Heads up, Sporting! Lions to get Taça de Portugal news soon | OneFootball

Sporting will discover its first opponent in the Portuguese Cup. The Portuguese Football Federation announced the date for the draw of the third round of the competition, which will be the round where the lions will make their debut in the new edition of the competition and begin their title defense journey.

Through a statement, the national football regulatory body announced that the draw will take place next Thursday, September 25th at 12 PM and will be held at the City of Football in Oeiras, just a few meters from the stage of the grand final of the prestigious tournament, the Estádio Nacional do Jamor.

A lower division team that has already shown interest in hosting Sporting is Mirandela, through its president, Carlos Correia: “I have been saying this for ten years: Mirandela has never had much luck in the Portuguese Cup. The luck of hosting a big team at its stadium. We have that ambition for the next round. If it were Sporting this season, it would be the cherry on top. Because Rui Borges is there and it would be a celebration for the club and the city.”

Besides the possibility of hosting his fellow countryman and former coach, Carlos Correia also mentioned the financial importance that a match against the green and white team would have for the people of Trás-os-Montes: “It would be a very important revenue for our budget, but for that, the big club would need to forgo its share of the revenue.”

It is worth remembering that Sporting is the current holder of the Portuguese Cup. In the final of last season, the lions defeated Benfica 3-1, in a match that featured a comeback, with goals from Viktor Gyokeres, Conrad Harder, and Francisco Trincão, thus winning the 17th prestigious tournament in their history.

Check out the teams present in the draw:

Liga Portugal (18 clubs): AVS, Casa Pia, Nacional, Tondela, Estoril, Estrela da Amadora, Alverca, Arouca, Famalicão, FC Porto, Gil Vicente, Moreirense, Rio Ave, Santa Clara, Sporting de Braga, Benfica, Sporting, and Vitória SC.

Liga Portugal 2 (11 clubs): Lusitânia de Lourosa, Felgueiras, Portimonense, Farense, Desportivo de Chaves, Leixões, União de Leiria, Oliveirense, Paços de Ferreira, Académico de Viseu, and Torreense.

Liga 3 (10 clubs): AD Marco 09, Belenenses, Sporting da Covilhã, Caldas, São João de Ver, Fafe, Atlético CP, Lusitano de Évora, 1.º Dezembro, and Amarante.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.