Sporting CP 4 FC Kairat Almaty 1

Sporting CP v FC Kairat
Estádio Jose Alvalade 
Thursday September 18th, 2025
Champions League Matchday 1

The Warm Up

Sporting CP begin their Champions League campaign with a home game against the current Kazakhstan Premier League Champions FC Kairat. The club is based in Almaty which is the countries largest city with a population of around 2 million people. The city was formerly known as Alma-Ata and has its origins in the medieval settlement of Almatau which means apple mountain. The region to the west of the Tian Shan mountains is thought to be the apple’s ancestral home. All of which leads me to think that old John Pear Tree himself João Pereira, may not be top of their list to take over as coach one day. Iván Fresneda would also be struggling I’m guessing given his name translates to Iván Ash Orchard from Spanish. Am I taking the piss now? Yeah I might be a little. I’m sorry but let’s see if I can segue nicely back to football.

Kairat have equally gone through a series of identity crisis’s since their formation in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata. Just a year later they were known as Urozhay and a year after that had changed club names a third time to Kairat. Prior to the split of the Soviet Union the club competed in the Soviet Top League as was the leading Kazakh club during that period where they gained their nickname Halyq komandasy which translates to 'team of the nation.' Since 1992 onwards, following the independence of Kazakhstan, they have completed in the Premier League and have won it three times to date and are challenging for a fourth title this season.

Their title winning record from last campaign read P24 W 14 D 5 L5 GF 39 GA 21 as they finished a point above FC Astana. At the time of writing, that being September 6th, they are currently level on points with the same club albeit second on goal difference. The two go head to head in the last game of the season on October 26th in what could be a winner takes all match for either side at the clubs Central Stadium. Their current away record reads P12 W8 D3 L1 GF22 GA20 and is the best in the division currently.

A little known fact is that the club has links to Sporting. Since January 2015 the two clubs have been working in partnership to cooperate in terms of the exchange of skills and knowledge and their academy players have come to the Alchochete to train. They also boast within their ranks a Sportinguista in striker Jorge Gabriel Costa Monteiro, better known as Jorginho so he’ll be hoping to fill a lifetimes ambition to play at the Jose Alvalade I’m sure. Prior to their game with Aktobe at home on September 13th, he and Dastan Satpaev are top goal scorers with 8 a piece.

It could be a baptism of fire for the team of the nation as they complete in their first Champions League having never previously gotten past the qualifying rounds of the tournament. Alongside the Portuguese Champions they’ve drawn Real Madrid, fellow Cypriot newcomers Pafos who interestingly also have links with Sporting. Last seasons runners up Internazionale, F.C. København, Olympiacos, Club Brugge and Arsenal. Their qualifying campaign started way back on July 8th when they travelled to Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia which sounds to me like it may have been named from the Scrabble tiles left at the bottom of the bag. A 1-1 draw there was followed up a week later with a 2-0 win to progress through 3-1 on aggregate. Next up a trip to Finland to face KuPS where they lost 2-0 but remarkably overcome the deficit at home on the return leg 3-0 and progressed through 3-2. Don’t ask me why KuPS has three capital letters and one lower case because I don’t have a Scooby. Next came Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava with the first tie at home for once. They needed a 90th minute penalty to secure a 1-0 win having played against ten men for 35 minutes. In Slovakia they conceded after 30 minutes but neither side could find the decisive goal and finally after extra time Kairat progressed through 4-3 on penalties and yet still they had not yet qualified for the Champions League proper. One last hurdle to overcome in the shape of Scottish Champions Glasgow Celtic who the lions faced in the Algarve in pre-season. They came away with a highly creditable 0-0 draw from Celtic Park but the expectation was still very much on Celtic to qualify, especially given how close they came in last seasons tournament to knocking current Bundesliga Champions Bayern München out of the competition. In 210 minutes of football neither side could find a goal to break the deadlock and so it went to penalties again which the yellow and blacks won 3-2 and finally they had made it through to the league phase proper.

