Sporting CP 0 Glasgow Celtic 2

Sporting CP v Glasgow Celtic 

Wednesday July 16th, 2024

Estádio Do Algarve 

Pre-season friendly 

Summer break admin

At the time of writing Viktor Gyökeres is still a Sporting player. Last summer I avoided all the speculation surrounding Panathinaikos forward Fotis Ioannidis because it had become apparent very quickly that his club wanted a fee that Varandas wasn't prepared to sanction and so the player stayed. Fast forward twelve months and we're in the reverse situation whereby no club has met the lion's valuation of the Swede to date. Some of you may be familiar with an Archimedean Point. For those of you who aren't, it's defined as a hypothetical, detached viewpoint from which one can perceive objective truth or reason from a reliable starting point. It's often described as God's eye-view or a position outside of one's own biases. Oh so we're starting highbrow this season? Well I'm trying to, however it will all be downhill from there no doubt you have been warned. 

So let's try to look objectively at the situation and consider the facts and try draw a conclusion on the ongoing Soap Opera. Gyökeres like all footballers signed a contract with Sporting and given that he plays in Portugal he has to have a termination clause inserted into his contract by law. This has been well documented and was set at €100m. Now I'm assuming at this junction that his agent Hasan Cetinkaya advised his client to sign the contract. Maybe reverse engineer that statement and say it's highly unlikely that he didn't advise against it. That clause allows the player to buy himself out of his own contract and a FIFA registered agent would know that. So question one is to ask why you'd advise your client to sign a contract with such a large termination clause? Question two would be to ask whether clauses were indeed inserted into the contract which would allow the player to leave for a reduced fee which is certainly what Cetinkaya would have the world believe? Let's also add that Gyökeres has three years remaining on his Sporting contract, a position at his age you'd expect for new signings. If this was poker he's not holding pocket aces. 

Varandas has gone on the record to confirm that €60m plus €10m in add-ons would not be accepted for the Swedish forward. So let's do the mathematics to add some context because I'm trying to be objective here. 

Gyökeres initial transfer cost was €20m with a 15% sell-on clause inserted which would benefit Coventry City if the lions sell the Swede on. Note that % is on any profit over what was paid. The % would reduce to 10% if certain objectives were met. In total the fee could rise to €24. Now we know for sure that the sell on clause is now only 10%. I'm going to assume after winning two league titles and finishing top goalscorer in Portugal for both seasons that he's going to have achieved the add ons to make the fee Sporting will pay in total €24m. Happy to be proven otherwise if anyone knows any different. 

I'm going to argue the case that you should discount the potential of €10m in add ons. Anything can happen in football. We could sell him and he ruptures an ACL in his first training session. I'm not going to be crass and use the other example from today. So let's go with the fee of €60m his agent thinks Sporting should accept. 

Take off the €24m cost to leave €36m. 

10% to Coventry City = €3.6m.

5% solidarity payment = €1.8m. 

That leaves us with €30.6m. Now bear in mind we already have the real Viktor Gyökeres at this junction. However every selling club now wants us to believe they can sell us the next Gyökeres. Note I'm not a Portuguese accountant but I expect there's a potential tax implication on any transfer in addition, albeit that may be dependent on whether a club makes an overall profit at the end of the financial year. 

With success over the past two seasons came bonus payments. The first season I believe cost the club €4m. Let's assume that the second season cost them the same albeit the total is more likely to have been higher when taking into account Rui Borges winning the league resulted in an additional bonus payment to Vitória. Champions League money in part will help finance that, but in this instance Gyökeres also becomes a victim of his own success in terms of overall salary costs for the club. I'm not sure this 100% correct but I cannot find any evidence to the contrary in so much as the side who wins the Primeira Liga doesn't get awarded any prize money. Compare that to the Premier League where every position is worth an additional £3.1 million. The money to pay the huge level of bonuses has to be financed from somewhere. Gyökeres you'd imagine is due a large part of those bonuses in turn. It stands to reason you wouldn't sell your best player on the cheap. 

