Ahead of the Liga draw, Sporting already know their opening-day fate | OneFootball

Sporting already knows one of the main constraints of the 2026/27 Betclic League draw, scheduled for this Thursday at 7:00 pm at the Liga Portugal Arena. The Lions are required to play the opening matchday away from home due to the temporary unavailability of the José Alvalade Stadium, where renovation works are ongoing.

According to Record newspaper, Sporting asked the League to begin the championship away from home, a scenario also applied to Alverca, Rio Ave and Académico de Viseu for the same reasons. As a result, the green and whites are already prevented from making their debut at home in the new edition of the competition.

Another constraint keeps a familiar rule from recent years: Sporting and Benfica will not be able to play at home in the same matchday, for security and logistical reasons. The same applies to the pairs Braga and Vitória de Guimarães, Nacional and Marítimo, and Porto and Rio Ave. As Porto are required to start at home and Sporting will play away, it is also now confirmed that Benfica will begin the league at the Estádio da Luz.

The draw rules also include several restrictions related to European competitions. In the first four matchdays, Benfica and Braga, who will play in UEFA qualifying rounds, will not be able to face each other or take on teams from the group with the five best average points totals over the last three seasons, which includes Sporting. As for the Lions, who go straight into the Champions League league phase, they can face Porto in the first four matchdays.

In addition, on matchdays 6, 9, 10, 14, 19, 22, 23, 26, 29 and 32, Sporting and Porto, Portugal’s representatives in the Champions League, will not be able to face Benfica or Braga, who will be involved in the other European competitions. The League also intends to avoid teams without a European schedule facing opponents playing in UEFA competitions in consecutive matchdays.

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