Having just done enough to win through the last two rounds I don’t suppose anyone from their side is expecting the club to pull up any trees in this competition be those apple, pear or ash. When they did qualify for the knockout phases of a European tournament in the 2020/21 Europa Conference League their record read Played six, won 0, drawn 2 and lost 4. The two draws against the Cypriot side Omonia. The losses came against Qarabağ and Basel. I would imagine most fans will expect Kairat and Pafos to be competing for the wooden spoon given their debuts in this competition but I’m not naïve enough to think they can’t provide a side or two with a shock. I’ve watched Sporting not only lose to Lask but get played off the park by the Austrians so I am well aware of the fact that we are as guilty of anyone of complacency on a European level. Thankfully for us we’re not having to meet them away and it’s them that will have to make a round trip of approximately 7,000 kilometres with a time difference of minus four hours. I don’t think Rui Borges would let his players take them for granted to be fair. As of June 15th, 2025 they were ranked the 266 best club in Europe based on their UEFA co-efficient score.

Sunday update - Wins for both sides after the international break. Sporting climbed back up to second place with a 2-1 away win to Famalicão having gone behind to a Gustavo Sá headed goal. Pedro Gonçalves took his tally to four for the season whilst Luis Suárez extended his to three. Kairat meanwhile went top with a 1-0 win at home to Aktobe to capitalise on FC Astana's 3-3 draw at home to FC Yelimay. The win now leaves them two points ahead in the race for the title. *Satpaev definitely the man to watch as he extended his goal tally for the season. The goal came early on in the second half when a player slides to keep the ball in on the goal line and diverts it to the forward who leathered it home past the opposition keeper. Definitely one of those goals you know Sporting concede in European football all the time so let's hope that's their one for this week. Back to Sporting's win, first minutes of the season for Eduardo Quaresma and Simões whilst new signing Fotis Ioannidis also made his debut coming on as a second half substitute for Kochorashvili. 

It's hard to know what to expect on Thursday nights. Playing knockout football is very different to playing a league format where you know you're now guaranteed to play right games where the financial rewards for a win or draw are so much higher in addition. If you take the two games against Celtic as a marker then you'd expect them to sit back, let Sporting have the ball but that's no guarantee for the reason just mentioned. At home they had 33% possession, 12 attempts with 4 on target with an XG of 0.59. at Celtic Park just 25% possession, 8 attempts of which 0 were on target. Whereas away to Slovan they had 14 attempts, 6 of which were on target. 

In recent league outings they had 20 attempts with just 3 shots on target in the 1-0 win Sunday against Aktobe. Against Okzhetpes 14 attempts and again just 3 on target and in the 3-2 loss at home to Yelimay, 15 attempts and 6 on target. Being league leaders in one nation probably allows you a level of confidence that at home in your own domestic competition but unless you're in one of the top four leagues is pretty much worthless in Europe. However for them it does give them the element of surprise or worse having teams take them for granted. I don't think Rui Borges would allow his team such levels of complacency yet you never know how players will react on the pitch. I think Luis Suárez however is a player who knows time isn't on his side and wants to showcase himself with an eye on going to the World Cup with Colombia and what better way to do it than in the Champions League.

Sporting's XG to date other than in O Clássico has suggested we should score at least twice every game. Against Casa Pia 2.85, Arouca 3.05, Nacional 2.59 and Famalicão 2.21. Porto was the lowest with 1.02. In terms of defence for the first three games in terms of XG it's suggesting we should be keeping clean sheets in all three even if we did actually concede against Nacional in the 4-1 win. However that figure rose with the absence of Diomande in defence with Porto 1.54 and Famalicão 0.95. against Casa Pia it was 0.43, Arouca 0.22 and Nacional 0.66. 

Only Porto to date have managed attempts against us in double figures over the course of 90 with 14 in total. Famalicão recorded 9, Casa Pia and Arouca 7 and Nacional just 3. Most important the shots on target with Porto again top with 7, Famalicão 3, Casa Pia and Nacional 2 and Arouca with just the solitary chance. 

For Sporting Saturday nights game was the lowest number of attempts recorded in the league and the only time they've not gotten into double figures with 9. Against Casa Pia and Nacional they had 27, Porto 20 and Arouca 19. It'll probably come as no surprise to find Sporting have had the most attempts in the league to date. On target shots have dropped considerably the last two games against better opposition, just 3 against Porto and 4 v Famalicão. They had a massive 12 shots against Casa Pia, 10 v Arouca and 7 v Nacional. 