Sporting are reportedly interested in purchasing Luis Suárez, no not that one, the Almería front man. I've seen reported figures in excess of €30m. Remember we paid €19m last summer for the unproven and untested Conrad Harder. The Colombian striker was the top scorer in the Spanish second division last season and if Sporting are going to argue that Gyökeres age isn't a barrier to the fee they want then the Spanish side are going to argue like for like. Add the signing on fee, wages, that an agent fee is going to have to be paid either on the sale of Gyökeres or on the purchase of a replacement and well … Sporting have not only lost the best striker in Portugal but are out of pocket on the deal if forced to pay an inflated transfer fee for his replacement after all other costs are met. So by that simple set of metrics you could easily argue that Varandas is well within his reason to ask for what he values the forward to be. You could also argue that €70m with a harder set of objectives could be the ideal solution for any two parties to get a deal done. Maybe Gyökeres could be the difference maker with his wages and take a pay cut on what's being offered. £20,000 a week would be a little over a million a season. No idea what the current exchange rate is or the length of the contract. Best one would be for the agent to say I'll waive any fee I'm owed. Yes you're allowed to laugh at that joke. Maybe get yourself a different agent and it could have all been done quicker and smoother.

Clearly Varandas doesn't like the agent who has claimed he's entitled to charge 10% of any transfer fee paid if Sporting rejected an offer of €60m. Maybe it starts to make sense why the agent got Gyökeres to sign the contract because it was actually loaded in the agent's financial interests. Just a thought. I'll leave that with you to mull over. 

From the player's perspective I'm sure he will have always seen Sporting as a stepping stone. It would be naïve not to believe that on any level. He clearly believes that he has provided the club with a high level of service and who could argue against that and therefore should be allowed to move on for a fee he and his agent believe was agreed with last summer with the club. Now going back to one of my original points, had he been advised to not sign a contract with a €100m termination clause and say it was set at €60m, a club could have triggered that or he could have found a way to pay that fee to release himself from that contract. He can also request a transfer from the club and the reason he won't is because he forfeits any bonuses due. That's the reason you get players who want away trying to engineer a move with threats of striking. Whether that comes to fruition we shall see but it doesn't reflect well on a footballer to a buying club. It's like starting a relationship with someone who is cheating on their partner. There's distrust from the opening day because if you could do it to one party, you're capable of doing it to the next equally as much. I don't think anyone at the club would begrudge him a move. My only real annoyance in the past year has been the insistence by certain media outlets claiming Gyökeres chose to stay at the club last summer. No, he was a player under contract last summer. He's a player still under contract this summer. We're not talking about Eileen in accounts who can give four weeks notice and start a new job anytime she likes. Still, and I'm sorry Eileen, you don't get clicks online for that story unlike with Gyökeres. 

Trying to take a birds eye view (I don't believe in God) it doesn't make sense to hold a player against his will. Neither does it make sense to sell him for €60m as the flat fee. Lewandowski is 37 next month and still operating on a high level in both the Champions League and La Liga. I'd rather use him as a frame of reference than a certain ex-Sporting player plying his trade in a middle eastern league. It gives it a better credence for me. So reframe the narrative in terms of a player's age. Also don't frame it from a resale point of view. Say the player goes to Arsenal and is the difference maker in the North London club actually winning something. If it's grander than the League Cup or the FA Cup it's financially huge for them. Not to mention they'd have actually won a trophy. I don't think I am being biased by claiming that Viktor Gyökeres is not the new Nicolas Pepe who they signed for £72m in 2019 and let go on a free transfer. Arteta’s side drew 14 games last season, the same as Crystal Palace and only one less than Everton who had the most draws in the league. You're not telling me that at a minimum the Swede wouldn't have turned 5 of those draws into an additional two points. Now I gave up watching Premier League football a long time ago but I know how well even some of the smaller Portuguese sides are setup defensively with ten men contained in a low block within 18 yards of each other. Do not fall for the nonsense that a. Gyökeres only scores penalties and that b. Portugal is an easy league to score goals in. Anyone watch him score a hat-trick in the Champions League against the then Premier League Champions? Don't sell me any bullshit about Manchester City not being good last season whilst the narrative is Arsenal had an amazing season. So amazing compared to City's awful season they finished how many points ahead in the table? 20? 15? 10? 7? 5? No, just the 3 points. Not one Arsenal player got into double figures for goals last season. He's not Benjani going from Pompey to City. Reference for the kids there. 

Am I still trying for a bird's eye view or pooping from my view? I'm not sure. He's dumped his long term girlfriend Inês Aguiar and threatened to go on strike. I don't imagine for a second he doesn't turn up on training on the *7th unless for the reason that he has been sold. Time will tell but I don't expect him to be a lion come the end of the window. Goals come at a premium. 

