Sporting CP 4 Glasgow Celtic 1

 

Sporting CP v Glasgow Celtic
Pre-season Friendly
July 14th, 2026
Estádio Algarve

The warm up

There's certainly a feeling of déjà vu in the air as the lions welcome the Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Celtic to the Algarve for the second straight summer for a pre-season friendly. Once more the Scottish giants have recently been crowned league champions, so normal service has been resumed then… well, not quite. Although if you were French you might say it was a case of Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. 

In the 2024/25 season Celtic finished atop the division with a 15 point gap on rivals Rangers in second place. Heart of Midlothian finished that season a full 40 points off the top spot. Last season however Hearts had managed to bridge the gap by a phenomenal 38 points and took the title race down to the very last game only to suffer final day heartbreak at Celtic Park as the hoops beat them 3-1 to secure the title. 

Having won their opening two games under their mister Brendan Rodgers who was in charge when these sides last met, it looked very much the case of normal service resumed. So much so in fact that the bookmakers Paddy Power paid out on them winning the title and no, that's not a typo. With 36 games remaining of the season they decided to pay out on a title win. I mean to be fair they were right in the end but they weren't right by much it's fair to say. 

On October 27th the club announced that Rodgers had tendered his resignation and on the same day it was confirmed that their former manager Martin O’Neill would take over the role on an interim basis. His last game came on December 3rd when he was replaced by Wilfried Nancy. If you're looking for an apt description of his time as their coach then try this one on for size - he's the French João Pereira. He lasted all of 33 days at the helm before being given the boot. Feels quite apt comparison to me personally. Come January 5th and O’Neill was back and under his stewardship they managed to turn a six point deficit to the season's surprise package in Hearts who topped the table at that point, finally culminating in the final day title win. As I say … Plus ça change… 

I could tell you about the history of Celtic, I could tell you about their links to the fine city of Lisboa, but to be fair I wrote that last summer and I don't want to short change you all by just repeating the same thing again. Whilst I know we're playing Celtic and not Hearts, their season is one that's definitely worth telling because it obviously impacted hugely on Celtic's season and could well do again this time around. The critical factor for their success being their recruitment strategy which also fits in nicely with Sporting over the course of the last 12 to 24 months because where they've clearly struck gold, we've practically not been able to hit a cow's arse with a banjo from two yards out.

Player recruitment is critical to any coach's chances of success. I say this every summer about Portuguese football, it's a league which needs to sell to survive so Sporting's model is hardly unique. You buy young and low cost with the aim of selling high. Alongside that we have the added bonus of homegrown talent which has generated in the region of €350m worth of sales. Sometimes you get those sales right - think Quenda to Chelsea. Sometimes you get those spectacularly wrong - think Mateus Fernandes to Southampton who could potentially move on for €85m this summer just two seasons after being sold for some magic beans. Still his departure did at least help finance a second straight league title win so at least there was some consolation and they'll receive additional compensation through the solidarity payments paid to the development club of any player. It's still a huge financial own goal and also comes at a time where he would now have been the natural successor to Morten Hjulmand this summer. Still hindsight is 20-20 vision, you can't win them all. Putting all that aside, our recruitment has been found wanting and that's nothing new to be fair. The much lauded Hugo Viana brought some absolute turnips during his time including an actual one given that's what Vinagre translates to in English. You can only afford to get it wrong so many times however before it comes back to bite you. 

I always think you can ascertain how much fans know about football by whether they simply call for the coaches head when they think things aren't going well on the pitch. Sometimes it's clearly justified such as in the case of Wilfried Nancy at Celtic. Yet for Sporting we're one year into a rebuilding programme as Rui Borges continues his transition away from the 3-4-3 preference of his predecessor Ruben Amorim. He lost a grand total of two league games last season. Once more he had an unenviable injury list throughout the campaign and found his squad was paper thin by the time April came around. Any Sporting coach is going to face the issue of regularly losing key players every summer. Who knew losing the top goalscorer from the past two seasons would have a detrimental affect on their title bid? Well yes quite it was blindingly obvious wasn't it. Yet every time you change coach, if it comes with a change of playing style you're going to be left with square pegs for round holes. The more times you change the mister the more square pegs you accumulate and eventually you might find things have deteriorated so badly that you end up like West Ham relegated to the Championship with a mismatch of players from several managers and a black hole financially in the hundreds of millions. Sometimes what you need is patience and understanding, two things of course that in fairness rarely afforded to coaches in football. 

