Sporting CP vs Barcelona Preview

Sporting CP will consider themselves fortunate to have escaped with a win from their opening day Champions League match against Olympiacos.  T

he Portuguese’ were 3-0 up but a late rallying by Olympiacos saw the Greeks score 2 goals in a frantic final few minutes but Sporting were able to hold on for the win.

They did not follow that win with good results as they won just 1 and drew 2 of their next 3 games ahead of this match.

They know they are not favourites to go through in this group with Barcelona and Juventus also vying for the top 2 spots but a good showing in this game might help their cause.

Barcelona were expected to struggle this season after losing Neymar to PSG and failing to land Philippe Coutinho despite their relentless pursuit of the Brazilian.

The opposite has been the case so far with the Catalans topping their local league as well as their Champions League group.

Although they lost their first competitive game to Real Madrid in the Super Cup, they have won all of their subsequent seven games so far and top the Spanish League by 4 points.

They have scored 23 goals in those seven games and we expect them to net a few more in this match.

Barcelona have won their last two matches with Sporting although both teams scored in those games.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Sporting CP

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Sporting CP		2-0		Tondela	Sep 16, 2017	Portuguese Liga
W	Olympiakos		2-3		Sporting CP	Sep 12, 2017	Champions League
W	Feirense		2-3		Sporting CP	Sep 8, 2017	Portuguese Liga
W	Sporting CP		2-1		Estoril	Aug 27, 2017	Portuguese Liga
W	FCSB		1-5		Sporting CP	Aug 23, 2017	Champions League

Barcelona

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Getafe		1-2		Barcelona	Sep 16, 2017	Spanish Primera División
W	Barcelona		3-0		Juventus	Sep 12, 2017	Champions League
W	Barcelona		5-0		Espanyol	Sep 9, 2017	Spanish Primera División
W	Alavés		0-2		Barcelona	Aug 26, 2017	Spanish Primera División
W	Barcelona		2-0		Real Betis	Aug 20, 2017	Spanish Primera División

H2H

DATE	COMPETITION
Sporting CP		2-5		Barcelona	Nov 26, 2008	Champions League
Barcelona		3-1		Sporting CP	Sep 16, 2008	Champions League