12 April 2023
Juventus return to the European scene with the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday 13 April. The opening game of the tie is at the Allianz Stadium with the return leg exactly one week later at the Estádio José de Alvalade in Lisbon.
Just like the previous round of the Europa League, the Bianconeri enter the European arena coming off a defeat at the Olimpico in Rome. Sporting CP, meanwhile, were pegged back three times by Casa Pia but still claimed all three points when Trincão completed his hat-trick with five minutes to play for a 4-3 success - their 11th match without defeat in a row in all competitions.
Let's find out more about Sporting's form both at home and abroad.
ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT
The team coached by Rúben Amorim currently sit in fourth place, on 57 points, five points behind the club that launched the tactician in the Portuguese top flight, Braga. Despite winning nine, drawing two and losing two of the 13 Primeira Liga fixtures since the resumption of club football following the Qatar World Cup, the Verde e Brancos have not managed to reduce the gap on third place, the last slot available for Champions League qualification. Benfica and Porto, first and second respectively, appear to be out of reach.
Sporting also lost the final of the Taça da Liga to Porto in January after having won the Portuguese League Cup the previous two seasons. With 38 year old Amorin at the helm, other than the League Cup, the Lions in season 2020/21 also claimed their first league title in almost 20 years.
Pedro Gonçalves, top scorer in the league winning campaign, is again the team's most prolific marksman. The midfielder netted his 13th of the league campaign in the weekend win at Casa Pia
IN EUROPE
Gonçalves, also known as Pote, was instrumental in Sporting's qualification among the last eight teams of the Europa League. It was his audacious strike that tied the score at the Emirates Stadium for the eventual 3-3 aggregate scoreline with Arsenal. Sporting went on to win 5-3 on penalties.
Sporting like Juve found themselves in the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group phase. Despite collecting all six points from the opening two Group D matches, Sporting earned just one point more from the following four matches and were pushed down into third place.
Their Europa League campaign kicked off in the play-off round against FC Midtjylland. Although the Danish side earned a 1-1 draw in Portugal, Sporting cruised to a 4-0 in Herning, with Gonçalves scoring a double.
Then the 2-2 draw at home against Arsenal before the spot-kick triumph in London.
