Carlos Xavier: Sporting missed Champions League as it was rigged | OneFootball

The presence of Sporting in the knockout stage of the Champions League in three of the last five editions reflects a shift in the competitive balance of Portuguese football, argues former international midfielder Carlos Xavier, who shared his opinion on the past and present of the lions in the prestigious competition.

"Sporting didn't go to the Champions League more often [in previous decades] because everything was rigged so they would never win the championship. Once they started competing on equal terms with other teams, they have won more often. Let's hope it continues this way", he stated in an interview with the Lusa agency. Carlos Xavier represented the lions from 1980 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996.

The Alvalade Club is in the knockout stage for the fourth time, and the second consecutive time, in the competition created in 1992/93. However, they have never gone beyond the round of 16, where they were eliminated in 2008/09 and 2021/22, as well as in the playoff in 2024/25. Sporting's best result in the main European club competition remains their quarter-final appearance in the old European Cup, in 1982/83.

Sporting could match this achievement if the national champions overcome Bodø/Glimt, in a knockout match scheduled for Wednesday in Norway, and on March 17 in Lisbon.

"The current format requires many games and has more strong teams. It's not like before, when there was practically only one team per country", noted the former midfielder, referring to the new Champions League model, which replaced the group stage with a league phase featuring 36 clubs and eight rounds.

In the 1982/83 campaign, the lions eliminated GNK Dinamo Zagreb (3-1 on aggregate) and CSKA Sofia (2-2, benefiting from the away goals rule), before facing Real Sociedad in the quarter-finals. The Lisbon team won 1-0 at home, with a goal from captain Manuel Fernandes, but was eliminated after a 2-0 defeat in San Sebastián. "The referee penalized a few extra steps with the ball in the hands of [goalkeeper] Ferenc Mészáros in our area, and they equalized the tie with an indirect free kick. Sporting was unlucky", recalled Carlos Xavier, who scored his only career goal in the competition against CSKA Sofia.

The second leg, played in the Basque Country, was also marked by the absence of forward Rui Jordão, who could not participate due to his mother's death, as well as the absences of defenders Virgílio Lopes and Pedro Venâncio. The team was led by António Oliveira, who also played as a player: "No one expected or wanted it, but Malcolm Allison left at the start of the season, and having one of our colleagues take over the team didn't sit well. We went through difficult times", he recalled.

António Oliveira was eventually replaced by Czechoslovak coach Josef Venglos weeks after the elimination against Real Sociedad. The Spanish team, led by Luis Arconada and featuring players like José María Bakero and Pedro Uralde, were eliminated in the semi-finals by Hamburger SV, who went on to win the European title against Juventus.

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