So let's look at the transfer business we do know that has happened. Sporting went early in the market and brought in Allison Santos who had been training with Sporting B to acclimatise. The fact Silas as his last mister was giving him advice midweek in the Portuguese press was amusing given he refused to play the youngster at the start of 2025. I'm sure he's the last person he'll take advice from on his career going forward. Rui Silva is now officially a Sporting player after his loan move in the winter window was made permanent. Giorgi Kochorashvili was also secured early from Levante. Out goes Koindredi on loan again this time to Basel. Sotiris has joined Fortuna Dusseldorf on a season loan with an option to buy. Biel is still interesting the Brazilian loan market. Marcus Edwards loan move to Burnley has also become permanent and of course Quenda and Essugo are now officially Chelsea players with the latter joining up with the London club whilst Quenda will remain with the lions for the next twelve months as part of his transfer agreement. Vladan Kovačević has joined Championship Norwich City. If he thought Portuguese was hard to understand, good luck with the yokel dialect in Norfolk. Just as an indication of how daft release clauses really are, Biel's is set to €80m and the club are hoping for between a €6 and €7m return. Sotiris' is €60m and the club hope to get €3m next summer. Also maybe Sporting really should just stop buying players in the winter window unless they happen to be goalkeepers. 

Defender Matheus Reis is allegedly looking to renew with Sporting. Do we need to go through the fallout of him and Belotti in the Taça de Portugal final? Probably not. Trincão and Gonçalves are set to put pen to paper on improved contracts. The youngster Simões who has returned to training has signed his improved deal now to take him through to 2030. Morita could well see out the remaining twelve months of his contract and leave on a free next summer. 

Unsurprisingly rumours circulate about a number of players, including the likes of Hjulmand attracting interest from Juventus who seem unwilling or unable to match his release clause of €80m and Varandas is insistent on that being met for any club to take the captain away from Lisboa this season. Depending on who you believe a deal for Diomande to Palace is either dead in the water or being close to finalised. I imagine that might depend on what Marc Guehi does during the summer window. I'd be sad to see the Ivorian leave and no offence to Palace, by which I clearly mean every offence to Palace, he should be going to a bigger club. Mind you I still can't believe that Palhinha went to Fulham though the midfielder now at Bayern has been quoted as being determined to return to Portugal at some point in his future and I'd welcome him back with open arms. Maybe he comes in for Hjulmand next summer? That would soften the blow and he could do the job of the Dane and Morita combined if the Japanese international hasn't already left before then. 

* Sporting have confirmed that Gyökeres doesn't need to join up with the squad until the Friday when they will all transpose to the Algarve to continue Pre-season training. 

The warm up

As is now traditional, Sporting have decamped to the Algarve for pre-season. Sporting will face Scottish Premiership Champions Glasgow Celtic in their opening game, followed by a visit from newly promoted Premier League side Sunderland. *Presumably no annual Troféu Cinco Violinos at the José Alvalade given there's currently no pitch to play on and the works allegedly won't be finished until matchday 2 of the season meaning the reigning champions will start their league campaign away at Casa Pia. The curtain raiser for the season will be the Dérbi de Lisboa against the neighbours fresh back from their summer jaunt in the US in the Club World Cup. I say fresh back but unlikely to actually be fresh for the Supertaça after a ridiculously short summer break for their players. Yes I do have a genuine degree of sympathy for their players. It may well prove of benefit to Sporting as they chase another title but it doesn't mean that I can't care about any player's welfare at the end of the day. Whatever shirt they pull on they're all still human and the last few months have proven humanity is going to shit so I don't need to add to it at all. 

So onto the first game. The green and white striped side from the right side of Glasgow (he writes coming from a large Irish catholic family for full disclosure) are probably best known outside of their homeland for their relationship with the city of Lisboa. The two sides clearly share an unlikely kinship following Celtic's win in the European Cup Final against Internazionale which earned their winners the immortal moniker of the Lisbon Lions. The lion part is believed to be in homage to the Sporting club crest. The win was the first and only time a Scottish club has ever won Europe's premier cup competition. They were also the first British side to achieve the feet. Given the wrong side of Glasgow claim to be British, you'd have to ask how much that fact actually means to the hoops. Still to the best of my knowledge Sporting and Celtic can both claim to have won their last game at Jamor. I'm doubting very much they've played there since their 2-1 win in May 1967. As a sign of how times have changed, all of that cup winning squad were born within 30 miles of Celtic Park. In fact only one player was born more than a 11 mile radius away. Imagine how many trips that squad would have to take to clock up the equivalent travel that Morita has done representing Japan internationally since he became a lion? Thankfully I'm not that bored of summer yet that I'll try and work it out. It should be noted that Celtic were formed in November of 1887 to alleviate poverty amongst Glasgow's Irish immigrant community in the East End and are considered very much to be a club associated with Catholicism which is probably why they've been invited to play in Portugal and not their city rivals at a guess. 

