Sporting take on the visitors Juventus in the second leg of UEFA Europa League quarterfinal match. The first leg result: 0-1. The match will be played on Thursday, April 20th at Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon).
Sporting belong to the top three local giants. And their current coach, Ruben Amorim, was able to finally bring the title back to Primeira in 2021. But they couldn't hold on to the top spot and in the next season, despite putting up a fight, they lost the "gold" to their usual rival, "Porto". Currently, the capital club is even lower than "Braga" in 4th position. In the Champions League, they failed to advance from the group stage, with a lackluster home defeat to the newcomer of the tournament, "Eintracht" (Frankfurt). On the other hand, this was also a source of pride. In the Europa League, the Portuguese were able to pass two opponents, albeit with difficulty. In the round of 16, "Midtjylland" held a draw away, but was defeated in Denmark. It is noteworthy that the passage was also secured away to "Arsenal". Both matches ended in draws, and the underdog of the pair sensationally emerged as the winner in a penalty shootout in London. In Turin, this club could have even won - they created many opportunities at the opponents' goal, both under Szczesny and especially under Perin in the "frame". But they failed to score and, moreover, conceded on the 73rd minute. Now they need to play for a win away.
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Juventus are forced to prioritize the end of the season due to an external factor, in the form of a 15-point penalty for the manipulations that Agnelli and his management allowed. In terms of the game plan, things gradually got better. No, "Napoli" would still have taken the "scudetto", but the Turin grand could have finally risen to at least 2nd place. But now it is already clear that the "Bianconeri" will not be able to stay in the top 4 of Serie A. And it is all the more important to reach victory in the Europa League. Here they can take the trophy, in case of success, and provide an opportunity to play again in the Champions League, without looking at the results in the national championship. By the way, the Italians failed in the main European Cup in the fall, winning only 1 out of 6 matches, and that was against "Maccabi". But in 2023, the "black and white" have noticeably improved. This allowed them to pass both "Nantes" (although the French managed to take an honorable draw away), and "Freiburg". Now they were waiting for a more experienced opponent. The home game didn't go particularly well, but the main thing is that they won - in a completely Italian way.
In 2017, Italians and Portuguese played in the group stage of the Champions League. Then "Juventus" was slightly stronger, but still won: 2-1 away with 1-1 in Lisbon. All that the guests from Turin need to do is simply not lose. "Old Lady" should cope with this.
Prediction for the match: Juventus not to lose (X2).
