By Melody Gross 
Sporting Lisbon travel to Austria as favourites, in a match that will see the return of Pedro Gonçalves.
The confrontation between Sturm Graz and Sporting Lisbon is not new, after they faced each other last season in the group stage of the Europa League. The stage this time is the Champions League, where the two teams will meet face to face next Tuesday, at eight in the evening, in Austria, in the third round.
The match is expected to be intense, as the Portuguese team is the favorite to win the match. Sturm Graz will try to capitalize on home advantage and can capitalize on the strengths of his game, such as aerial play, but Sporting are experiencing their best form.
It should be noted that Sporting travel to Austria without Edwards (doubtful), Diomande and Quaresma. On the other hand, Mateus Reis and Pedro Goncalves returned to training, and Lucas Anjou from the B team was called up to train with the main team.
In this European competition, the Lions have four points, while their competitors are looking for their first points.
It should be noted that two difficult matches are approaching for Sporting, against Manchester City (11/5) and Arsenal (11/26), both in Alvalade.
Moment to shine: Sporting and Sturm Graz are leaders in the championship
Sturm Graz, like Sporting, is at the top of its championship (Austrian League) and is experiencing a good moment of performance and confidence. As for the league, it has 22 points after achieving seven wins, one draw and two defeats.
In the last two matches, Sturm Graz scored 10 goals, after defeating Red Bull Salzburg and Grezer AK 5-0 and 5-2, respectively. They were a high-scoring team, scoring 32 goals in 14 matches, an average of more than two goals per game. In the defensive field, he conceded 18 goals.
Sporting Lisbon has the potential to produce its best performance against Sturm Graz, if we take into account the start of the season. Despite their Champions League stumble against PSV Eindhoven (1-1), the Lions are practically untouchable with 10 wins in 12 matches this season.
They have so far only suffered one defeat, in the first match of the season, against Porto in the Super Cup. In the Portuguese League, they managed only eight wins in eight matches.
In attack, they remain protected by the league's top scorer, Victor Guqueris, who has already scored 11 of Alvalade's 27 goals. On the defensive side as well, they produced excellent results, conceding only two goals.
Date of confrontation: Sporting victorious 100%
The two teams met on two occasions, in the 2023-24 season, for the European League, and the Lions won both meetings (1-2 and 3-0). Despite Ruben Amorim's side recording two victories, the Lions found themselves facing some difficulties against the Austrians, and now they have a good chance of eliminating any threat from Sturm Graz.
Goals were scored by Leon Guikiris, Diomande and Gonzalo Inacio.
What the coaches say:
Ruben Amorim, Sporting Lisbon coach: “We need everyone because of this sequence of matches. Matheus Reis and Bote can play some minutes and I think the team felt Bote's absence because he has different characteristics. Now we are waiting for the others.”
Christian Elzer, coach of Sturm Graz: “Sporting is a team that can be compared, for example, to Arsenal and Barcelona, it is a team that plays like one of the best teams in Europe. It is a class team.”
arbitrator
Giorgi Krushvili has been appointed to officiate Sturm Graz's match against Sporting Lisbon. The Georgian referee will officiate next Tuesday's match, also accompanied by his Georgian assistants, Levan Varamishvili and Zaza Pepia. The fourth referee is Giorgi Avazashvili.
The video referee will be handed over to Italians Aleandro Di Paolo and Luca Barretto.