MIGUEL A. LOPES / LUSA
Sporting’s players celebrate, in euphoria, the 5th goal, scored by Rafael Nel. The 20-year-old boy, trained in Alcochete, made his debut by scoring with a lion on his chest (and in his first game in the Champions League)
After losing 3-0 in the first leg against Bodo/Glimt, the lions turned the tie around by winning 5-0 in Alvalade. It was epic. At the end of the game, Rui Borges said that “they didn’t know the best Sporting”.
The two-time national champion is unstoppable and, this Tuesday, he experienced what was perhaps his best night ever in the Champions League.
O Sporting managed to turn a tie from 0-5, to… 5-3, by beating the Bodo/Glimt with a handful of unanswered goals.
After equalizing the first leg in regulation time, the green and whites scored two more goals in extra time to guarantee victory. second appearance in its history in the Champions League quarter-finals, and the first since 1983.
In 1983, he ended up falling into this phase, at the feet of Real Sociedad. The leonine team that had legends like Manuel Fernandes, Rui Jordão and António Oliveira. Now, there is Gonçalo Inácio, Pote, Luis Suárez, Maxi Araújo and Rafael Nel (the scorers of the goals).
If they beat Arsenal, in the next roundthis Sporting team could even become in the best ever in the Champions League. But, even if it doesn’t happen, the Lisbon team has already made history in this edition of the competition.
According to Playmaker, the green and whites became only the fifth team in history to become a knockout in the Champions League, after losing by more than goals in the first leg:
- Deportivo de La Coruña (from 1-4 to 5-0, against Milan, in 2004);
- Barcelona (from 0-4 to 6-5, against PSG, in 2017);
- Roma (from 0-3 to 4-4, against Barcelona, in 2018, where away goals still counted);
- Liverpool (defeated Barcelona 4-0, after losing 0-3, in 2019)
Teams that ended up in the knockout stage in the Champions League (current format) after losing by 3+ goals in the first leg:
2004 🇪🇸 Deportivo (Milan)
2017 🇪🇸 Barcelona (PSG, only with 4 goal difference)
2018 🇮🇹 Rome (Barcelona)
2019 🏴 Liverpool (Barcelona)
2026 🇵🇹 Sporting (Bodo)— Playmaker (@playmaker_PT)
“We knew the best Bodo, but they didn’t know the best Sporting”said, at the end of the meeting, Rui Borges, in one of the phrases of the night, which will go down in history.
Extra-Champions, will be it’s Sporting that we have seen recent times – before with Reuben Amorim and now with Rui Borges – same the best ever?
With yesterday’s triumph, the lions added 16th consecutive home win and equaled the best record in the club’s history (from 1973/74).
Sporting recorded their 16th consecutive victory in 🏠 Alvalade and equaled the best record in the club’s history – in 1973/74, they also had 16 consecutive victories at home🔝
— Playmaker (@playmaker_PT)
Sporting hasn’t really given it a chance in its fortress, where it won the five games it played in this edition of the Champions League: Kairat (4-1), Marseille (2-1),
Brugge (3-0), PSG (2-1) and now Bodo/Glimt.
