Despite the unfavorable start, the ‘green and white’ team turned the score around and completely dominated the match played in Makarska, Croatia. This victory surpasses the previous biggest defeat in the competition and places the ‘lions’ in the provisional leadership of the group.
Sporting defeated Pristina’s Kosovars this Wednesday by an impressive 19-1, in the first round of Group 4 of the Main Round of the futsal Champions League, achieving their biggest victory ever in the competition, in 17 appearances.
In Makarska, Croatia, Drilon Maxharraj still put Pristina ahead, after 15 seconds, but the ‘green and whites’ turned around Alex Merlim (2 minutes), Tomás Paçó (3), Pauleta (6 and 7), João Matos (9), Zicky Té (11), Rocha (12), Allan Guilherme (16), Wesley França (18) and Bruno Pinto (19), going into the break already ahead by 10-1.
In the second half, Sporting accentuated the difference through Tomás Paçó (21 minutes), Diogo Santos (24), Rocha (26 and 37), Bruno Maior (29 and 38), Bruno Pinto (30), Wesley França (34) and Felipe Valério (36), in a meeting also marked by the return to the competition of Brazilian pivot Allan Guilherme, who has been absent since December 2024 due to injury.
The ‘lions’ achieved the most significant victory in 616 official games with coach Nuno Dias, in charge since 2012/13, and, for the main European club competition, their biggest defeat was the 16-1 against Romanians from Târgu Mures, achieved in November 2016, in the Elite Round, when the competition was called the UEFA Futsal Cup.
In a ‘pool’ in which the top three placed reach the round of 16, Sporting provisionally isolated itself in first place, with three points, against none from Pristina, while the Kazakhs of Kairat Almaty and the Croatians of Novo Vrijeme will still play this Wednesday.
The ‘lions’, winners of the competition in 2018/19 and 2020/21, face Kairat on Thursday and close the main phase with a game against Novo Vrijeme on Saturday.
Two Portuguese representatives in the competition
In 2025/26, the Champions League adopted a new format and now has ‘eighths’, which will include 16 teams from the main round, 12 from path A and four from B, and will be played in two duels, scheduled for November 24th and December 5th.
The eight winners of these qualifiers will qualify for the ‘quarters’, also over two legs, which precede the four-way final, scheduled for May 2026, in Pesaro, Italy.
