Sporting CP and Borussia Dortmund meet at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Tuesday with the hosts winless in the UEFA Champions League since Ruben Amorim left. Rui Borges is now in charge and will attempt to navigate the knockout round playoffs against the German visitors who have just appointed Niko Kovac. Despite the poor UCL form since Amorim’s departure, the Portuguese giants are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions and only dropped points against Bologna.
BVB were beaten over the weekend by Stuttgart as Kovac started his reign with a loss which is their fifth from eight games across all competitions. Down in the bottom half of the table, Dortmund are 13 games without a clean sheet dating back to November. That said, 22 goals scored in the league phase ranked them just behind Barcelona for attacking and the last time that these two met it was the hosts who came out on top 3-1 back in late 2021.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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Pardeep Cattry
How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, February 11 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadio Jose Alvalade – Lisbon, Portugal
- Watch: Paramount+
- Odds: Sporting +120; Draw +260; Dortmund +210
League phase so far
Dortmund just missed out on a top eight finish while Sporting just about scraped a top 24 berth despite a good start. After 10 points from four games, the Portuguese outfit did not win any of their remaining four with a point against Bologna enough to qualify via goal difference. The Italians beating BVB was the final straw for Nuri Sahin and although Mike Tullberg temporarily oversaw the 3-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk which edged Real Madrid for a top 10 finish in the league phase.
Team news
Sporting: Morten Hjulmand is suspended while Pedro Goncalves, Joao Simoes and Nuno Santos are unavailable. Matheus Reis and Ousmane Diomande should start although Conrad Harder might miss out with Viktor Gyokeres returning as he tries to add to his 34 goals so far this season.
Possible Sporting XI: Israel; Fresneda, Diomande, Inacio, Araujo; Braganca, Debast, Morita; Trincao, Gyokeres, Quenda.
Dortmund: Carney Chukwuemeka is a doubt while Felix Nmecha is out but otherwise Kovac has a strong squad to choose from. Serhou Guirassy is eyeing his 10th UCL goal of the term with no Dortmund player ever managing 11 in a single season.
Possible Dortmund XI: Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Gross; Adeyemi, Brandt, Gittens; Guirassy.
Prediction
Although this could quite easily be a score draw, the Germans are likely to shade it by a goal given Sporting’s major form issues in Europe since Amorim left. Pick: Sporting 1, Dortmund 2.
