We begin our quest to reach successive Champions League semi-finals for the first time ever when we head to Portugal to face Sporting CP on Tuesday night (8pm UK).
While we head to the continent unbeaten in all 10 of our European games this season and suffering defeat once away from home in our last 10 away matches, the Estadio Jose Alvalade has been a fortress for Sporting, who have won their last 17 games on their own patch, which includes all five in this season’s Champions League.
A historic comeback against Bodo/Glimt saw them reach the quarter-finals for just the second time in their illustrious history, but one thing they have never done is beat us in regulation time in seven attempts, which includes last season’s 5-1 success in Lisbon.
SPORTING’S SURGE
Having won the past two Primeira Liga titles, Sporting’s reign seemed to be coming to an end as they trailed Porto by seven points, albeit with a game in hand on their rivals. However, Friday saw them beat Santa Clara 4-2 and 24 hours later, Porto could only draw 2-2 with Famalicao, with a 99th-minute concession blowing the title race wide open again.
Lisbon have been beaten in the league only once in 15 months under Borges, against the current leaders back in August. The two sides are also contesting the Portuguese Cup semi-finals with Sporting holding a slender first-leg lead thanks to a Luis Suarez penalty – the man tasked with replacing Viktor Gyokeres has 33 goals already this term.
An impressive performance in the Champions League league phase saw them beat Kairat, Marseille and Club Brugge as well as draw with Juventus, before back-to-back wins against Paris Saint-Germain and Athletic Bilbao saw them sneak into the top eight. In the round of 16, they looked to be heading out after losing 3-0 away to Bodo/Glimt, but an incredible comeback saw them win 5-0 after extra-time to reach the last eight in stunning circumstances.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Arteta: “This is the quarter-finals of the Champions League, it doesn’t get much better than that, and we worked so hard throughout the season to be in this position in the competition. We’re going to play an opponent here that we know about, their record and what they’ve done. So we are hungrier than ever, very excited and very, very motivated.
“You have to live the present, you have to deliver it every day. You cannot pick the games, you cannot pick the moments or the actions. It’s every action, every game, every moment. That’s the standard that we set and that’s part of identity and it’s part of this football club.”- every word from Mikel’s pre-Sporting press conference
Read more Every word from Arteta’s pre-Sporting presser
Borges: “[Arsenal] is a great team, and great teams always want to win. They want to be in all competitions. They will be like a wounded beast tomorrow. They will be more focused, more willing to show their collective and individual capacity.
“Frankly, I think it will make things more difficult for us the fact that they have not had the best two last matches. But Arsenal will be facing a very motivated team. We believe we can do something extraordinary tomorrow, something that has never been done by Sporting.”
TEAM NEWS
Gabriel came off against Southampton on Saturday but was back in training ahead of the game and has travelled, as have Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice who sat out the weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final after missing international duty.
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber haven’t been passed fit to travel to Portugal as Mikel hopes to have them back on the weekend, and join Ebere Eze, Piero Hincapie and Mikel Merino on the sidelines.
Read more Go Inside Training ahead of Sporting CP tie
Sporting will be without their captain Morten Hjulmand for this one, as he is suspended, while Ivan Fresneda missed last week’s win through illness
The hosts will remain without big-money striker signing, Fotis Ioannidis, who has been out since February with a knee injury, while young right-wingers Geovany Quenda and Luis Guilherme will also be missing alongside left-back Nuno Santos.
TALKING TACTICS
Adrian Clarke: “On home turf, Sporting are a dangerous proposition. Scoring 16 goals across five victories in front of their own supporters in the Champions League this term – and never netting less than twice – the hosts are sure to come at us.
Borges usually sets his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Much of their success in 2025/26 has been built around the energy and creativity of attacking midfielder Trincao [above], and he is a player who hits plenty of shots from distance, while the varied finishing of speedy centre forward Suarez has also been impressive. The Colombian has been outstanding this term, and his tireless work rate will test our centre-back pairing.
As for other eye-catchers, left-back Maxi Araujo loves to fly forward to create chances and is an exciting dribbler, while on the right wing, Mozambique international Geny Catamo is another good ball carrier who enjoys sliding through balls into the path of striker Suarez.
The Portuguese side can look after possession very well, but in this competition, they have had plenty of success on the counter. When beating PSG 2-1 at home, Sporting had just a 25.4% share of the ball. In the Allianz Arena, against Bayern Munich, they also caused several scares, but with 38.4% of possession they were happy to look for breakaways.
FACTS AND STATS
We have lost just one of our previous 11 games against Portuguese opponents in major European competition (W5 D5), losing 1-0 at Porto in February 2024 in the Champions League last 16. However, we have never won away against Portuguese opposition in the knockout stages of a major European competition.
This is just Sporting’s second appearance in the European Cup/Champions League quarter-final stage, previously being eliminated by Real Sociedad in 1982/83.
Sporting have won all five of their home games in the Champions League this season, the longest home winning streak by a Portuguese side in the competition since Porto in December 1999 (6).
We have the lowest per-game averages in the Champions League this season for goals conceded (0.5), xG against (0.75) and shots on target faced (2.7), while we have also trailed for the fewest minutes of any team in this edition (42).
Luis Suarez has scored five goals for Sporting in the Champions League, and could equal the club record for most goals in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign, set by Viktor Gyokeres last term (6).
Based on the xG of shots on target faced (excl. own goals), David Raya has prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper in the Champions League since the start of last season (+7.4 – 12 conceded from 19.4 xG on target).
Sporting’s 5-0 win over Bodø/Glimt last time out was their very first victory in the knockout stages of the Champions League, having failed to win each of their previous seven (D2 L5).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Daniel Siebert heads an all-German officiating team for this game. He has been a Bundesliga referee since 2012 and was added to the FIFA list two years later. A part-time teacher, he refereed at Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.
He last refereed us back in January 2025 when we beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 in the Champions League league phase in N5, while he also oversaw a 3-1 victory at Olympiakos in the Europa League last 16 back in March 2021. In seven Champions League games this season, he has issued 37 yellow cards, two reds and awarded one penalty.
Referee: Daniel Siebert
Assistants: Jan Seidel, Rafael Foltyn
Fourth official: Daniel Schlager
VAR: Bastian Dankert
Assistant VAR: Soren Storks
RECENT MEETINGS IN PORTUGAL
This will be the fifth time we have been paired with Sporting in European competition. Our first encounter came back in 1969/70 when we drew 0-0 away from home in the Fairs Cup, and in 2018, we played each other in the Europa League group games – Danny Welbeck’s strike saw us come out on top at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Five years later we met again in the same competition, as we drew 2-2 in Portugal. William Saliba put us in front before efforts from Inacio and Paulinho turned things around. Last season saw us run riot in the Portuguese capital, as strikes from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard saw us thrash Sporting in the Champions League league phase.
LIVE COVERAGE
Tune into Live From N5 on The Arsenal app (download now on iOS/Android) just before kick-off to hear live commentary of the game provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke, who will guide you through all the action if you’re out and about.
You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the game live wherever you are in the world.
Read more How to watch Sporting CP v Arsenal live on TV
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