Whilst Sporting celebrated the double of the league and Taça de Portugal and in turn becoming bicampeões, Celtic's dominance of their domestic competitions truly pisses on Sporting's chips. Four titles in a row makes them what? Bi-bicampeões maybe? They've won a staggering 12 out of the last 13 league titles in Scotland. In total they've recorded 55 Scottish titles. If nothing else Portugal has Os Três Grandes whereas Scottish football is dominated by the two Glasgow giants. So one more club on a piss poor moral argument but like the advert says, every little helps. As an example of said dominance, Celtic's home record last season saw them lose just once, scoring 62 and conceding just 9 times. Staggering numbers. 

There is another link between the two clubs, that of the Schmeichel's. Peter played in goal for Sporting in their title winning season of 1999/00 which ended the lions 18 year wait for another Championship win. That had a very familiar feeling to it before the arrival of Amorim. Son Kasper can now be found between the sticks for the Hoops and I'm sure will receive a warm welcome if he plays unlike Jota and Paulo Bernardo who were both part of the setup of the neighbours earlier in their careers. 

The two sides have met competitively before; In 1983/84 Sporting won 2-0 at the José Alvalade with both goals coming from Rui Jordão. Celtic however thumped the lions 5-0 at Celtic Park. A decade later Sporting got the upper hand with a 2-0 win at home, whilst Celtic won 1-0 away. Jorge Cadete with a brace for Sporting who would later become the hoops top scorer in the 96/97 and who would latterly become more famous in his home country for appearing on the Portuguese version of Big Brother and falling in love. That Sporting side featured a certain Luis Figo in their ranks. Not sure he had to go on Big Brother for a few bob when his playing career ended mind you. The only other meeting I could find was a pre-season friendly in July 2010 which finished 1-1 in normal time. Hélder Postiga scored for Sporting, Celtic won the game 6-5 on penalties. Unlike Figo, Postiga may well turn up on BB mind you. 

Last season saw the hoops goalscoring responsibilities shared amongst a number of players; Daizen Maeda top scorer with 16, he was also voted PFA Scotland player of the year. Nicolas Kühn and Adam Idah contributed 13 goals apiece, Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate 10 each. It should be noted that their 2024/25 pre season included a 4-3 win over Manchester City and a 4-1 victory against Chelsea. Celtic's season very much mirrored that of the lions. They reached both Scottish Cup Finals, albeit where Sporting lost the Taça da Liga, Celtic won the Scottish League cup equivalent beating Rangers 5-4 on penalties. Where Sporting won the Taça de Portugal, Celtic suffered a surprise loss against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final losing 4-3 on penalties. In their Champions League campaign there were overlapping opponents; Celtic beat RB Leipzig 3-1, Sporting lost 2-1; Celtic drew 1-1 with Club Brugge, Sporting lost 2-1. Over 180 minutes Sporting lost 3-0 on aggregate to BVB whereas Celtic took a 7-1 hiding. They eventually got knocked out at the same stage as the lions losing in heartbreaking fashion to Bayern München 3-2.

Celtic have signed Hayato Inamura from J League side Albirex joining their legion of Japanese internationals to have played for them in recent seasons. As I was saying previously, things have certainly changed from the days of the Lisbon Lions with the 30 mile radius factor with their current squad. Kieran Tierney returns from Arsenal on a free. Benjamin Nygren a Swedish RW has signed from FC Nordsjælland, Callum Osmand, a striker comes in from Fulham and GK Ross Doohan comes in from Aberdeen. 

Whilst Sporting may have well missed a trick not playing this in Lisboa allowing Celtic fans to make a pilgrimage to Jamor, local businesses in the Algarve will at least be making a fortune in sales of suntan lotion to the visiting fans coming from a country not renowned for being blessed with the best of weathers.