We recently got to vote on the end of season awards, one of which was for the signing of the season and it basically fell to one name for every judge, that of Luis Suárez, because there wasn't anyone else in the running. I've been highly critical of his signing all season long and had anyone else been remotely close I'd have found a way to shoehorn them in but there weren't. Luis Guilherme looks like a downgrade on Alisson Santos whose move to Napoli has now been confirmed. Faye and Kochorashvili have one foot each out the door and by the time you read this may well have both departed. Ricardo Mangas looks like a charactereur of a footballer and you have to think letting Mateus Reis go was an equal faux pas as letting Santos go in January. Rui Silva looked broken in latter parts of the season, especially the Taça de Portugal final. Vagiannidis’ signing has made Fresneda a first choice starter and Doris Ioannidis hasn't played since about 2003 and you wonder why he wasn't sent for surgery of some kind but I'm not a doctor so what do I know? Clearly all told, even including the purchase of Suárez who finished top scorer, no one player really worked out. The argument about Suárez won't wash with me I'm afraid when you don't win any title at all, especially given we had to write out another cheque for €500,000 to Almería when he finished top scorer in the league. Virgínia looked OK from what I saw of him but never looked like taking the number one spot from Rui Silva. Overall a D+ and that's boosted by the fact that at least Suárez scored some goals. It could have been much worse. 

So let's go back to Scotland. Celtic fans will share the same complaints with their recent signings I'm sure. Gone are the days of Ange Postecoglu being able to take advantage of his knowledge of the J League. You either need deep pockets and an element of fortune to succeed in player recruitment or you need some special sauce. At the moment neither Sporting or Celtic seem to have either. For the greastest number of years that's not really been an issue for Celtic given their domestic dominance on the pitch and financially to boot compared to every other club. Even Rangers can only boast a figure akin to 80% of their neighbours turnover. In the case of Hearts their budget of £24m is roughly a fifth of Celtics. So not only did they manage to close the gap to 38 points season upon season but they've done it in a comparative shoestring budget. Look all told had O’Neill never left they'd have probably won the league with four games to spare, but they didn't and for the first time in decades there was a real chance that the title was heading outside of Glasgow. So the question is why the massive turn around with Hearts? The answer lies initially with two men. We'll start first with the Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom. 

56 year old Bloom is somewhat of a mathematical whizz and he's put that ability to good use making millions from playing poker and from sports betting. Bloom has taken the same data analytics approach to sports betting into football recruitment. He is basically Moneyball on steroids. Brighton have gone from nearly falling out of the football league in 1997 to generally being accepted as one the very best run football clubs in all of world football. That's quite a rise. Since he purchased the club in 2009 they've gone from strength to strength on and off the pitch and climbed the pyramid all the way to the Premier League. Of course driven in part by putting his hands in his pockets but in doing so he's generated hundreds of millions of pounds in player sales. This is the model that every smaller club hope to imitate but few can actually do it and even those who can do it to a certain extent certainly don't do it as well as Blooms companies. 

So what is the secret ingredient? Well to be fair if we knew that then it wouldn't be a secret. The best guess is the approach to their analytical data and the mapping of players over a number of years trying to find shared characteristics and patterns. Say you track a player from the age of 15 through to 23 and by the eighth year they're really making waves. Now you may have been fortunate enough to have identified him early on but the modelling can be used to map onto other younger players. You're not trying to find another 23 year old player in the world who can potentially do the same thing, you're looking for the 15 year old who you're betting will follow the same career trajectory in eight season's time. If you can do it in an untapped market all the better. Think Moisés Caicedo as an example, the 24 year old Ecuadorian midfielder now with Chelsea. He was signed by Brighton for an undisclosed fee although the New York Times suggests that it was for around £4m with a sell-on clause of 20%. If we assume that's 20% of transfer profit minus the £4m initially paid then Brighton would have been left with £68.8m on the balance sheet having sold him to Chelsea for £100m. They were reported to have agreed a figure of £111m with Liverpool prior to that. Maybe the figure is closer to £55m by the time you deduct solidarity payments, agents fees et al, but still it's an impressive piece of business nonetheless and far from a one off. 

