Win or bust for Sporting against Madrid
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Article summary
Sporting CP are running out of time to make an impact in Group F as they welcome Real Madrid for a game that takes Cristiano Ronaldo back to his first club.
Article top media content
![Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the club where his career began Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the club where his career began](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0231-0e95a3e1e16b-91f78a51e711-1000/format/wide1/cristiano_ronaldo_real_madrid_.jpeg?imwidth=158)
Article body
Sporting Clube de Portugal will try to revive their fading hopes of progress from Group F when they host Real Madrid CF on matchday five.
• Third-placed Sporting lie five points adrift of Madrid and must beat them to stay in contention for a round of 16 place. Madrid, for their part, need only a point to secure qualification.
• The match takes Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club where he began his career – and against whom he hit Madrid's 89th-minute equaliser in their dramatic 2-1 comeback win at the Santiago Bernabéu on matchday one.
Previous meetings
• The clubs last met in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League first group stage, when Madrid were also defending champions. The Merengues recovered a two-goal half-time deficit to draw 2-2 in Lisbon on matchday one that season, as a Roberto Carlos free-kick and Rui Jorge own goal cancelled out Ricardo Sá Pinto and André Cruz's goals.
• The line-ups on 12 September 2000 were:
Sporting: Schmeichel, César Prates, Beto, André Cruz, Rui Jorge, Hugo (73), Bino, Sá Pinto (Edmilson 80), Horváth, João Pinto (Toñito 85), Acosta.
Madrid: Casillas, Salgado, Campo, Helguera, Roberto Carlos, Figo, Flavio Conceição (Guti 60), Makelele (Celades 60), Sávio, Munitis (Júlio César 90), Raúl.
• Vicente del Bosque's men won the return 4-0 with Guti, Sávio and Fernando Morientes (two) all scoring. Madrid finished top of the group and Augusto Inácio's Sporting bottom.
• Madrid prevailed too when the clubs met in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round. Martín Vázquez earned them a 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabéu and they advanced on away goals after a 2-1 second-leg loss where Sá Pinto and Oceano scored either side of Michael Laudrup.
Match background
Sporting
• Jorge Jesus's men have had mixed fortunes at home in Group F, beating Legia Warszawa (2-0) but losing to Borussia Dortmund (1-2).
• Sporting last hosted Spanish opposition when beating Athletic Club 2-1 in the first leg of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League semi-finals (aggregate 3-4). Rui Patrício and João Pereira both played that night.
• Their last UEFA Champions League home game against a Spanish club brought a 5-2 defeat by FC Barcelona in 2008/09, in which Rui Patrício was sent off.
• Sporting's overall home record against teams from Spain is W6 D2 L2.
Real Madrid
• Second in Group F, Madrid are within sight of reaching the last 16 for the 20th season running.
• The holders have lost just one of their last eight away fixtures in the UEFA Champions League, though they are still seeking their first win on the road in Group F after draws at Dortmund (2-2) and Legia (3-3).
• This is Madrid's first UEFA Champions League trip to Lisbon since they won the 2014 final against Club Atlético de Madrid at the Estádio da Luz.
• Zinédine Zidane was a scorer when Madrid last visited Portuguese opposition, the Frenchman hitting the third goal in a 3-1 win at FC Porto in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Madrid's overall away record against clubs from Portugal is W4 D1 L4.
Coach and player links:
• Cristiano Ronaldo began his career in Sporting's academy and spent the 2002/03 campaign in the first team, making 25 league appearances and scoring three goals. He faced Sporting as a Manchester United FC player in the 2007/08 group stage and was the match winner in both games; he got the only goal in Lisbon on matchday one, then struck a 92nd-minute free-kick to down his old club 2-1 at Old Trafford.
• Before this season, Sporting coach Jesus's last match against Spanish opposition was the 2015 UEFA Europa League final where his SL Benfica team lost 4-2 on penalties to Sevilla FC after a goalless draw.
• Zidane scored the 117th-minute penalty that took France past Portugal in the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000.
• Sergio Ramos converted a penalty past Rui Patrício when Spain beat Portugal on spot kicks in the UEFA EURO 2012 semi-finals.
• As a Porto player, James Rodríguez scored past Rui Patrício in a 2-0 home league win over Sporting in October 2012. Twelve months later Danilo got the better of Rui Patrício in the same fixture, Porto winning 3-1.
• Fábio Coentrão hit Portugal's winning goal in a 2-1 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying victory over a Serbia team including Lazar Marković and Radosav Petrović in March 2015.
• João Pereira was unbeaten in three visits to the Bernabéu as a Valencia CF player, recording three draws between 2012 and 2014.
• Elías appeared in Atlético Madrid's 2-1 home derby reverse against Madrid in 2010/11.
• Pepe had a trial at Sporting during his time as a CS Marítimo player in 2002/03.
• International team-mates:
Cristiano Ronaldo, Fábio Coentrão, Pepe & Adrien Silva, Rui Patrício, William Carvalho (Portugal)
Keylor Navas & Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica)
Casemiro & Elías (Brazil)
Match facts
Sporting
• Marvin Zeegelaar is a booking away from a ban.
• André scored twice off the bench in a 5-1 home win against third-tier SC Praiense in the Portuguese Cup fourth round on 17 November.
• Sporting have scored at least once in their last 13 home games in all competitions, since a 1-0 defeat by Benfica on 5 March.
• Bas Dost struck twice in the 3-0 home win against FC Arouca on 6 November, taking his tally to six goals in seven Liga appearances since he joined Sporting from VfL Wolfsburg in late August.
• Adrien Silva missed a penalty against Arouca on his first start for the Lions since 1 October.
• Carvalho scored his first goal for Portugal as they registered a 4-1 victory against Latvia in the European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup on 13 November.
• Sebastián Coates did likewise for Uruguay as they overcame Ecuador 2-1 on 10 November.
• Introduced midway through the second half, Campbell scored twice in Costa Rica's 4-0 triumph over the United States on 15 November. Ruiz set up the Ticos' second goal in San Jose.
Real Madrid
• Zidane's men are 29 games unbeaten in all competitions, dating back to their 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg in the first leg of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
• Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 39th Madrid hat-trick as the Merengues beat capital rivals Club Atlético de Madrid 3-0 on Saturday evening.
• Ronaldo was also on target twice in Portugal's defeat of Latvia. With 68 goals to his name, he is joint fourth on the list of Europe's all-time top international scorers.
• Álvaro Morata, who has six goals in his last six appearances for Madrid, was diagnosed with a right hamstring injury on 16 November.
• Isco's added-time equaliser on 15 November earned Spain a 2-2 friendly draw against England. Three days earlier, Gareth Bale opened the scoring as Wales were held 1-1 at home by Serbia in World Cup qualifying.
• Marco Asensio was involved in both play-off legs as Spain secured their place at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with an away-goals victory over Austria.
• Bale, Ramos, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić and Ronaldo are on the 23-man shortlist for the Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 award, the winner of which is announced on 9 January.