Futsal Champions League semi-final preview: Sporting-Anderlecht, Palma-Benfica

The UEFA Futsal Champions League finals come to Palma de Mallorca on Friday as the last-four ties are played at Velòdrom Illes Balears.

We preview the action as two Portuguese ex-champions take on two newcomers to the finals. The third-place play-off and final are both on Sunday.

Sporting, featuring much of the all-conquering Portugal national team. have reached the Champions League final five times in six seasons, winning titles in 2019 and 2021, though they lost 4-0 to Barça in last year's decider. A 10-2 win against Ferreira do Zezere last weekend sealed first place in the Portuguese regular season on a day when Nuno Dias, who holds the record of 57 UEFA futsal matches in charge of a single club, coached Sporting for the 500th time.

Anderlecht (known until last year as Halle-Gooik) are in their debut final tournament, and are the first Belgian side to get this far since former champions Action 21 Charleroi in 2007. One of their key results en route to the finals was a 5-5 draw with Barça, who they were to dethrone on goal difference in the elite round. Their squad has plenty of experience, not least their qualifying top scorer Diogo, a two-time runner-up in this competition with Sporting, while boss Luca Cragnaz was a goalkeeper for Charleroi when they won in 2004/05 and now hopes to be the first person to claim this title as both player and coach.

Gréllo, the club's all-time leading scorer, was rested as they completed a 27-4 aggregate Belgian league play-off quarter-final victory against Malle-Beerse, and Anderlecht already won the Belgian Cup last month. Can they follow knocking out Barça, champions in 2020 and 2022, by eliminating the only other club to win this title since the UEFA Futsal Cup was rebranded in 2018/19?

Key stat: Sporting's João Matos is set to become the first player to reach 75 UEFA futsal club appearances.

Nuno Dias, Sporting coach: "We have had the chance to see a few Anderlecht games. We say in Portugal that players are like Porto wine, the oldest are the best – like Cavinato, he keeps scoring lots of goals. They have a lot of experienced players, with a lot of qualities. They are also very good at set-pieces, doing things similar to us, and we have to treat them with respect.

"They knocked out Barça and they drew with Palma. The Belgian league might not be the strongest but in the past we have seen teams from outside the stronger leagues win this competition, like Kairat."

Luca Cragnaz, Anderlecht coach: "It’s a big honour for us to play here in this tournament, to compete with these great teams, to have this new experience. I believe totally in my team: I trust them, and I’m sure we will show something really beautiful.

"We have studied Sporting in depth and are looking to focus on our own strengths."

Debutants and finals hosts Palma will have a passionate crowd behind them at their former home (they usually play down the road at Palau Municipal d'Esports de Son Moix) as they aim to keep the title in Spain, whose clubs have won 11 of the past 21 editions. Much of their squad have been in these finals before, including Mario Rivillos, a two-time champion with Inter FS. Palma are second in the Spanish table behind Barça, who denied them a first major honour last season in the play-off final.

Bronze-medallists last term, Benfica finished third in Portugal's regular season and in March replaced coach Pulpis with Mário Silva, who was assistant to Joel Rocha at the Eagles from 2014 to 2021. One of the new coach's first acts was to lead them to victory in the Portuguese Cup with a 4-1 final win against Sporting (a decider that could potentially be repeated on Sunday), including two goals from Brazilian international Diego Nunes, who joined last summer from Palma after playing a crucial role in helping them to the Spanish play-off final, earning this European bow.

Palma have their own former Benfica players in Hossein Tayebi, who made the opposite move in the close season, and Chaguinha. They are missing injured Jesús Gordillo.

Key stat: Benfica are aiming for their third final, though have never won a last-four tie outside Lisbon (having been champions as 2010 hosts and runners-up six years earlier under a different format, when the final was between two mini-tournament winners).

Antonio Vadillo, Palma coach: “We are delighted to be representing Spain in the Champions League. It will be a tough game but we believe we can meet the challenge of this semi-final.

"We are feeling good. This is a great experience, the players are optimistic. When we celebrated reaching the final four at Son Moix, we knew we wanted more... We will be at home in front of our fans. Benfica are tough, but we have all we need to win."

Mário Silva, Benfica coach: "Palma will be at home with their fans behind them: that is a big factor. At this level, whoever is best prepared and most focused will get to the final. Palma do the simple things well; they will be very tough opponents.

"I never imagined I would be in this position a couple of months ago. Maybe I would have come as a spectator! It’s amazing, of course."