This season it certainly seems that Borges wants his attackers to do the attacking and his defenders to do the defending which seems obvious but we know in previous seasons that defenders have played their part with goals in the final third. Looking through the XG data for the five league games you'll see Debast with a 0.22 and 0.03, Diomande with a 0.02, Inácio with a 0.06 and Araújo with a 0.21. Mangas had 0.14 against Porto and obviously scored himself a brace in the 6-0 win against Arouca with an XG of 0.62. 

We heard so much paper talk that Rui Borges wants to play with a back 4 and we've seen virtually no evidence at all of it so far to date. In attack the centre backs tend to stay as a pairing and in transition one of the backs drops in to make a 3 depending on which wing the play comes down or if it's more central you've often seen Hjulmand drop back into defence to make a 3. 

It'll be interesting to see how we start the game on Thursday and whether the players feel their way through the game as they did with Arouca before putting their boots on the neck of the opposition or whether they go all out from the start. I guess we'll know come Thursday night. 

Champions League Squad 

Silva, Virgínia, Reis, St Juste, Debast, Vagiannidis, Inácio, Ramos, Quaresma, Mangas, Morita, Gonçalves, Kochorashvili, Araújo, Bragança, Hjulmand, Lucas, Geny, Nuno Santos, Trincão, Allison, Ioannidis and Suárez.

No space in the squad for Fresneda, Simões or Quenda. St Juste included despite being demoted to Sporting B and places for Bragança and Nuno Santos despite not being match fit. Quenda and Simões however presumably will be seen at some stage given their age and status via the academy on the B list. It's all very confusing for now.**

Tuesday update - Three of Sporting's future Champions League opponents in action Tuesday night. Athletic Club finally succumbed to a 2-0 loss at home to Arsenal. Marseille took the lead away to Real Madrid but lost 2-1. Game of the night in Italy where Juventus drew 4-4 with BVB who knocked the lions out of last season's competition. All 8 goals coming in the second half. BVB kicked the madness off on minute 52 before Juventus equalise on 63. BVB 2-1 then 2-2. The Germans went again, 3-2 then 4-2. They've given the old lady a shoeing. However in Italy the shows not over till the old lady sings, well at least not in Turin. I'm guessing she's a fat old lady to boot by the way. Anyways I digress - 90+4 4-3… 90+6 … all square at 4-4. The Italians won 4-3 against Internazionale Saturday teatime so it's been a good week for goals, maybe not so good on the heart, stomach and arseholes of the Juve fans. 

Having talked up the need for Portuguese sides to do well for the coefficients, the neighbours lost to Carpet Bag from Azerbaijan. Varandas was going big stating the aim was to get out the group phase again and into the play offs as a minimum. Can't see it myself. I'll settle for not getting our arses handed to us by a Bayern München or a PSG. Unless you're between the ages of 5 and 7 and stood in a school playground in Lisboa you know full well the lions aren't ever going to win the competition. We qualified for the play offs last season by the absolute skin of our teeth. Don't disgrace yourselves at any point gentleman and that's enough for me personally. We'll have to dine out on the Manchester City 4-1 for a while yet me thinks. 

Wednesday update - After last night's defeat to Carpet Bag the neighbours have dispersed with the services of Bruno Lage. I wrote in my Supertaça post that the game had a feeling of El Sackico and at some point both coaches could well see their position come under fire this season. Well the pigeons have gone early for the second straight year having dispensed with the services of Roger Shit last time out. José Mourinho apparently waiting in the wings. If true I called that last season when they kept showing him in the stands and said the only thing missing was the Jaws music. 

Two more future opponents in action tonight and already my anxiety levels are peaking at the prospect of playing both teams. Current Champions League holders PSG despatched Atalanta with ease 4-0 at home. I'm clinging onto the hope they'll have already qualified by the time we have to play them and they won't run the numbers up. It took them all of 2 minutes to open the scoring. Nuno Mendes with the 3rd goal on the night. They even had the luxury of missing a penalty. In Germany, Bayern München beat Club World Cup champions Chelsea 3-1 with a brace from Harry Kane. I think the only way he doesn't score against us is if he happens to be injured, suspended or dead. I won't wish the third one on him but I'm not adverse to hoping for one of the other two. Not that Bayern aren't more than capable of dismantling a Sporting side as history shows. I've ear marked that game as the one where you don't get a full 90 minute by minute by me. 