Tuesday 15th update - Despite wins in their opening two Pre-season games Celtic went down to a surprise 3-2 defeat on Saturday to Estrela with the goal coming from a certain Jovane Cabral. Did I say I was going to stop being a Cabral apologist at the end of the last season? Think I might have done ...

In the markets

Sporting to win 23/20 - now 9/20

Draw 11/4 - now 17/4

Celtic to win 9/5 - now 15/4

Team News

Just as a comparison twelve months ago Sporting kicked off their pre-season with a 2-2 draw at home to Union St.Gilloise. The starting XI for that game; Kovačević, Quaresma, Diomande, Reis, Catamo, Santos, Fernandes, Morita, Gonçalves, Trincão and Nel. Substitutes; Calais, Alves, Couto, Justo, Travassos and Silva. Just as then Sporting played earlier on in the day so there won't be a full strength squad for this fixture. 

The early game ended 0-0 against Portimonense. The starting XI for the match was: Calai, Debast, Quenda, Araújo, Inácio, Diomande, Biel, Rayan Lucas, Lucas Anjos, Manuel Mendonça, and Diogo Travassos. Substitutes used: Francisco Silva, Samuel Justo, and new boy Alisson Santos.

Starting XI

Silva, Fresneda, Quaresma, St. Juste, Reis, Hjulmand, Simões, Geny, Gonçalves Trincão and Ribeiro

Substitutes 

To follow 

Celtic starting XI

Schmeichel, Ralston, Murray, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Nygren, Hatate, Forrest,  Maeda and Idah

First Half

Sporting in their new black and green kit. Visitors Celtic in their traditional green and white horizontal stripes. The big news no Scandinavian up front for Sporting as Ribeiro starts in preference to Harder. Celtic get us underway, lions attack right to left. 

3 First attacking intent from the lions comes from the left through Geny. His cross trying to find Gonçalves cut out. Move eventually breaks down with a Celtic goalkick 

4 Idah brings a save from 8 yards. Offside flag up in the buildup. Not entirely sure that was the correct decision. Marginal 

5 Celtic win a corner off St Juste. Silva clears.

6 Lack of concentration or maybe an adjustment to a new system just causing Sporting issues to themselves in the last few minutes. Quaresma particularly guilty on two of more occasions of misplaced passes 

8 Silva palms away a cross from the left from Maeda. Sporting still not fully switched on at the back

11 Rare foray across the halfway line for the lions. Move breaks down once more. Celtic with the benefit of minutes in their legs having started pre-season a couple of weeks back. 

13 Fresneda chips in a cross from the edge of the box on the right to Reis who slices a shot well wide from just 6 yards. 

14 Fresneda fouled off the ball. That looked a bit naughty. Not sure who the Celtic player was but he'll have benefited from no VAR and it being pre-season. 

26 Hjulmand saves his defence as he cuts out a pass inside the box to shut down a Celtic move. Sporting wanted a free kick wide right for a foul against St Juste but nothing given in the buildup. 

17 Schmeichel with the sun in his eyes saves a shot centrally from Simões from 25 yards low to the keepers left 

18 Ribeiro effort deflects for a Sporting corner 

20 Last of the sunshine is firmly in the eyes of the Celtic keeper. Any advantage will be lost in the next five minutes 

21 Nygren foul on Fresneda gives both sets of players brief rest bite. Quick turn of feet from the Spaniard as he tried to play his way out of danger with a run from defence. Not sure you'd want to see it during the regular season. 

23 Maeda cross cut out by Fresneda for another Celtic corner 

24 Silva saves. That really should have been 1-0 to the hoops. Cross deep in from wide right into the centre. Idah with a poor connection from 4 yards which allows Silva keep the scores level 

26 Drinks break

37 Morita, Nuno Santos and Esgaio shown sat in the stands. The Japanese international deep in concentration on his phone. 

28 Game restarts 

29 Still not sure if Sporting are supposed to be playing with a back 3 or 4. It appears a 3, but Quaresma falls more centrally with St Juste and Reis pulled to the left 

30 Schmeichel saves a Gent shot from 18 yards which bobbled en route towards the keepers bottom right hand corner. Sun is still in his eyes. Not sure he knew much about that until the very last moment

32 Nygren with another poor touch for the Hoops as his shot from eight yards straight at Silva. That really should have been Celtics second goal of the night 

35 This is the point I'll remind myself the point of pre-season games is for players to get match fit and that results aren't important 

37 Close up of the Sporting bench. Borges' assistant has his airpod in back to front. That's going to bug the shit out of me now. 

