Soccer
  • Home
  • Football
  • Sporting Lisbon vs Man City news: Citizens target solid start to keep European dream alive

Sporting Lisbon vs Man City news: Citizens target solid start to keep European dream alive

Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of Champions League glory with Manchester City continues this midweek as his men travel to Lisbon.

The Citizens might be on course to winning yet another Premier League crown, but while that would be enough to satisfy any normal manager, it certainly won't do for a maverick like Guardiola. 

The only thing which would truly gratify the City boss, would be to claim the one piece of silverware which has evaded him throughout his five-and-a-half years in Manchester - the Champions League.
It seems that the Spaniard gets closer to conquering the continent with ever campaign, and considering he was a runner-up last season, surely this is his year. Right?
Sporting Lisbon will be looking to end Guardiola's pursuit of managerial immortality as the Portuguese champions target their first European Cup quarter-final since 1983.
The Lions appear to have embarked on a new golden era under manager Ruben Amorim, who has already led the club to four trophies since taking charge in March 2020.
City's last visit to the Estadio Jose Alvalade ended in heartbreak as they were beaten 1-0 by Lyon during the quarter-final of the 2019/20 Champions League campaign.
Sporting will be well aware of that result, and will be intent of giving City another reason to hate the venue.

When: Tuesday, February 15, 20:00 GMT

Where: Jose Alvalade Stadium

Where to watch: BT Sport

Follow this game via our score centre

Who is the ref for Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City

Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic will take charge of Tuesday's game in Lisbon.

The 35-year-old has worked three Champions League fixtures this season, including Sporting's 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund last September.

Season stats 2021/22: Champions League matches (3), yellow cards (6), red cards (0), penalties (0)

Recent form

Since the start of the new year, Manchester City have won all but one of their seven games.

The only team to halt City's dominance was Southampton, who defended for their lives in a 1-1 draw at St Mary's.

Aside from that one small blip, it's been relatively smooth sailing for Guardiola as his men kicked off the year with wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and, most recently, Norwich. 

Sporting, on the other hand, have played just three games since the turn of the year - all three providing a certain level of drama.

The defending Portuguese champions delivered a 4-1 thrashing of their city rivals Belenenses before beating Famalicao in a foul-packed contest.

Last weekend, the Lions let a 2-0 lead slip as title rivals FC Porto fought back to draw 2-2 in a match which saw a total of five red cards - four of them after the referee's final whistle.

Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City players in form

Since joining Sporting Lisbon on loan from Manchester City, Pedro Porro has become one of the leading right-backs in the Portuguese league.
In fact, his performances also impressed Spain boss Luis Enrique, who called up the 22-year-old during October's international break.
Porro clearly feels like he's got a point to prove against his parent club after telling the media he never actually spoke with Guardiola.

Interestingly, City will be without their first-choice right-back as Kyle Walker misses out due to suspension.

Speaking of the visitors, one man who will be looking to maintain his form is Raheem Sterling.

After producing a couple of average performances against Chelsea and Southampton, the England international bounced back with a solid display against Brentford and a hat-trick during last weekend's visit to Norwich.

Head-to-head in Europe

The last European tie between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon took place during the 2011/12 Europa League campaign.
Both teams were drawn in the quarter-final of the competition, and it was the Portuguese outfit who made the better start - winning the first leg 1-0 on home turf.
If things weren't bad enough for Roberto Mancini's men, Lisbon took a 2-0 first-half lead in the reverse game at the Etihad.
A second-half brace from Sergio Aguero along with Mario Balotelli's penalty completed an impressive comeback. However, with the aggregate score 3-3, it was Sporting who progressed on the away goal rule.

Managers' thoughts

Man City boss Pep Guardiola responded to a question about his failure to win the Champions League since arriving at the Etihad saying: "I've been in this business as a manager, you get criticised if you don't get results. Otherwise do another job. Not a problem.

"We know our standards, I accept everything. We have incredible harmony in the team, that's the main target for me, to fight every day. The rest, the players will do the rest."
Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim claims taking on Guardiola is like comparing primary school to university: "Manchester City are the best team in technical and tactical terms. Sporting are very structured, not very flexible, but Guardiola is the opposite and has a huge flexibility.
"It's like I'm in elementary school and he's in higher education. He is a reference for all managers."

Predicted Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City teams

The main issue for Guardiola will be replacing the suspended Kyle Walker. Both John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko could fill the gap, while another option could involve moving Joao Cancelo to the right and using Zinchenko on his preferred left side.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish are also doubts ahead of the trip to Lisbon.
Sporting are expected to be without their star man Pedro Goncalves who continues to recover from a muscular problem.

In better news for the hosts, Joao Palhinha should make his return to the starting line-up after coming off the bench in the draw with FC Porto.

Possible Sporting Lisbon starting line-up: Adan, Inacio, Coates, Feddal, Porro, Nunes, Palhinha, Reis, Sarabia, Paulinho, Goncalves
Possible Man City starting line-up: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, B Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling

Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City prediction

We can speak all day about Sporting's strengths and how they can threaten City, but the truth is that the visitors are unshakable at the moment.
Guardiola's men have only lost one competitive game since October and considering they're almost at full strength, it's hard to see Sporting getting close.
With that in mind, we're backing the visitors to bank a two-goal lead ahead of the second leg.

READ MORE: Manchester City 'deserve to win the Champions League', says Joao Cancelo

More Articles