Sporting B

Portimonense A

Starting XI 

Pires, José Silva, Rômulo, Muniz, David Moreira, Felicíssimo, Justo, Couto, Gonçalves, Anjos and Rodrigo Ribeiro

Substitutes used 

Blopa, Besugo, Nel, Dias and Cardoso

Couto missed a penalty on the stroke of half time to try equalise a 17th minute opener. In the second half debutant Rômulo received his marching orders for a second yellow card to make the young lions task even harder. However Portimonense went down to 10 with 13 minutes remaining when Samy was sent off for a second yellow. Nel equalised from the spot on 81 minutes before Blopa smashed home the winner in the 87th minute from 8 yards at the near post to make it 4 wins from 5. The young lions top the table ahead of Vizela who could only draw away to Maritímo later in the day who coincidentally are their next opponents at home. 

Final score

Portimonense 1 Sporting B 2

In the markets

Sporting CP 1/9

Draw 9/1

Kairat 18/1

In the domestic markets Sporting, Porto and Benfica all now 13/8 to win the title. Braga 50/1 and everyone else 200/1 and above. 

* Having said Dastan Satpaev is the man to watch, correction, he is the boy to watch. Just 17 years old and already been brought by a Chelsea and set to transfer in 2026 alongside Geovany Quenda. 

** From what I can ascertain from UEFAs website the following must make up the B list of players who could all be included in the matchday squad. Any questions? Clearly don't ask me.

Goalkeepers

Diego Callai, Miguel Gouveia, Guilherme Pires, Pedro Miguéis, Diogo Clara, Francisco Silva

Defenders

Iván Fresneda, João Muniz, David Moreira, Amores Dias, José Silva, Atanásio, Miguel Alves, Daniel Costa, Denilson Santos, Rafael Mota, Afonso Lee, Lucas Dominguez

Midfielders

João Simões, Flávio Gonçalves, Rayhan Momade, Ivanildo Mendes, Salavdor Blopa, Eduardo Felicíssimo, Gola Kissanga, Rafael Besugo, Samuel Justo, Rafael Camacho

Forwards

Geovany Quenda, Rodrigo Ribeiro, Chris Grombahi, Lucas Anjos, Mauro Couto, Gabriel Silva, Rafael Nel. 

I've never heard of Gola Kissanga but he certainly reads like a great way to describe a golazzo in Italian. 

Team News 

Goalkeeping crisis for the visitors. First choice keeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy was already sidelined. Second choice Temirlan Anarbekov has a broken jaw so Thursday night will see them having to field a youth player between the sticks. Despite earlier reports of missing the last training session Pote has been included in the matchday squad as is Morita who has missed the last couple of games through injury. 

Starting XI

Virgínia; Fresneda, Quaresma, Inácio, Araújo, Hjulmand, Kochorashvili, Quenda, Trincão, Gonçalves and Suárez.

Substitutes 

Callai, Reis, Debast, Vagiannidis, Mangas, Morita, Alisson, Simões, Lucas, Anjos, Ribeiro and Ioannidis.

Well having said I was surprised that Fresneda lost his starting plade against Famalicão he's named in the starting XI. Lot of fans bemoaning the lack of game time for Eduardo Quaresma this season so they'll be pleased to see him at centre right centre back. Maxi Araújo fit again to start. Vagiannidis, Debast and Mangas the players to make way in the starting XI. All three named on the bench. Places in the squad for the youngsters Anjos and Ribeiro. Morita returns from injury.

FC Kairat Starting XI 

82 Sherhan Kalmurza  

3 Luís Mata, 80 Egor Sorokin, 14 Aleksandr Martynovich and 20 Yerkin Tapalov

15 Ofri Arad, 4 Damir Kassabulat

55 Valeri Gromyko, 7 Jorginho, 24 Alexandr Mrynskiy and 9 Dastan Satpayev

First Half

The Champions League theme returns to the Alvalade. Sporting in their traditional green and white horizontal stripes. Sure to be a few Chelsea eyes on tonights game with Quenda and Satpayev starting. The lions get us underway and attack left to right.