This work is being done through Blooms company Jamestown Analytics. They also work with Como in Serie A who have just qualified for the Champions League and they're partnered up with Hearts in Scotland. Clearly it's being paying dividends for all three clubs, though all three clubs are going to be dipping their rods into very different markets given their various resources. I imagine to Como’s owners Tony Bloom looks like he's not got two brass farthings to rub together but from a footballing standpoint, Premier League money trumps Serie A money even when combined with next season's Champions League. But we're supposed to be dealing with Hearts £24m. Oh probably should also note that the company data is also used by Union Saint-Gilloise who with Blooms investment went from the Belgian second division to the top flight to become league champions despite the financial power of Club Brugge. 

Sidenote - Como have of course identified and attempted to buy two of Sporting's starting XI in the past twelve months: Fresneda and Geny. 

Now it's worth noting that Hearts are a majority fan owned club. They hold around 75% of the voting rights owing to a world where not all shares are equal (think Glazers at Manchester United). If we ever play Hearts in pre-season I'll do the full story of Vladimir Romanov and how he took the club into administration. Long story short - bad owner. They've a wonderful lady called Ann Budge to thank for stepping in and ensuring they didn't end up doing a Boavista in May of 2014. Thanks to the combined efforts of her and the fans the club, like Brighton before, has fought its way back from the brink. Fast forward to June 2015 and Tony Bloom paid £9.86m for a 29% stake in the club and put into place a ten year plan for the then to try to change the landscape of Scottish football and bring the title back to Edinburgh. Incredibly they nearly achieved the feet in ten months. They also have to thank Scottish investor James Anderson who had donated large sums to the club and who in turn helped bridge the deal that brought Jamestown Analytics to the table. So whilst fan owned, they're not fan run and whilst Blooms shares don't allow him any voting rights it's clear that they do pay very close attention to what his data company says. 

The basic structure of the clubs isn't exactly rocket engineering. Rather than employing a coach who brings in his own backroom team, Brighton instead employ the backroom team who stay constant even if the mister changes. Whoever comes in to replace the mister has to fit their model and style of playing. Round pegs for round holes. That way you're avoiding squads from different types of coaches who bring in players to fit different styles which is basically what did for West Ham in the Premier League last season. Continuity is a critical key. Rui Borges in theory is part of a very long term plan over several years. Whether he is given that time remains to move scene. But if you do it right and it brings success then losing the coach because they want to progress becomes less of an issue. Because you want other clubs to court what you have. If you're firing coaches because of results then your model isn't setup correctly. 

I don't know enough about Scottish football to say Celtic have become lazy in their approach to recruitment but they've had it pretty much their own way for the next part of a decade. So when you get a disrupter like Bloom come in and close a 38 point gap in one season with a budget one fifth of the size of Celtics then it should have been a wake up call for the board. I know enough to know fans haven't been happy with the ownership for a long time and transfers have been one of the most contentious issues. They've just hired Martin O’Neill in his seventies as the full time manager. It doesn't present a plan for the long term does it though perhaps Nancy was that plan and once bitten twice shy. You imagine after what Hearts did last season that Paddy Power won't be paying out on Celtic as league title winners two games into this next season that's for certain. If they're not paying attention though at some point in the next ten years you can imagine that Bloom helps turn the tide helped by signings like the Portuguese forward Cláudio Braga who scored 17 goals in 44 appearances having been lifted from the Norwegian second division for £432,000. He's clearly not about to be sold on for Caicedo level money but say he moves for €5-€6m that's a significant return on their investment and the more gems they unearth the better chance of remaining financially stable most importantly but also of closing the gap long term to the likes of Rangers and Celtic and not breaking the bank to do so. Again like with Brighton they're looking for the right mister to fit the club and look to have found the right man in Derek McInnes who garnered his reputation with Bristol City, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock. If he's got some sense he'll buy into the project long-term (note since I wrote that he's already left to become manager of Rangers). Truthfully we'll have to wait to see if and how it all pays dividends for Hearts and everyone associated but if you're a Celtic fan you should be worried. I guess there's always a possibility that Bloom partners with a club in Portugal. Given they have the benefit of connections with the South American market that other countries don't have, it wouldn't come as the greatest surprise in the world. 

