UEFA Cup Second Leg Preview: Sporting v. Rangers
By: Greg | April 9th, 2008
The Royal Crown Cola of European club competitions kicks off the second leg of its quarterfinal round this Thursday. Sporting, the last remaining “Great Chop Hope” in European competitions will welcome Rangers to the Estadio José Alvalade tomorrow afternoon. The first leg at Ibrox resulted in a nil-nil draw which obviously benefits Sporting. I doubt this tie will be as boring and sheepish as the first go around and hopefully the Sporting fans that saw their team win 2-0 on the weekend will be treated to some more fireworks against the first place Scottish side.
I don’t care if Simon Vukcevic is slated to start instead of Yannick Djalo, I’m sticking with EXACTLY the same XI that I would have run out last week, especially given the two goals that Yannick netted over the weekend to save his team’s fourth-place dwelling ass. That team is:
Liedson - Yannick Djalo
Izmailov - Romagnoli - João Moutinho
Miguel Veloso
Abel - Tonel - Gladstone - Grimi
Rui Patricio
If Sporting take a lead, Izmailov will probably be switched with the more defensive-minded Bruno Pereirinha, and if Sporting boss Paulo Bento Box makes the mistake of starting Vukcevic again, Djalo will be on for him when he’s proven for sixty five minutes that he’s largely ineffective against the Scottish opponent’s defense.
You won’t get me to make a prediction this time around, as I tempted fate last week and was lucky to escape with a reverse-jinx draw. The match is being shown on Setanta Premium, so if you’ve got it, enjoy. If not, you’ll probably be watching like me, courtesy of Mao Tse-tung’s microwaves.
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I think we’re screwed without Polga, really.
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“Rangers are an aggressive team,” said Bento. “We felt it in the first minutes at Glasgow. Two important players suffered heavy tackles.
“It’s up the referee to do his job. We just hope we can keep our own control.”
in http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7340173.stm
We all know there’s a world of difference between the technical ability between both teams… Just like we all know that Rangers kick it hard, till somebody falls or takes the bate.
But they are still a very strong team.
Let’s hope Sporting can keep their cool, keep the ball on the ground (where Rangers are far less effective and we can stand a chance) and hopefully score.
I also think Polga would be essential, but well, Gladstone’s what we have…
I wonder why doesn’t Paulo Bento put Vukcevic in Izmailov’s place…?
Anyway, I woudn’t be surprised to see at a given momment Romagnoli out, Pereirinha in and Moutinho moving to Romagnoli’s place, where he’s usually at his best.Posted from
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