1 Nervous start for the opposition keeper who punches clear from the first attack of the game but not very convincingly it must be said. Kalmurza just 18 years of age. You'll forgive him some nerves on his CL debut.
2. Whistles started early as Kalmurza takes his time over a goal kick
3. Good work from Fresneda on the left to dispossess Satpayev and out for a throw
3. YELLOW Kochorashvili for a foul in the centre on Kassabulat
4. Gonçalves leaves his marker on his backside as he cuts back inside the box. Shoots with the outside of his right boot as he did on Saturday from 8 yards but Kalmurza makes a great save with his right leg. Araújo with the follow up blocked 
6. Corner far side to the visitors 
7. Quaresma heads clear in the centre for a second corner
7. Quaresma with a third header clear. He's had a strong start on this is first start of the campaign
9. The lions with all outfield players in the opposition half who are content to put bodies behind the ball
10. Great ball in from the left from Gonçalves into the six yard box far side looking for Suárez put out for a corner. 
12. Kochorashvili goes down with contact to the face by Kassabulat but the referee uninterested and allows play to go on to the discontent of the home fans
13 Selfish from Suárez who shoots from 17 yards. Wins a corner. There were players in better positions who he could have passed to
14 Inácio looks to get on the end of the corner but beaten by a defender who heads out for a corner far side 
14 Suárez misses the ball totally and out for a third corner near side off the defender behind
15 Inácio meets the corner from Quenda with a header which goes over from 4 yards
16 Poor from Suárez as he overcooked a pass inside the area and the danger passes. The Colombian looking for personal glory a bit too much in the opening minutes
16 Quenda shot blocked from 12 yards. Fell to Kochorashvili who tried an overhead kick from 8 yards but hits his shin and out for a goal kick
17 The gap in class is evident. However the scoreline remains at 0-0 for now. 
18. Dazzling run from Quenda but he can't find the end product as his shot was blocked inside the D
19. PENALTY Sporting. Mrynskiy makes contact on Suárez. That came from a mistake trying to play out from the back
20. Hjulmand spots the ball, adjusts his headband. SAVED. That was poor from the Dane who tried to roll in it down the centre. The keeper went down to his left early but with no pace on the ball still had time to stick his right leg out and stops it with his boot
22. The lions should be 2-0 up. Kairat's defence a bag of nerves. Quenda whips in a shot from 20 yards to the far post but keeper saves for a corner
24. Quenda shot blocked from 16 yards. Trincão tries to bend a shot far post from 24 yards but well wide. 
25. If Sporting get one they'll get 2 and if they get 2 the floodgates will open
26. Kairat have barely been over the halfway line in the last ten minutes
26. Quenda penalised for an arm into the face of Gromyko who makes a meal of it. 
28. Chants of SPORTING, SPORTING reverberate around the stadium
28. Gonçalves shoots wide from a yard outside the D
29. Whistles again as their keeper takes his time over the goal kick
30. Clash of heads in the centre between Suárez and Sorokin. Yellow to the Colombian. No ... I lied, he's kicked the Kairat player in the face and gone down play acting himself. Poor behaviour from the Colombian again. That was right under the nose of the referee
32. Mrynskiy with a half chance from 6 yards
33. Virgínia palms a 9 shot over the bar from 25 yards from Satpayev which was struck with real venom. Corner far side. I'm going to say that was a Hollywood save albeit one that needed strong wrists
34. Virgínia claims well from the corner far side.
35. Gonçalves aims for Suárez in the six yard box again with a deft flick with the outside of his boot a la Nuno Santos but keeper claims 
36. THWACK Suárez leaves the keeper all ends up from 19 yards but smashes the left hand post. 
38 Sliding tackle to dispossess Quenda who had three players in front of him that he was on his way to leaving in his wake
38 YELLOW foul on Kocho by Jorginho in the centre 
39 Superb run by Fresneda on the right who pulled the ball back for Suárez who couldn't finish from 4 yards
40 Referee warns the keeper finally about the time wasting. 
41. Contact from behind on Gromyko by Quenda a yard outside the area. He's gunning for best actor at the Oscars. Referee waves away the appeal and rightly so
43. GOAL Sporting CP 1 FC Kairat Almaty 0. Trincão curls an effort from a yard outside the D. The keeper may have gotten a foot to the Danes penalty to keep the ball out but he can only palm the ball into the net this time around and finally the deadlock is broken 