38 Simões conceded a free kick centrally. Celtic looked to catch the defence out with a quick free kick but Sporting head clears the danger 

39 Geny combines with Simões whose cross cum shot flew across the six yard box and away to safety. Chance injects some life into the fans who respond with a rendition of e dia de jogo  

40 Somehow it remains 0-0 as Sporting failed to get any connection inside the box 

41 Silva to the rescue again for the lions as he saves from Maeda. That shot was travelling from 16 yards. 

43 Harder and new boy Kochorashvili sent to warm up behind Silva's goal 

44 Forrest nips the ball of the toes of Reis for a Sporting corner

Plus two shown 

+1 Hatate with a touch like a trampoline fires his cross out of play. Falls to the ground and buries his face into the turf hoping no one noticed 

+2 Fresneda cuts in from the right and his shot from 12 yards deflected up to Geny whose follow up effort from the edge of the six yard box deflected off a defender to go behind. 

Referee blew his whistle directly after with no time remaining in the half. 

Half time 

Sporting CP 0 Glasgow Celtic 0

You imagine Celtic mister Brendan Rodgers will be the happier of the two coaches as the sides go in level at half time. I write that, he may not be that happy with the finishing of Idah and Nygren who should have both finished from close range and won't want to be sat having to watch the video highlights back in training tomorrow. Interestingly the Celtic admin on X gave the credit to Idah’s miss as a decent save from Silva. It wasn't. It was a howler from Idah. Call a spade a spade. 

Sporting definitely have Rui Silva to thank for keeping the scores level, he's been the busier of the two keepers in the opening 45. Sporting's best chances have owed more to Schmeichel suffering from the sun being in his eyes albeit the Simões effort was struck well. Trincão, Gonçalves and Ribeiro have offered little attacking threat. Despite a wobbly opening twenty minutes from the defence, more attacking threat from the lions has at least made the central pairing of Quaresma and St Juste look a bit more stable. Reis and Fresneda offering plenty of attacking support going forward. Hjulmand looking regal mopping up the ball in aid of his defence but in truth it's Silva that's been Sporting's best player. Flashes from Geny and Simões of quality nonetheless. 

Second Half

➡️⬅️ Harder being run through the tactics as he waits for his teammates to come back out for the second half. Change in goal for Celtic. Change also in goal for Sporting as Israel replaces Silva. 

Sporting get us back underway. No confirmation of who Harder is on for but I'll assume it's Ribeiro. 

45 Penalty Celtic. St Juste adjudged to have fouled #24 Kenny in the area. If this was South Park someone would be shouting OH MY GOD THEY KILLED KENNY. The Irishman blindsided the Dutch defender running from behind him when he attempted to clear the cross from the right and instead made contact with the forward 

46 GOAL Israel gets his hands to the penalty but somehow the ball still ended in the net. Sporting CP 0 Celtic 1. The save sent the ball downwards and it bounced off the underside of Israel and into the net. Hatate walks away smiling knowing that was a poor penalty low to the left. Israel very unfortunate to see that sneak past him

52 Good skill from Fresneda dispossessed Maeda. With Silva having gone off he's moved ahead in my man of the match stakes as it stands. Speculation still abound that Borges wants another right back 

54 St Juste penalised for going through the back of Kenny. Not sure those two will swap shirts at full time.

55 Movement on the bench as Kochorashvili puts his shirt on. Please let him have a nickname, I can't type that all season and watch the game at the same time.

56 Quaresma cuts out a pass on the edge of the area. Sporting you can now see actually playing with a back four 

57 Harder off to the races down the left. Shot from 12 yards wide left smashes off the left hand post and to safety behind. Had the strength to hold off his marker as he entered into the 18 yard box. Big season ahead for the youngster 

58 ➡️⬅️ Kochorashvili for Hjulmand. The Georgian has looked good in training matches from what I've seen. Excited to see what he can offer 

59 St Juste gives away another foul as the cameras cut to a very sweaty Hjulmand now sat behind the mister. No lack of effort from the skipper tonight 

60 Maeda header goes behind for a goal kick. 

61 Trincão brings a save low to the keepers left from 20 yards 

62 Good first touch from Kochorashvili loses his marker and gets the ball clear of danger to Simões 

62 Geny cross to the near post trying to find Fresneda headed clear. Not sure what the Spaniard was doing there. Fair play to him though for making the run. 