So twelve months on and Sporting have the same mister but this time around aren't the Portuguese Champions. I will fully admit to being left quite nervous after we lost 2-0 last year because there weren't many signs the players were settling into Rui Borges new system with any level of competency. Yet by the first game away to Casa Pia something had clicked. The difference between the Celtic game and that one was night and day. You have to hope that they put on a much better account of themselves the time but in truth these things matter little other than getting players up to full fitness and giving the youngsters a chance to impress and try win a place in the first team squad. Rumours circulating that Bafdili will be given a chance to impress. You'd imagine that Blopa and Gonçalves will be afforded similar opportunities but you never know with this club. It's a constant carousel, Travossos was widely tipped to come back and have a big part to play and he'll start the campaign in the red and white of Sporting Braga. You could have said the same thing after loan moves for Essugo and Fernandes. Going back to recruitment it's clear that we've gotten it spectacularly wrong the last two seasons. We've lost one half of the midfield pairing of Morita and Hjulmand after the Japanese ran his contract down. Few expect the Dane to still be in the colours of Sporting by the time this game is played but his exit, if and when it comes, will be handled in a much more dignified manner than the exit of Gyökeres twelve months ago. Part of me wonders if Mrs Hjulmand now with a small child might have a large say in whether he does leave or not. Stranger things have happened and there's more to life than money. Happy wife, happy life. 

We definitely need someone capable of finding the net regularly alongside Suárez. Be that Zalazar or Ioannidis. We cannot afford to be in the same situation as last season where you're reliant on Nel because one of your forwards is injured and the other is suspended for hand wringing gesture. Gonçalves looked a shadow of his former self last season and it's definitely time for him to say goodbye. For all Trincão's quality he still doesn't score enough and you always have the danger that him, Geny and Fresneda end up occupying the same space. At the end of the season I thought talk of him leaving was ridiculous given they'd spent all that time getting him to agree to a new contract and I wouldn't have been surprised to see him with the captain's armband but money talks at the end of the day. 

I'll settle for players who can stay fit for a season more than anything right now. Not sure I can take a third season of injury crisis' again. The signing of Silas Anderson is a return to the Scandinavian model which seems to have paid dividends so far with Gyökeres, Hjulmand and Harder. Pedro Lima knows the league though there's always a danger with buying players from relegated clubs and whether their mentality is right for what you need. Winning is a habit and it's not one he's possessed at one of the worst teams in top flight history. You fear he might be the new Kochorashvili. Doumbia one assumes fits into the same thinking of when Hjulmand came in from Lecce. Yet he's another like Debast, Fresneda, Alisson Santos, Vagiannidis and so on who come highly rated but all of whom have a rick in their game. It's a question of whether you can iron them out long term? I'd certainly be happy enough to see youngsters given more opportunities than signing the likes of a Mangas or a Faye again. I have certainly never believed that the club will seriously go in for Yeremay at Deportivo either having been unprepared to pay what the Spanish club wanted for him last summer. Now he's got a €150m release clause if they don't want to sell him they don't have to because no one can rock up and just buy him out of it. Besides, if your ambition is to play for Barca or Real Madrid then you're best suited playing in La Liga under their noses and proving you can do it. 

I'd quite like an experienced centre back if there's one floating around on the market. Second season Rui Silva appears to be going the way Adan did in the end of his career with the Lions so a new goalkeeper probably wouldn't go amiss. 

We can expect Fresneda, Geny, Diomande and Araújo to still be here next summer. We've had over the past two seasons guarantees that Gyökeres and Hjulmand would only be allowed to leave for their termination clause and no club paid that in either 2024 with the Swede or 2025 with the Dane so I expect that to hold true for this summer with all four players in turn. Araújo has certainly already been on the record in regards to his intentions of staying and how he's looking forward to playing Champions League football and alongside fellow Uruguayan and new summer signing Rodrigo Zalazar.

25th June - With the lions all set to announce their fifth signing of the summer window, Celtic along with Motherwell are the only two Premiership clubs yet to make a signing. 

4th July - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed a new contract with Celtic. Fresh talks are expected with Qarabaf as they look to make Camilo Duran their first summer signing. 

8th July - The BBC are reporting that Camilo Duran is inching closer to his move. The Colombian began with Lusitania, moved to Portimonse before leaving Portugal for Qarabag in Azerbaijan. That's quite a journey to date to then end up in Glasgow.

10th July - Celtic have finally completed the signing of Camilo Duran from Qarabag for an undisclosed fee. The 24 year old joins on a five year deal.