+2 Additional Time

Half time 

Sporting CP 1 FC Kairat Almaty 0

Don't let the half time scoreline fool you. Apart from a Satpayev effort from 25 yards the visitors have offered nothing from an attacking sense this opening 45. Sporting should have opened the lead with the Gonçalves chance with the outside of the boot which would have been a replica of the Famalicão goal on Saturday night. Poor penalty from Hjulmand would have made it 2. Suárez has taken his frustration out on the post. They leave the pitch with an XG of 2.91 to 0.31 having registered 14 shots to the visitors 4 (3 of which were blocked).  

The penny seems to finally have dropped for Quenda on the right who has looked dangerous every time he's had the ball at his feet. Gonçalves looking equally adept on the left flank has gone close to finding the Colombian twice and of course to opening the scoring. I said it early on but if the lions can get one which they've now done they can get two and if they get two the floodgates will open. Fair play to the youngster in goal though. He had a nervous opening sixty seconds but grew in confidence especially after the penalty save. The less said about that the better I feel. Credit to Virgínia and Quaresma at the back who have shut out and threat at the back from corners. 
Fresneda has justified his start and overlapped well with Quenda. Trincão causing a nuisance from deeper again. I wonder if we'll see a change to Kochorashvili second half whose on a yellow. Penalised for a handball close to half time which some referees may have shown a second yellow for. I've said it many, many times with a lead the opposition now needs to attack and the team looks like it can be dismantled quite easily if that happens.

Second Half

Kairat get us back underway. No changes from either side

46. Kairat shout for a penalty as Tapalov falls under pressure from Araújo. Referee rightly waves claims away
46. Satpayev denied by Virgínia with a save low to his right. Shot fired from 13 yards through the open legs of Quaresma. 
47. Keeper comes to claim a cross from the right and misses the ball completely, Suárez heads onto the bar from 8 yards with the goal wide open. Frantic start to the second half 
49. Jorginho fires into the stand from the edge of the D
49. Foul by Luis Mata late on Trincão. Felt a yellow to me but gets away with a warning. 
53. Arad fires in a low shot from 27 yards easily dealt with again by Virgínia. He'll be giving Borges a headache on this form
55. Jorginho with a huge chance from 11 yards saved once more by Virgínia. Came from a mistake in the centre by Kochorashvili
55. Goncalves and Kalmurza clatter into one another inside the area. Sporting player penalised. 
57. Stop in play as Kalmurza receives treatment
58. Corner won by Araújo near side. Headed clear by Kairat and out for a throw far side
59 Quenda and Fresneda combining well right hand side. The Spaniards attempted cross cut out for a corner. 
59 Inácio wants a penalty as he goes down in the box. Half a dozen of one and 6 of the other. The Kariat player with a torn shirt at the neck which speaks volumes 
60. ➡️⬅️ Triple change for the lions. Allison, Morita and Doris Ioannidis on. Gonçalves, Suárez and Kochorashvili off.
62. Trincão looks for the Greek inside the area with a curled cross but out for a goal kick. 
64 GOLAZZO Sporting CP 2 FC Kairat Almaty 0. Defence to attack for the lions. Fresenda pulls the ball back for Trincão who stokes it home from 16 yards into the top left hand corner. 
65 ➡️⬅️ Reis for Araújo
66. GOAL Allison smashes the ball home from 18 yards to make it Sporting CP 3 FC Kairat Almaty 0. Took a deflection off the leg of a defender which raised the ball over the hands of the keeper. Two goals in two minutes have killed this tie and put it to bed. We won't see a repeat of Tuesday night in the José Alvalade 
67. GOLAZZO Sporting CP 4 FC Kairat Almaty 0. Quenda take a bow son. Dazzling feet from the youngster. Beats Luís Mata and continues his run to slot home from 8 yards. Make that three goals in three minutes. 
69. ➡️⬅️ Hjulmand off for Debast. Jug Stanojev for Tapalov. Filho for Arad. Who calls their kid Jug?
72. Quenda and Fresneda putting on a show far right. 
73. The lions able to just pass the ball around the field now very much in control. Kairat just spectators to what's happening 
73. YELLOW Quenda shown on the screen. That must have been for taking his shirt off in the goalscoring celebration. 
74. Allison away on the left runs into the area but his pull back cleared.
74. ➡️⬅️ Kasabulat for Sadybekov
75. Slide rule pass from Debast finds Fresneda but his cross blocked. This is beautiful to watch on the eye. Can they find a fifth?
76. It's all Kairat can do to get the ball up to near the half way line before it comes straight back
77. Reis with a cheeky back heel inside the box cut out by a defender
77. Referee gets his first touch of the game. They all want in on it
78. YELLOW Debast for a foul on Edmilson studs up. Won the ball first, no intent. Right call.
79. Trincão goes down in the box. He wants the penalty. Long ball from Fresneda inside the Sporting half. Keeper came off his line, Trincão takes the ball round him and looks like he just lost his balance in the end. 
80 ➡️⬅️ Mata for Kurgin
81 Fresneda charges into the area and puts the ball through the legs of a defender but it goes out of play. Wasn't a shot or a cross in the end. Doris doesn't look too pleased 
83. Real Madrid up next for Kairat to compound their misery 
84. Quaresma clears his lines. He's looked great in defence all night long
85. GOAL Edmilson pulls one back hitting a sweetly struck first time volley from 11 yards. Sporting CP 4 FC Kairat Almaty 1. Well that fucked my 4-0 prediction. 
87 Debast tries from 26 yards but his shot is blocked. Sporting were temporarily top with with PSG before that consolation goal. Well unless there's many a mass of goals in one of the other fixtures tonight***
89 Trincão runs past two players midway inside the half and takes in to the edge of the D looking for his hat-trick but fires over the bar

