Attention, Sporting! Champions League last-16 opponents revealed today | OneFootball

This Friday, February 27th, the draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League will take place at 11:00 AM (Mainland Portugal time) in Nyon, Switzerland, where the future of Sporting will be decided. Possibly facing Real Madrid or Bodo/Glimt, the Lions are up against tough opponents, as both teams won both legs of the play-off against Benfica and Inter, respectively.

A clash against the Norwegian side would mean a long trip to the Nordic country—about 3,500 kilometers away—where Sporting—who will make a last-minute decision on Ioannidis’ call-up—would have to overcome low temperatures in the first leg against one of this season’s surprise packages.

A possible encounter with Real Madrid, which would not involve long travel, is one that, in the past, has already happened four times and the Lions have not been successful in any of them (one draw and three defeats).

Someone who expressed satisfaction with the possibility of visiting Sporting in the round of 16 was Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper for Real Madrid admitted he would prefer to face the Lions, since the other option would be a clash with Manchester City—Los Blancos and the Cityzens have met in the last four editions of the competition, including in the group stage this season (with the English club winning).

“It’s been a long time since I played against Sporting, they have a very beautiful stadium. I hope we can change things and face them, they are a very tough opponent,” Courtois emphasized, while not underestimating a match against the English side: “We’ve played City many times, it’s the dream lottery match. We know we’re going to meet them.”

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