In the markets

Sporting CP - 10/11
Draw - 14/5
Celtic - 21/10

Team News 

Starting XI 

Virgínia, Faye, Felicíssimo, Quaresma, Mangas, Altimira, Doumbia, Pedro Gonçalves, Flavio Gonçalves, Geny and Gabriel Silva

Substitutes 

Silas, Nel, Vagiannidis, Kochorashvili, Lima, Bragança, Derry, Guilherme, Callai, Dias, Pires, Couto, Mota, Lee and Francisco Silva

Celtic Starting XI 

1 Sinisalo 

5 Scales 

10 Balikwisha 

14 McCowan

19 Osmand

20 Carter-Vickers

28 Bernardo 

42 McGregor 

47 Murray

49 Forrest 

51 Donovan

First Half

A reported 27°C in the Algarve at the time of kick off. The lions in their traditional green and white horizontal stripes. What can be politely described as a sparse crowd in attendance no doubt not helped by the World Cup semi-final kicking off later. Quaresma is captain for the lions. Surprise starts for Faye, Mangas and Pote who are all marked for moves away from the lions in the summer.

Doumbia hands turned up in prayer before kick off. It’s certainly windy as the players shirts are buffeted. Celtic kick us off. Sporting attack right to left.

1 Quick tun from Altimira in midfield who drives forward and tries to make something happen wide right but Celtic clear their lines
3 Referee blows for a trip on Geny by Scales far side. The Mozambique looks less than impressed.
4 Nice turn from Doumbia outside of the lions 18 yard box. He looks a tidy player
5 The lions with possession for the best part of a minute just starting to dominate this game. They misplace a pass but quickly regain possession as they patiently look to fashion an opening.
5 Mangas with an atrocious effort having been clear through on goal and unmarked, fires the ball straight at Sinisalo in the Celtic goal from 12 yards.
6 Mangas with a second chance in the space of a minute. This time fires wide of the far post.
7 Quaresma conceded a foul far side. Free kick taken quickly by Celtic who’ve caught the defence napping at the back. Cross into the six yard box dealt with by Felicíssimo who slid into knock it out for a corner far side
10 Celtic playing with a rush keeper as Sinisalo is 10 yards from the half way line. Clearly a man who likes to be involved. Not sure Martin O’Neill would advocate for it during league games but you never know
12 Geny Catamo sent through one on one with no one even close. He pokes the ball wide of the left hand post from 12 yards. He tries to claim a penalty but the referee waved away his appeal. The lions really should be 2-0 up with less than 15 minutes played. I think it was Altimira with the initial pass from the centre circle to send the winger on his way
14 Pass into the area for Faye overcooked. He managed to get the ball and dribble back to the edge of the 18 yard box where his effort was deflected for a corner near side
15 Pote corner header away by Carter-Vickers for a second corner
15 Easy claim for the keeper from the second corner
16 First signs of life from the crowd who’ve remembered they’re at a football match
17 Celtic out of their own half for the first time in ages. Faye clears the lines for Sporting however
17 Quick turn of pace from Geny inside the Celtic box. His cutback is cleared to safety
18 Offside flag up against Silva. His chip over Sinisalo from eight yards had landed on top of the bar but the assistant far side has the easiest of decisions. He must have ben a good 5 yards off when the ball was played to him
19 The lions go long again as they try to exploit the high line of the Celtic defence but the ball ends up with Sinisalo as Geny tried to hunt it down
21 The lions certainly look more organised than they did twelve months ago against Brendan Rodgers side. Mind you that went into half time 0-0 and the lions then hit the self destruct button
21 Foul called on Geny much to the dismay of Osmand who looks like a man who may have enjoyed a doughnut or two during his summer off
23 GOAL Sporting CP 1 Celtic 0. Flavio Gonçalves lights up the midfield. He beats three men and finds Gabriel Silva with a pin point pass on the right who was off to the races. The youngster drove to the edge of the right hand side of the six yard box and pulled it back to Geny who was left with a simple tap in from 7 yards into the net
25 Hydration break
26 We’re back underway. No three minute break here. Last season they didn’t even bother adding the time back on at the end of the 45 from memory
29 Faye flashes a cross from the byline far side but can’t find a green and white shirt and the chance goes begging
31 Celtic again with a rare foray over the half way line. Doumbia cuts out a pass and we’re quickly back in the opponents half
32 Foul called on Edu as he went through the back of McGowan just inside the Sporting half
32 Cross from the far side hung up, Virgínia with a strong claim coming off his line. The visitors still to fashion a single chance
33 Blocked shot from Doumbia from 20 yards
34 Finally a chance for the visitors, blocked from 12 yards. Better play around the box from Celtic who bypassed Mangas like he wasn’t there
35 Good play on the far side from Celtic but the final pass goes out for a goal kick
36 Deep cross from the near side towards Virgínia’s six yard box headed away. Foul on Geny outside the area stops play. Finally Celtic though have woken up with just under ten minutes of the half remaining
37 Beautiful turn inside the box by Flavio Gonçalves to lose his marker but his effort from 16 yards was blocked
37 Rebound fell to Pote whose effort from 20 yards deflected up and claimed by the Celtic keeper
39 Good reading of the game from Edu who cuts out a pass in the final third
39 Donovan effort deflects off Edu for a corner near side
40 Effort blocked from the visitors on the six yard line. Somehow the lions clear their lines. Took Edu, Quaresma and Faye to get it clear. Secondary cross has Virgínia flying a la Superman to punch clear
41 Break in play as Geny took a knock from Scales
44 Geny drags his effort wide from 20 yards