Plus 3 shown

+1 Satpayev YELLOW for an appalling dive with the referee less than five yards away

Full Time 

Sporting CP 4 FC Kairat Almaty 1

The Final Word

Great opening win for the lions. Long trip home awaits the visitors - 12 hours and 7,000 kilometres. They scored their first ever Champions League goal but that will be scant consolation. A hard lesson learned for the side from Kazakhstan. They gave it all they had but the gap in quality was there for all to see. The lions only 4th in the table after that win. ***Apologies to Eintracht Frankfurt fans who side have dismantled Galatasaray 5-1 at home tonight having been 1-0 down and top the table. Never assume anything the lesson there because I'll make an ass out of u and me. Club Brugge also 4-1 winners. They sit third above Sporting by virtue being ahead of them alphabetically. 

The XG 4.25 to 0.70 and yes the visitors gave the defence the odd scare and you wouldn't begrudge them their goal but it was as comfortable as the scoreline suggests. Virgínia I think deserved a clean sheet however sometimes it's not meant to be. He really impressed me again and has done in all three appearances since his return in the summer. Looks a proper upgrade on Israel. 21 attempts for Rui Borges men against 9 for the visitors. Just the one big chance for them which was missed by Jorginho in the second half. Three valuable points if the lions are to make the play offs. They'll face far harder games. €2 million banked, maybe most importantly game time for a lot of players and Borges with the luxury of making five early substitutions ahead of Monday nights game. 

Really pleased for the right sided defensive pairing of Quaresma and Fresneda. The Spaniard looks like he could play another 90 minutes on top of the one he already played and I'd love to know the distance he covers during the course of a game. He had a debut to forget in the Europa League against Atalanta, was out long term with an injury but since his reintegration has continually impressed me. That started with a stint as left wing back in the Taça da Liga where he looked incredibly comfortable. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves. A reminder I shouldn't judge players early until they've had time to bed. A full 90 for Quaresma and credit to Borges for having the confidence to put him in from the start. He's going to be limited with game time sat behind Diomande and Debast in the pecking order. I know many felt St Juste was unfairly treated but the reality is we need another left sided centre back to come through because we have an abundance of talent in the right position and at 23 he's the future over St Juste and in addition Debast and Diomande will be in demand once more in future transfer windows I'm sure. 

On the left Inácio maybe not as composed and gave away a couple of silly fouls. Araújo still coming back from injury so not his best performance in a lions shirt but minutes in his legs and the quality of opposition allowed for that to happen in truth. 

