Maniche: Sporting have a special edge in the Champions League | OneFootball

Maniche was not only invited by UEFA to help with the Europa League draw this Friday in Nyon, but he also recently spoke about the already established Champions League round of 16, where Sporting will face Bodø/Glimt.

"I think that Sporting can make history here. They could be the 'outsider' and the big surprise of this Champions League, just like Porto was in 2004," began the former Portuguese international in recent statements to the newspaper A Bola.

When discussing the tie against Bodø/Glimt, Maniche highlighted, in his opinion, who will advance to the semi-finals: "Playing against teams that have no pressure to win this competition makes everything much more difficult. But obviously Sporting are the favorites, they have a better team and better players".

The former midfielder, on one hand, asks Sporting fans for prudence, and good preparation from Rui Borges' team. "I think they were lucky in the draw and will have to prepare the mentality of the fans, who might be thinking that Sporting will go through with some ease.

"Here, it is necessary to have some communication strategy, and to be humble in the sense that it is a difficult team, especially at home. They will just be starting their pre-season when they face Sporting [mid-March], so they could be at their peak form. These are situations Sporting has to prepare for," he concluded.

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