Plus two shown

+1 Geny goes down 20 yards out but the referee unmoved.

Half time

Sporting CP 1 Glasgow Celtic 0

Whilst the two sides are separated by a single goal in truth Mangas should have given the lions an early lead and Geny Catamo should have made it 2-0 even before he eventually broke the deadlock. It took the visitors over half hour to even register their first attempt on goal and their sum total of efforts have all been blocked attempts. That's not to suggest they haven't caused the odd problem, nearly catching out the lions defence with a quickly taken free kick but Felicíssimo was wise to the danger. He's impressed alongside Quaresma in the centre of defence. The real star of the show however has been the youngster Flavio Gonçalves who seems to have gotten the memo about needing to impress. It was his turn and run which sent Gabriel Silva free on the right to pull the ball back for Geny to slot home the opening goal. Given it's pre-season I won't bemoan the lack of overall quality. It's certainly a blisteringly hot day on the Algarve. The players will at least have the benefit of the second half fully in shade. 

Second Half

Plenty of visiting fans in attendance making the most of the fine weather. The announcer tries his best to get some atmosphere into the home fans getting them to shout Sporting. For most it’s too hot to even make the effort. Celtic out first. The lions set to make at least three changes with Vagiannidis, Guilherme and Silas stood with the mister taking instructions. Faye will be one of those replaced. Celtic have brought on Oxlade-Chamberlain. Another player whose Dad I watched growing up. I am now VERY OLD. Not as old as Martin O’Neill mind you.

Sporting get us back underway.

47 Second straight season that TVI don’t believe in any graphics to help the viewer.
47 Silva away down the right, cuts inside to make space inside the area but his second touch let him down and the keeper smothered the danger. Good work again from the youngster. It was Flavio Gonçalves who set him away again, the two clearly have a good understanding from playing together at Sporting B
49 Mangas with another effort but can’t keep it down and blasts over the bar
50 Corner nearside. Guilherme to take. Celtic head clear
52 Guilherme hammers a low pass into the edge of the six yard box turned over by the skipper for another corner near side
52 The lions went short, Guilherme cross into the six yard box causing all sorts of issues but somehow Celtic got the ball clear
53 Flavio Gonçalves curls an effort low from 17 yards but can only find the outside of the netting on the near side. Guilherme provided the opportunity. He’s looked lively since coming on at half time
54 ➡️⬅️Confirmation of the subs it was Faye, Pote and Geny who came off at half time for Silas, Guilherme and Vagiannidis
55 It’s been all Sporting in the opening 10 minutes. This time last season the lions had found themselves 1-0 down after St Juste inexplicably conceded a penalty virtually after the whistle had blown for the second half
56 Movement on the Sporting bench. Derry looks like he’s set to come on as one of a few more substitutes
56 Celtic go close drawing a save from 8 yards as my feed is buffering. I’m not being partisan with a lack of details there. Definitely their best opportunity of the game to date with just under an hour played
59 Virgínia has to come and head clear half a yard outside his area
60 ➡️⬅️ Altimira, Silva, Doumbia and Flavio Gonçalves off. Lima, Nel, Bragança and Derry on
60 I reckon Celtic have made 7 substitutes there who just all fanned on at the same time. They’ve definitely changed their keeper. Durán possibly on with the flash hair
62 Derry with a lovely turn inside the box but he was flagged offside in the buildup
64 ➡️⬅️ Those Celtic substitutes - Doohan, Montgomery, Nawrocki, Hatton, Durán, Kennedy and McArdle on for Sinisalo, Scales, Carter-Vickers, McGregor, Forrest, McGowan and Osmand. Thank you internet. Oh it was seven changes. Not a bad guess 
67 Guilherme has his face in his shirt as his curled effort from 16 yards goes wide of the far post
68 GOAL Sporting CP 1 Celtic 1. Clusterfuck at the back for the lions. Virgínia passed to Quaresma who didn’t pick up that Durán was behind him. He nipped in to steal the ball and his shot from 3 yards came off the bottom of Virgínia’s leg and nestled into the net.
69 Rehydration break
70 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Celtic 1. Nel charges down the Celtic keeper on the far right of the area and his attempted clearance diverted off the youngster into the path of Bragança who tucked the ball into an empty net from 16 yards. The Scottish Champions weren’t level for long!
75 Nel shot blocked from eight yards
75 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Celtic 1. Mangas had to take two bites of the cherry from five yards before finally putting it away
77 ➡️⬅️ Mangas off for Rodrigo Dias
78 GOAL Sporting CP 4 Celtic 1. Technical problems currently preventing me from describing the goal… Bragança slotted home from around the penalty spot into the bottom left hand corner.
85 Yellow shown to Silas for a foul. I have been having serious issues watching any of this game for the last ten minutes. My sincere apologies.