Good call to replace Hjulmand and Kochorashvili in midfield by the mister. Neither had their best night and thankfully for the Dane his penalty miss will be consigned to history without it having cost Sporting. It was lackadaisical on his part and he'll be seeing that replayed in his dreams for weeks to come but we're all human. Kochorashvili did however claim an assist and we saw his impression of a dying swan first half with his attempted overhead kick. 

Pleased again with Gonçalves performance. Maybe could have done a bit better with his final ball but having been heavily critical of him in recent times it's only fair I give him his dues. Really should have scored the opener as well in fairness. Suárez is going to be an enigma this season. Smashed the post in the first half, was unfortunate to see an effort hit the bar in the second but I don't like the rest of the nonsense that comes with his game. Rightly booked for a high foot and tries to get out of it by play acting which infuriates me. First half I felt it was more about him than the team at times. Is enigma the right word? Maybe maverick is a better summarisation. 

Thrilled for Allison to get his first goal for the club. Another left sided player that clearly has talent but will we find one with real consistency? Time is on his side though and a goal in the Champions League will do his confidence the world of good I'm sure. 

For all the positives and the scoreline Sporting cannot be as sloppy against a better quality opposition as they were at times tonight because there are teams out there who will absolutely tear us apart if we do the same against them. I don't know much about the Kazakhstan top flight anymore than I suppose any of you reading this do. They looked nervous in the first half and should have gone in 3-0 down. They tired second half and the gap in quality showed as I've already alluded to but I imagine if I'd had a twelve hour flight, travelled 7,000 kilometres and was trying to perform on a time difference of four hours then I'd have been in the same boat. Bonne chance to anyone having to make one of the four trips to Kazakhstan to do the same thing. They'll catch someone unawares in one of he fixtures I'm sure. 

So I guess that just leaves my man of the match choice. Those observant amongst you will note I've not mentioned two names yet in Quenda and Trincão. They're the most obvious candidates for me. I'm stuck between Quaresma and Virgínia for spot three. The Edmilson strike felt like it was well taken but maybe I need to see it again later but I'm just going to slide Quaresma ahead by a gnats bollock to be my third choice given he didn't keep his clean sheet. Fresneda with his non stop running and assist takes the fourth spot. However in truth it can only come down to a choice of Quenda or Trincão. 

Last two games Quenda is finally starting to show what all the fuss is about. His goal looked great in real time. Not as impressive in slow motion from the reverse angle I'll admit but still when it went in I did call it a golazzo and I refuse to edit to make myself look clever after the event. He appeared to run past several players but he really just beats his marker and slots home. Anyways semantics on my part. Since he's returned from the U21s and with Geny's injury meaning he's guaranteed a start, he's taken full advantage. He looks like his confidence is finally there and maybe that's all he's ever needed to kick on. There were times last season he looked absolutely drained of it and lost whereas tonight he was constantly looking to take on one... two... three players. The fans used to love Gelson Martins who I couldn't stand. He could run in one direction very fast but that was it. Quenda looked so much more tonight by comparison but there's a caveat in that I've still only seen him do it against lesser opposition be that for the U21s or tonight against Kairat... Oh and against the pigeons defending in the Taça de Portugal but that's still lesser opposition so the point stands. 

Trincão with two well taken goals was the difference maker. His first maybe lessened by the hand the keeper got to it which shouldn't take anything away from the quality of the goal. It does though a little. I'm sorry. His second looked like he was playing in his slippers in the back garden, he struck it with consummate ease and on nights like this you can see why Barcelona brought him. He's grown in stature since last season. He's grabbed the mantle left by Gyökeres and whatever we achieve this season I think he's going to be the key man to that. If Hjulmand departs next summer he's the natural fit to take over as captain. Incredible to think two seasons ago it was Marcus Edwards who was very much the main man in the same position for the opening 17 rounds and from the point he took the place the Englishman could never oust him. Much of that I suspect is down to the attitude of the two players. Trincão seems to finally be growing up whereas Edwards will always rue the day someone attached the comparison to Messi to his name as a youngster. Of course I'm going to have to caveat his performance tonight with the same one I did for Quenda in that they've both looked great against a poor opponent. Quenda with a goal and an assist, Trincão with a brace… am I going to be that fickle? I think I am you know. Trincão my man of the match.