63 Poor finish from Gonçalves from 15 yards who curls his effort well wide of the far post. 

63 Simões penalised for a foul on Nygren. That would have been a yellow in domestic competition. Not sure why he was remonstrating with the referee 

64 Swarm of green and white shirts on the touchline as the visitors set to ring the changes 

65 Kochorashvili again not afraid to dictate play centrally, receive the ball in tight areas, turn and find space. Lions have missed that type of player in recent seasons. Impressive first ten minutes as a lion 

67 Celtic make their changes. No digital graphics to help me so I'm not even going to try. 

68 Kochorashvili fouled twice in under a minute. Clearly adept at putting the brakes on and letting the opposition player continue their run. 

69 Quaresma fouled in the centre circle. Little bit fortunate to get the decision there 

70 Harder causing the defence issues again. Defenders bouncing off the Dane

70 GOAL Sporting CP 0 Celtic 2. Hoops went from defence to attack with a quick transition. #14 McCowan slots the ball home into the bottom right hand corner past Israel. Sporting's defenders at sixes and sevens there all caught out on the counter. They're Champions of Scotland for a reason gentleman and there's one of those reasons 

71 Drinks break for both sides

72 ➡️⬅️ Allison Santos who was a used substitute against Portimonense earlier comes on for Gonçalves as Sporting search for a way back into the game 

74 Geny now operating wide right. Allison wide left with his first touch of the game 

75 Yellow shown to the goalscorer McCowan. Looked like that was given for dissent 

77 Sporting in truth need a minor miracle if they're to get anything from this game 

78 Geny down clutching his leg having been fouled by #25

79 Well timed tackle from #6 to dispossess Harder 24 yards out 

80 Trincão with the nuts to get past his marker

80 Harder with the Cruyff turn to lose his marker. They're getting their highlight reels up if nothing else 

81 Huge sliding challenge a yard outside the Celtic area to win the ball from Kochorashvili but his shot was straight at a defender and deflected to safety

82 St Juste with another foul as he pulls a Celtic player back. Again domestically he'd have been on a yellow card by now. 

82 Corner Celtic. Header from 7 yards plucked out the air by Israel 

83 Quaresma stretches to cut out a pass inside the area. Suspicion he's not helped his hamstrings there as he stayed seated. Thankfully he's back up 

85 Five minutes to at least make the score respectable for the lions 

85 Correction Quaresma looks like he hyper extended his knee looking at the reverse angle replay 

86 ➡️⬅️ St Juste for Moreira. Rayan Lucas and Bruno Ramos for Reis and Simões 

87 Trincão given the captain's armband from Harder 

Plus three shown 

+1 Harder shot goes wide. St Juste was apparently shown the yellow card on 82. Apologies, again a lack of graphics or actual footage of the referee brandishing the card not helping my cause 

+2 Corner Celtic far side. Scottish Champions happy to just play the ball about until the referee blew for time. 

Full time 

Sporting CP 0 Celtic 2

The final word 

Celtic inflict the first defeat of Rui Borges Sporting reign. Thankfully it doesn't count towards any domestic competition. If you'd said that Celtic shaded the first half 55/45 or even 60/40 I wouldn't have argued the toss with you. My hopes were briefly raised when they took Schmeichel off and I was thinking of betting the win until Israel came on, then I thought of betting Celtic and I hadn't even finished that thought fully or my opening note of the half when St Juste gave away the penalty. After that point, and to be fair to Israel it was highly fortunate to go in to make it 1-0, the Lions really offered very little. You can't argue that Celtic didn't deserve that win. The way Sporting got caught napping for the second was reminiscent of the lions the season after Amorim's first title win. 

I don't know how good Callai is as a back up keeper but regular readers will be aware of my disdain for Israel. Other than operating as a great cheer leader from the bench he brings no value to the side when he plays. As part of my summer of posts from the 23/24 title win I've been rewatching the highlights and I'm amazed we got over the line to win the league after Adán got injured. Silva is the undeniable number one and had he stayed on maybe the result us different but that's by the by. 

I couldn't work out the system if I'm being totally honest. It seems to work as a three in defence but they shift to one side of the field. It was to the left first half with Fresneda further forward more in a midfield role and then swapped second half to the right with Reis doing the same on the left. That's why you play pre-season games though to be fair to iron out the kinks before games actually matter in terms of results. 

