Sporting primed to end Bolton's campaign

An equaliser in England has given Sporting Clube de Portugal the whip hand as they host low-scoring Bolton Wanderers FC in a UEFA Cup Round of 16 decider.

• Simon Vukčević hit back for Sporting after Gavin McCann had opened the scoring in Lancashire, and Bolton will need to conjure up something special if they are to make it to the quarter-finals.

• They can take some comfort from the form book. The English club have already beaten FK Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and drawn at FC Bayern München and Club Atlético de Madrid in this season's UEFA Cup, while Sporting's lone European reverse in Lisbon this term was at the hands of an English club – Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League back in September.

• Bolton have proved every bit as obdurate under Gary Megson as they were under Sam Allardyce, who led them in their 2005/06 UEFA Cup campaign. They have been beaten only once in European competition, despite never having scored more than two goals in any of their 17 European games.

• Megson, a defensive midfielder, spent the best years of his career with Sheffield Wednesday FC and Norwich City FC while also representing the likes of Everton FC, Newcastle United FC and Manchester City FC. He left Leicester City FC after just 41 days in charge to become Bolton manager in October, replacing Sammy Lee.

• Having scored just 19 goals in their 18 UEFA club competition games to date, Bolton average barely a goal a game, and have never won – or lost – a European game by a margin of more than one goal.

• Eleven of those 18 European games have ended in draws, eight 1-1s, two 0-0s and a solitary 2-2. Their only defeat, a 2-1 at Olympique de Marseille, saw them bow out of the Round of 32 in 2005/06.

• Sporting coach Paulo Bento may have fond memories of English opposition having played in Portugal's 3-2 win against England at UEFA EURO 2000™ during his days as a defensive midfielder.

• Bento, now 38, joined Sporting as a player in 2000 and started coaching the club's youth team after his retirement in 2004. He replaced José Peseiro as Sporting coach in 2005. He won the league title with the club as a player in 2001/02 and then took the Portuguese Cup as coach in 2006/07.

• Bolton and Sporting have never met in Europe, but this is only the English side's second season in UEFA competition.

• Bolton have now come up against Portuguese opponents three times with all three games ending in 1-1 draws. Prior to playing Sporting, they met Liga opponents in both of their UEFA Cup group stage campaigns, drawing 1-1 at Vitória SC in 2005/06 and at home to SC Braga this season.

• Portuguese forward Ricardo Vaz Té scored Bolton's goal in the Guimarães game with El Hadji Diouf registering against Braga.

• While the two clubs had never met prior to last week, Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen was up against a couple of Sporting players relatively recently, as his Finland side met Portugal twice in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, drawing 1-1 in Helsinki and 0-0 in Porto.

• Jääskelainen and Sporting's João Moutinho were on opposite sides in Helsinki, while the goalkeeper faced Sporting's Miguel Veloso in the second game.

• Bolton midfielder Iván Campo came up against Sporting twice as a Real Madrid CF player in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League group stage. The Merengues drew 2-2 in Lisbon and won 4-0 in the return fixture in Madrid.

• Sporting have now played 14 games against English sides, winning six, drawing three and losing five. In six home games against English sides they have won four times, drawing once and losing once – against United this season. An aggregate score of 12-2 in those games remains encouraging.

• Perhaps their most noteworthy meeting with an English side was their first as they lost 4-1 at Manchester United FC in the first leg of a 1963/64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final but turned things around at home, winning 5-0 with Osvaldo Silva scoring a hat-trick.

• They went on to win the competition that season, beating MTK Budapest 4-3 on aggregate to claim their only major European trophy to date.

• Sporting also beat both Middlesbrough FC and Newcastle United FC on the way to reaching the 2004/05 UEFA Cup final, which they lost 3-1 to PFC CSA Moskva at their own José Alvalade Stadium.

• Lisbon-born Portuguese Under-21 international Vaz Té remains on the books at Bolton although he has yet to play in this season's UEFA Cup.

• Sporting's Anderson Polga and Abel are within a booking of a one-match ban, as are Bolton's Kevin Davies, Nicky Hunt and Andrew O'Brien. McCann is serving a one-match ban after being booked in the first leg but Diouf is back after his suspension.

• Bolton finished third in Group F to reach the Round of 32 and then beat Club Atlético de Madrid 1-0 on aggregate. Sporting parachuted into the Round of 32 after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, and then beat FC Basel 1893 5-0 on aggregate.

• The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the UEFA Cup will be held at UEFA HQ in Nyon on Friday 14 March at 14.00CET.