Confirmed lineups: Sporting Lisbon vs. Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

With exactly an hour to go until kick-off, Borussia Dortmund's head coach Niko Kovac has announced his starting eleven to take on Sporting Lisbon. The team from the Portuguese capital currently sit in first place after 21 rounds of Liga Portugal action, but European football has posed a bigger challenge since Ruben Amorim departed the dugout.

Meanwhile, Die Schwarzgelben will hope to survive the renowned José Alvalade Stadium atmosphere and take a positive result back to the Rührpott ahead of the play-off second-leg. The return tie will be played at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday, 19th February.

Tonight, Dortmund make two changes to their line-up which succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of VfB Stuttgart last Saturday afternoon. Gregor Kobel remains in goals as Daniel Svensson replaces the injured Ramy Bensebaini. The Swede joins Nico Schlotterbeck, captain Emre Can and Julian Ryerson in defence.

Felix Nmecha (knee) remains on the sidelines, therefore the midfield consists of Pascal Groß, Marcel Sabitzer and Julian Brandt. Into the final third where Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Gittens keep their place on the flanks with Serhou Guirassy leading the line for the black and yellows.

As for the hosts, Sporting are hoping to reach the Champions League's Round of 16 for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. Tonight, head coach Rui Borges lines up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Matheus Reis as captain alongside ex-Mainz man Jeremiah St.Juste. Meanwhile, former St.Pauli striker Viktor Gyökeres remains on the bench as Konrad Harder starts up top.

Official lineups below:

Sporting CP (4-2-3-1): Rui Silva - Fresneda, St.Juste, Diomande, Matheus Reis (c) - João Simões, Debast - Quenda, Trincão, Araújo - Harder

Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1): Kobel - Ryerson, Can (c), Schlotterbeck, Svensson - Groß, Sabitzer - Adeyemi, Brandt, Gittens - Guirassy