Sporting on shaky ground! What Rui Borges must overcome against Arsenal | OneFootball

As the clash against Arsenal approaches, in which the Lions are at a disadvantage, it is necessary to go back to the 2004/2005 season to find Sporting’s last win on “Her Majesty’s” soil. The 3-2 victory over Middlesbrough, 21 years ago, is still the last one achieved by the Alvalade club in England.

After four defeats in four trips to England, against Manchester United (1963/1964), Newcastle (1968/1969), Arsenal (1969/1970) and Sunderland (1973/1974), Sporting won the fifth, in the second round of the 1981/1982 UEFA Cup. The Lions beat Southampton 4-2, a result that today would be enough for a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

In the first leg, on 21 October 1981, the team coached by Englishman Malcolm Allison painted the first round green and white. Rui Jordão, after two minutes, Nick Holmes, at 21, with an own goal, and Manuel Fernandes, at 42, scored. After the break, the English side pulled it back to 2-3, with a penalty from “Golden Boot” winner Kevin Keegan in the 68th minute and a goal from Michael Channon in the 72nd. However, Manuel Fernandes ended up sealing the match with a brace in the 88th minute.

The green and whites would go on to seal qualification with a goalless draw at Alvalade, in a competition in which they would eventually fall in the round of 16 against Switzerland’s Neuchatel on aggregate (0-0 at home and 0-1 away). The 1981/1982 season ended on a high for Sporting, who won the double.

In 2004/2005, in the season led by José Peseiro, Sporting earned a 3-0 win on English soil, with three goals scored in the second half by Portugal internationals Pedro Barbosa, in the 49th minute, Liedson, in the 53rd, and Cameroonian Douala, in the 65th. The hosts still cut the deficit to the minimum with goals from Job, in the 79th minute, and Rigott, in the 86th. In the second leg, the Lions wrapped up the tie, winning the match 1-0, with a goal from Pedro Barbosa in the 90th minute.

In their trips to England, Sporting have recorded two wins, nine defeats and six draws, four of which came in the last four trips to British soil.

It was precisely against Arsenal, Sporting’s opponent in the current tie, that two of the last four draws were achieved (0-0 in the 2018/2019 Europa League group stage and 1-1 in the round of 16 of the same competition in 2022/2023). On the latter occasion, the green and whites ended up eliminating the London side on penalties (5-3), after a 2-2 draw at Alvalade and a 1-1 draw in London.

Sporting’s 18th trip to English territory takes place on 15 April at 20:00, for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. While the Southampton result would now mean direct qualification, the 3-2 win at Middlesbrough achieved in 2004/2005 would send Sporting and Arsenal into 30 minutes of extra time.

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