Today, five Portuguese teams begin their journey towards the semi-finals of the Champions League, with Sporting facing the super favorite Barcelona, which has won 22 titles in 59 editions of the competition. But the lions do not give up, playing the 1st leg (6:30 pm) at João Rocha.
“We have been working very well this week and we are going into the game to win, and if we can with some advantage for the second leg”, said the lions’ assistant, David Pereira, for whom the team is “confident”, after the comeback against Murches for the championship.
On the Catalans’ side is international João Rodrigues, who curiously never won the Champions League with Barcelona (the team’s last victory was in 2017/18). “I don’t look at that fact”, he told us, and then mentioned that “Sporting is a team with great players”.
The quarter-finals feature a Portuguese duel, between OC Barcelos and Benfica, while the title holder, FC Porto, faces the Italian side Lodi, with Oliveirense also being from Italy (Trissino).
