Supercomputer predicts Sporting’s Champions League finish | OneFootball

The OPTA Supercomputer places Sporting among the teams that will secure qualification for the play-off to access the round of 16 of the Champions League, a stage where the Lions fell last season. The team under Rui Borges managed a draw in Turin against Juventus in the most recent match of the competition.

This point earned in Turin placed Sporting in the 13th position among the 36 teams that make up the best club competition in the world. The Lions have seven points in four matches, resulting from victories against Kairat Almaty and Marseille, a draw with Juventus, and a defeat to Napoli.

According to the OPTA Supercomputer, the new estimates are that Sporting will accumulate between 11 or 12 points at the end of the league phase, finishing in the 16th position, which would be their ranking in the Champions League. This position would grant the Lions access to the play-off, where they would face the 17th or 18th place of this phase of the competition. The algorithm predicts that these spots will be occupied by Qarabag and Napoli.

This means that the Italians, who have already defeated Sporting 2-1 in this edition of the Champions League, could be opponents in the next phase. The other candidates would be the Azeris from Qarabag, who drew their last match with Chelsea and have already defeated Benfica at Luz in 2024/25.

According to the OPTA supercomputer's estimate, if Sporting manages to overcome the play-off and secure qualification for the round of 16 of the Champions League, the draw would be very challenging, as they would play against one of the best teams from the league phase, which the algorithm predicts to be Arsenal or Bayern Munich.

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