Sporting CP v Leverkusen background
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Article summary
Sporting CP and Bayer Leverkusen come together for a fifth time in the first leg of their round of 32 tie, with the home side having struggled against German teams in the past.
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Sporting Clube de Portugal will look to defeat Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the first time as the sides come together in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Previous meetings
• The teams have met on four occasions, all in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Leverkusen won three of those games – the other ended 0-0.
• In the 1997/98 competition, Christoph Daum's Leverkusen beat Octávio Machado's Sporting 2-0 in Lisbon and overcame a side led by Francisco Vital 4-1 in Germany.
• Daum was also in charge in 2000/01, when the Werkself defeated Augusto Inácio's Sporting 3-2 at the BayArena, but had been replaced by Rudi Völler by the time the sides drew 0-0 in the return fixture.
• Sporting have won just two of their 22 games against German opposition: W2 D6 L14 (W2 D5 L4 in Lisbon – W0 D1 L10 in Germany).
• Leverkusen's 14 matches against Portuguese clubs have ended W5 D4 L5 (W4 D1 L2 at home – W1 D3 L3 in Portugal).
Form guide
• Sporting have won three of their four European home games this season.
• Leverkusen are without a victory in five European fixtures (D3 L2) – since a 4-1 defeat of FC BATE Borisov on UEFA Champions League matchday one – and have not won in their last six away (D2 L4).
• Sporting bowed out to another German side – VfL Wolfsburg – in last season's round of 32. In their best run in this competition, they reached the 2005 UEFA Cup final but lost 3-1 to PFC CSKA Moskva at their own Estadio José Alvalade.
• Leverkusen were beaten home and away by Sporting's local rivals SL Benfica – coached by current Sporting boss Jorge Jesus – the last time they reached the round of 32, in 2012/13. Leverkusen got the better of RCD Espanyol on penalties in the two-legged 1988 UEFA Cup final.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Leverkusen to Lisbon is not far off 1,900km.
• Leverkusen's Christoph Kramer turns 25 the day after the Sporting opener.
• Sporting right-back João Pereira played in Germany with Hannover 96 in the spring of 2015.
The coaches
• A losing UEFA Europa League finalist with Benfica in 2013 and 2014, Jesus unexpectedly left the Eagles for Sporting last summer. He started his playing career at Sporting – where his father Virgolino had also been on the books – and had coached Benfica since June 2009.
• In charge of Leverkusen since summer 2014, Roger Schmidt worked as a mechanical engineer while playing amateur football. He coached in the German lower leagues but made his name at FC Salzburg, who he led to a domestic double in 2013/14 and the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League that same season.
