Sporting Lisbon will host Benfica in the semi-final of the Taca de Portugal on Thursday. Both teams are riding long winning streaks going into this week’s Derby de Lisboa. The Titans aim to surpass one another in the most recent iteration of the rivalry game.
Preview (Sporting Lisbon vs Benfica)
Despite Sporting’s historical supremacy and that of the other two members of the “Big Three,” the Lions have not won the country’s premier domestic cup competition since 2019. They aim to break this mini-curse by surpassing their rivals in Lisbon. In the first leg of the semi-final on Tuesday, Ruben Amorim’s team will play Benfica. They are hoping to continue their winning streak that began on January 23 when they lost to Sporting Braga in the Taca de Liga, which was their only loss in 16 games across all competitions. Amorim’s team has won 13 games over that span. However, they couldn’t start Thursday’s encounter with a seven-game winning streak because of back-to-back draws against Young Boys (1-1) and Rio Ave (3-3).
Sporting lost the Primeira Liga match to Benfica by two points, despite winning the first encounter 3-1 at the Alvalade, which made the tie with the Swiss team in Europe not so bad. As they prepare for the rematch at Estadio Da Luz in April, they take on the competition’s record winners. It will be interesting to watch if Amorim’s team can defeat Benfica for the first time in five meetings.
Regarding Roger Schmidt’s team, their goal of winning a record-breaking 27th Taca de Portugal will be put to the test in a doubleheader against their primary opponents from Lisbon, who are their main competitors for a 39th top-flight title. Benfica has progressed this far by defeating Lusitania, Famalicao, Braga, and Vizela, while Porto has overcome Olivais e Moscavaide, Dumiense, Tondela, and Uniao de Leiria. However, their toughest test awaits them in the Lisbon derby against Sporting.
Team News
With five goals, Viktor Gyokeres leads Sporting in the competition. Pedro Goncalves has three goals, and both players might play major roles in Thursday’s first leg. Paulinho has scored three goals in the cup, but he will miss this week’s match due to a tendon injury that won’t heal until April. Joao Mario has scored twice, and Benfica has two players with three goals apiece in Rafael Silva and Arthur Cabral. All three players might be important contributors in the first leg of the semi-final. The main injury doubt for Schmidt is Juan Bernat, as the defender’s muscular problem will keep him out until March.
Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Benfica
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