Quaresma was guilty throughout of losing possession and one can only hope St Juste got all his errors out the way in one big fowl swoop. I still like Reis and Fresneda as options. Both equally adept on the flanks at operating in a defensive and attacking sense. Not that well see Reis competitively for five games after his ban. 

In the centre I've no complaints from Hjulmand, another solid performance from the Danish skipper. If the idea was to operate with a loan striker then on that evidence in isolation then Ribiero isn't likely to be knocking on the door of the first team any time soon. Harder to his credit came on with plenty of industry and there's no doubting his strength when one on one with a defender and his effort off the post was a rare bit of quality from Sporting in the second 45. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but with the sun in Schmeichel's eyes all first half we'd have been far better off having started the Dane than bringing him on at half time. Mind you I don't suppose you can legislate conceding a penalty from Celtic's first attack after the break. Neither are you guaranteed to win the coin toss and choose which end to attack. Look you're not paying for this. It's OK. It's my pre season too. 

The question of what to do wide left you imagine is going to keep Borges awake at night. We've seen Geny operate effectively out there but clearly he prefers the right as does Quenda. Trincão and Fresneda also enjoy success from the same space on the right. Nuno Santos will soon be fit once more to challenge. Allison Santos came on to fill the space but never really got going. I don't know how many minutes he played against Portimonense earlier in the day. Be interesting to know how Biel played and for how long in turn. Oh and where.

Trincão showed more than Gonçalves but in truth that's not actually saying much. The latter offered little if anything before being pulled. We know he's capable of being top scorer in the league but I'll not insult your intelligence by saying we have anyone in the ranks of making up for the expected loss of Sir Sulk a lots goals. I think we're all fed up of that saga already. Not that I blame Varandas or anyone on our side. Anyways I've said goodbye to the bloke already. 

I'd be happy to argue that Simões despite his injury and shorter spell in the first team after only making his debut under João Pereira had more of an impact than Quenda overall across the season. The latter only really impressed me in his defensive duties in the Taça de Portugal final. We saw in the summer he's capable of getting the better of Polish U21 players from sides you've never heard of but I've seen nothing to suggest Chelsea have a future superstar on their hands. However I will caveat that by saying the exit of a certain someone I've just said I'm not going to mention will open a lot of attacking space for everyone else to operate in. Rewinding back to my original point I think Simões looks a highly competent youngster. How many chances he gets ahead of Hjulmand, Morita and Kochorashvili I'm not entirely sure but given our appalling Injury record last season we won't forget his face I'm sure. 

Speaking of the Georgian he looks like a piece of the jigsaw we've been missing. Great control, looks able to dictate the tempo in midfield and he really impressed me when he came on. 

So overall a poor performance but as I wrote above it's always fitness over results at this time of the season. Celtic have played four times now and those extra 270 showed especially towards the end. We know we now have a pragmatic coach. He clearly has an idea of how he wants us to play. He wants bodies in different positions. He chose to use the likes of Araújo, Diomande, Inácio and Quenda agaisnt weaker opposition in Portimonense earlier today probably to just balance both selections with an element of quality so don't let me leave you thinking this is anything like the starting XI to come against the neighbours in the Supertaça. We all know going for three in a row without you know who is a big ask. Few Sportinguista's might need to temper expectations slightly. The bookmakers have already lengthened their odds on us winning the title. Where will be come May you couldn't say at this point in time. A year ago I know what I was envisaging as to life without Amorim and Gyökeres and we got to see it under João Pereira which was incredibly worrying. At the end of it all football is a simple game, you just need to outscore your opponent by one goal. 

I guess that leaves just my man of the match. I think it came down to three choices; Silva, Fresneda and Kochorashvili. Mind you Sporting give you a choice of four so throw Hjulmand in as the fourth. Silva probably only had one decent save to make, the other two critical ones came from poor finishing. Fresneda had a few mistakes in his game but then again they all did. Hjulmand I've just thrown in to make the fourth. I'm going to give it to the new boy Kochorashvili. I don't remember him putting a foot wrong after he came on. If he plays like that all season he'll look like one hell of a bargain.

* Post match the club have confirmed tickets are now on sale for the Troféu Cinco Violinos which will take place in Jamor against Villarreal.