Plus two shown

90 Foul on captain Quaresma
+1 With twenty seconds of time remaining my feed finally kicks back into life. Some shit you couldn’t make up

Full time

Sporting CP 4 Celtic 1
 
The Final Word

I'd be quietly confident that I could give you a decent opinion on the first 70 minutes of the game but there's no point in trying to lie that I really saw anything of the last twenty minutes. Roll on the actual season starting when you're not reliant on air quotes - other means, to be able to watch a game. It's not like Sporting scored three times in that period. Oh no wait that's exactly what happened. Never mind. The Bragança second came from a great run down the right from Guilherme to beat the last man and pick him out to calmly slot home. 

I read through some of the online comments whilst eating dinner post game and despite a 4-1 win there were some who had already started with the negativity. Try letting some joy into your lives people's. It's a pre-season friendly. It's not going to have any serious effects on either side at the end of the day. They are always first and foremost about finding match fitness for the players. That said from a Sporting point of view they definitely look so much better than the side who took to the field twelve months ago and lost 2-0 to Brendan Rodgers side. 

We've won 4-1 with a makeshift side containing some surprise names from the off. It's no secret that they're trying to move Mangas, Faye and Pedro Gonçalves on during this window. None of the three really impressed so if it was designed as a move to put them into the shop window it didn't work but others might have different opinions. In fact you can probably guarantee that they do. Mangas in fairness though did at least find the net… at I think his fifth or maybe even his sixth attempt. Duly noted he is the left back so credit at least for popping up in the right places. Bragança however is another name in the frame to be moved on and his two goals off the substitutes bench will surely have worked in his favour for anyone watching on thinking about a possible purchase. 

We've lost Hjulmand, Quenda and Morita. Trincão I believe is a done deal but I'll wait for the official announcement on that one. We've a host of players still to return to pre-season from World Cup duty so this was always a chance for players to try and stake some sort of claim for the season ahead. You're missing your back five in Silva, Araújo, Diomande, Inácio and Fresneda. You're missing your top scorer in Luis Suárez and your record signing Rodrigo Zalazar. The side who played tonight won't resemble anything like the one that plays against Estrela on the opening day it's fair to suggest. 

I was impressed with Felicíssimo at the back who I'm not sure I've ever seen play anywhere else other than midfield. It's certainly his best performance at a senior level that I can remember. The last time I had eyes on the kid was against Real Madrid in the UEFA Youth league last season and he didn't really impress on any level during that game in which I think he started as captain if my memory serves me correctly. Yes Quaresma dropped a bollock but Virgínia in goal will have to shoulder part of the blame and fundamentally it's a communication issue which didn't cost us overall and again it's pre-season. A win is always a bonus but I repeat it means little. 

