tap in. All too easy  

84 Good burst of pace from Quenda loses his marker in the box but poor final ball again and Dortmund clear easily 

87 Gyökeres pulls the ball back from the goalline towards Bragança and Trincão and finds neither. They look at each other like Laurel and Hardy as if to say you should have gone for that, who me? No you were closer ...

88 Shot of the Sporting bench with a sea of crestfallen faces. Imagine those in the stands and fans watching at home all have the same blank look. BVB fans in the Gods enjoying themselves however by the sounds of it at least. Woe betide those screening the game ever showing those who make up the beautiful game in the stands providing the soundtrack for 90 minutes of supposedly the biggest tournament in European football. 

89 Trincão fires low from 18 yards straight at Kobel

Plus four shown 

90 Sabitzer from the edge of the D straight into the arms of Silva 

Full time 

Sporting CP 0 Borussia Dortmund 3

The Final word 

I'm going to pretend to be disappointed with that result. I'm not. Well I am but only by way of the fact we have two legs to play. Did we need eight games in the new league format? No. Did we need another two games in a play off? No. The tie is already over. What's left for Sporting? OK maybe they can get a result in Germany and a few more Euros but at what long term cost? In a season where we've succumbed to injury after injury, at some point someone has to start to take player welfare more seriously. Thankfully Sporting won't be in the club world cup in the summer. Next Wednesday cannot come soon enough so we can get to playing one game a week and hopefully get some bodies back onto the pitch. 

BVB got what they deserved from the game. On that form you go oh that's why you were finalists last season I get you now. The third goal can be forgiven because we left one man back and we got punished for it. If you at least try get something from the game I don't think you can moan when you get caught out. Others will disagree I'm sure. The second was typical Sporting in Europe, just cut open at all will. It was embarrassingly easy. The gulf between leagues is all too obvious at times and it will only get worse year on year but that's what the big clubs want. In the words of the Wu Tang Clan - Cash rules everything around me. The first goal from Guirassy was a really clever cushioned header and in fairness his ball for the second goal was perfectly executed as well. For a player who looked like he'd been plucked from non-league in the first 45 he certainly lulled me and the Sporting players into a false sense of security.

In games like these if you really are serious about the competition then you have to play your best eleven from the start and we didn't. But we end up with something close to our best eleven when we're chasing our tails which is slightly ridiculous. We had by far the better of the first 20 minutes but we played into their hands. Their narrow block worked perfectly and Sporting could not grasp that balls into that area were bread and butter for them. Dortmund have clearly done their homework on the Sporting defence because we are dog shit at defending that ball to the back post. One day I'll be bored and work out how many goals we've conceded in that exact same manner in Europe and it will be dozens. It's like you always knew that Patricio was too short to get to balls into either corner of the goal years ago and Sporting would get caught out time and time again by people who bothered to watch out for these types of weaknesses. 

These types of defeats, the types of goals conceded are only handy if you can learn from them contextually but Portuguese football has the same issue as Scottish football. Dortmund stuck seven past Celtic in the early rounds. They could very easily finish the tie with the same aggregate scoreline here. Raith Rovers and East Fife can't teach Celtic how to defend in those situations any more than AVS or Arouca can for Sporting. It's not like you can practice in training on how to defend it either because our wingers cannot deliver the same final ball. So the smaller nations get caught up in a perpetual cycle of ending up on the wrong side of a hammering. The Manchester City result was a fluke no two ways about it. It was too easy for Arsenal, too easy for Dortmund and OK the Germans budget isn't the same level as Arsenal's but it's way beyond that of Sporting's and the money from the club world cup will move that goalpost even further away. That will cause greater disparities in smaller domestic leagues than those that exist and in Scotland and Portugal the gulf is bad enough as it is. Money is a disease causing a cancer through the beautiful game. Well it's not a game anymore is it. It's a business. 

Clearly we missed Hjulmand in the centre and Morita and Gyökeres are a shell of themselves right now. Even with them fully fit and if Hjulmand wasn't suspended it was an uphill battle. Dortmund played the perfect game. They sat back and let Sporting show what they had up their sleeves and the answer was nothing. Quenda and Trincão can beat a man but if they can't pass to anything other than a yellow shirt what hope do you have?

Reis and Araújo combined really well down the left and their ability to overlap each other and cover their positions was probably the only real plus point on a disappointing night. If they can repeat it domestically then you come away with a big plus point from a turgid display. Other than that it's the fact you've not picked up any injuries is the only other positive. Another ninety minutes of life we'll never get back. 

Harder huffed and puffed but the famous yellow wall was in the form of their defence tonight. Simões mistake led to the second goal and the disappointment was clear to see on his face when sat on the bench having been pulled off. He'll learn from that though. Bologna you're the hero and he had a great week that one having also scored his first ever goal. This week he's limping off and being punished for an error. Shit happens kid. Now can you put it to bed faster than Quenda did mid season after his miss against … Boavista I think off the top of my head? It destroyed his confidence for weeks. Trincão's ball which led to the third was worse mind. From the moment it left his foot he should have been on his haunches and starting to sprint back to provide additional cover. 

I could go on all night for something I'm actually more relieved about so instead I'll go with my man of the match. Last few games I've actually narrowed it down to three of four players to choose from. I don't think I've had to play last season's game of Guess Who flapping down faces to get to the one remaining player once this season but tonight isn't easy. So maybe let's try that route. It wasn't Silva, Diomande, St Juste or Fresneda, no to Debast, Simões was OK not great. Harder plenty of effort, Quenda and Trincão beat the odd man and then no end product. None of the substitutes made any impact. So it's going to come down to Reis or Araújo. Araújo hits the shot that could have given Sporting the lead. Reis looked effective going forward and defending in the first half. Araújo plays for the full 90, nearly gets his head kicked off. Let's go… Araújo. Just got his head in front - every pun intended.