I really enjoyed the linkup play between Gabriel Silva and Flavio Gonçalves and that's the clear benefit of starting two players who have come through the Academy system together and know each others games inside out. In previous campaigns I've watched Rodrigo Ribeiro flatter to decide in pre-season games and I thought Gabriel Silva really shone by way of comparison. The stand out player for me though was certainly Flavio Gonçalves. With him at present it's all going to be about finding his level for his age and size because there's no disputing the talent. I'd rather give him the chance in the here and now that see him go the way of Mateus Fernandes and Afonso Moreira and shine for other teams. You saw in his movement for the opening goal what he's capable of and again later on we saw a really clever touch inside the Celtic area to make space for an effort where sadly the finish didn't match. All told he was my man of the match for Sporting. He is clearly a talent but I'm not yet sure he's ready for first team football. I stand by my quote that Quenda scoring in the Supertaça against Porto was one of the worst things that could have happened in his career because it accelerated it too quickly and too many people have hyped him to be a player that he clearly isn't. When your clips of him doing well are against Kairat Almaty or for the Portuguese U21s that's not just a pinch of salt thats a fucking huge handful. He could vanish without a trace a la Renato Sanches. He'd have been better served still playing for Sporting B and making the odd cameo appearance and then hitting the ground running probably in this season with a view to making the first team. He's not our problem now and Chelsea as it stands have paid way over the odds for the kid. Our concern is what to do with Flavio Gonçalves and I really hope he gives Rui Borges a headache this pre-season. 

From what I did manage to see of Guilherme second half he's certainly started better than when he did in January and if he's playing like that all season you will get no complaints from me. I've already done my man of the match so I've kind of blown my usual system of making four choices to choose from already. Typical man out of practice shooting his load too early. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'd have gone with Edu, Guilherme, Bragança and Flavio Gonçalves in case anyone cares. 

So all eyes on Starsbourg next Monday. I'll hope to have a feed that lasts the full 90 minutes. Can't win em all. The difference between last July and this was night and day other than the defensive errors leading to their first goal both seasons. Plus ça change. Will Pedro Gonçalves still be here next Monday or was that his last appearance? Same goes for Danny Bragança and if that's his last game that's quite a send off with a brace. Nothing is ever certain in football which is why I generally avoid the speculation… writes the man who was trying to work out who the Strasbourg coach would be for the best part of a month. So let's say I try avoid the speculation pertaining to Sporting and their playing staff. I was adamant twelve months ago that Yeremay would never come to the lions and have never swayed from that opinion. As always though I promise never to change what I've written. Because having been adamant about Yeremay I also wrote at points last season about how Trincão had finally found his home and his perfect level. How there was no sign of him saying goodbye at the end of last season and how I thought he was the most natural successor to Hjulmand for the captain's armband. So as always what the fuck do I know? Not a lot… not a lot. Still gives you all a good laugh. 

Post game additions having managed to watch highlights of the game which didn't buffer -

In the 49th minute Vagiannidis’ cut back is looking for Gabriel Silva inside the area but Mangas ends up stealing the chance in front of the young forward and blasting over the bar from 9 yards 

52 From Guilherme’s swung in cross from the right to the back post Mangas once more gets in the way of a teammate, this time Doumbia which allows the Celtic keeper to collect the ball in the confusion 

57 Celtics best chance came from pressure down the left winning the ball back in the final third. Murray found Engles wide open in the centre who unselfishly squared it to McGowan whose final effort from 8 yards was pushed round the post by Virgínia 

69 For the Celtic goal it's the weight of the first touch by Quaresma that does for him in the first instance. It's good anticipation from the Colombian striker who nips ahead of the defender to steal the ball and force it home from close range. 

71 For Bragança's first goal Nel chases down the Substitute goalkeeper and as he tries to kick it down field inside his area, it takes a slight deflection off the youngster and hits Murray and rebounded back towards the goalkeeper. Nel then throws himself at the ball, knocking it into the path of Bragança who still has two defenders in front of him. Murray's misery is compounded when the ball appears to bobble over both his foot and into the net 

75 Mangas starts the move for the third goal down the left flank and continues his run into the box. Initially Nel had a blocked shot from 7 yards which fell to Guilherme who was on the edge of the near side of the six yard box. His pass found Mangas whose first effort was saved but parried straight back to him and then he forces home the rebound with the keeper still down having dived for the first effort to his right and he could only watch it go into the net in horror 

79 Guilherme begins his run just inside the Celtic half. All the time he's using his strength to hold off his marker and he continues his run into the area. His cut back is between three defenders to find Bragança who hit a first time strike into the bottom left hand corner.

85 Silas’ booking came from a foul on McArdle in midfield. There wasn't a huge amount of contact but one, he slid in, two he did it under the referee's nose after the Celtic player mugged him off two seconds earlier and he did catch him with his thigh as the momentum of his challenge carried him forward. No complaints about the booking. In fact no complaints at all from the match officiating although in fairness both sets of players made it an easy job for him in a game played in good spirit with no needle.