{"id":517328,"date":"2026-04-07T09:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T09:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517328\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T09:05:08","slug":"viktor-who-sportings-new-gyokeres-has-sights-trained-on-arsenal-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517328\/","title":{"rendered":"Viktor who? Sporting\u2019s new Gy\u00f6keres has sights trained on Arsenal | Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Portugal, two of the most familiar sayings claim that \u201cgreen is the colour of hope\u201d and that \u201chope is the last thing to die\u201d. For Sporting<\/a>, a club draped in green, those proverbs are not merely poetic \u2013 they are operational.<\/p>\n

After a humiliating 3\u20130 defeat in Norway by Bod\u00f8\/Glimt in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, logic suggested it was all over. Sporting disagreed. Backed by about 50,000 supporters, the team surged with belief and delivered a 5\u20130 victory<\/a> that carried the club to their first quarter-final in the tournament in 43 years. Arsenal come next, as does an old question: is hope a cultural relic or Sporting\u2019s most powerful ally?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Sporting beat Arsenal not too long ago helps the players believe it\u2019s possible,\u201d says Ricardo S\u00e1 Pinto, the former Sporting coach, player and club legend, of their Europa League last-16 win on penalties<\/a> in 2023. \u201cAnything can happen in football, even when teams are theoretically\u00a0uneven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sporting also carry hope thanks to the way they replaced Viktor Gy\u00f6keres, who is in line to face his former team in Tuesday\u2019s first leg in Lisbon. When the Sweden striker moved to Arsenal<\/a> last summer, many believed a suitable successor would be impossible to find. In two seasons, Gy\u00f6keres scored 97 goals for Sporting, driving the team to back-to-back league titles. Yet, despite those numbers, he is\u00a0hardly\u00a0missed.<\/p>\n

Part of the explanation lies in the bad blood he left behind after in effect forcing his exit \u2013 a betrayal in the eyes of most Sporting supporters. But more important, the club secured Luis Su\u00e1rez, the Colombia international who has repeatedly saved the team this season, often with goals deep in stoppage time. Before coming to Portugal, he had made a name for himself in Spain\u2019s second tier with 31 goals in the 2024\u201325 season for\u00a0Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuis has shown the ability to score very important goals, even after people stop believing it\u2019s possible,\u201d says S\u00e1 Pinto. \u201cReplacing Gy\u00f6keres is never easy. Historically, South American players rarely make a strong impact in their first year in Portugal. Thankfully, with all the confidence shown by the manager and his teammates, he has been very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viktor Gy\u00f6keres\u2019s goal celebration was a familiar sight in Portugal, where he scored 97 goals in two seasons before signing for Arsenal last summer. Photograph: Gualter Fatia\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Where Gy\u00f6keres stood out for physical power \u2013 bullying defenders, dominating duels and attacking space behind the backline \u2013 Su\u00e1rez operates differently. He is far more involved in the buildup, dictating movements in the final third. He has superior technique to Gy\u00f6keres, even if he is slightly less lethal. With 33 goals in 42 appearances, the 28-year-old has quickly made supporters forget his predecessor and tops the league\u2019s scoring chart.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1 Pinto coached Sporting in 2012, when the club had their last major European run: to a Europa League semi-final. Sporting eliminated Manchester City in the last 16 but missed out on the final after conceding an 88th-minute goal to Athletic Bilbao. In the European Cup, Sporting\u2019s most recent appearance at this stage dates back to 1983, and they have never gone further. They have a chance to make history.<\/p>\n

Sporting are by far the most prolific attacking side in Portugal, but this season their offensive output has been overshadowed by Porto\u2019s efficiency in defence. Sporting sit second in the league, five points behind with a game in hand. Porto\u2019s slip last Saturday at home to Famalic\u00e3o has reignited Sporting\u2019s hopes for a third consecutive title.<\/p>\n

Rui Borges has helped Sporting move on from the shock of losing Ruben Amorim to Manchester United 18 months ago. Photograph: Antonio Cotrim\/EPA<\/p>\n

Last season the manager, Rui Borges, picked up the pieces after Ruben Amorim\u2019s sudden departure for Manchester United<\/a> and the misstep of Jo\u00e3o Pereira, the youth coach briefly promoted as his replacement. Borges lost his star striker but kept the core of the squad together.<\/p>\n

Under Borges, Sporting play the majority of matches in a 4-2-3-1, a shift from Amorim\u2019s traditional 3-4-3. For Borges, midfield control and possession are paramount.<\/p>\n

In the league, against smaller sides, Sporting often advance with slow, deliberate circulation of the ball but Arsenal will almost certainly deny those rhythms and, against such an experienced team, any loss of possession in a sensitive area could be\u00a0punished.<\/p>\n

Morten Hjulmand, the Danish defensive midfielder and Sporting\u2019s captain, plays with high intensity and is a key figure in transitions. He is also a regular target in the box at corners and free-kicks. Sporting, like Arsenal, are the team with the most goals from set pieces in their domestic competition.<\/p>\n

Pedro Gon\u00e7alves, best known for his stunning 50-yard goal<\/a> at the Emirates Stadium in 2023, remains one of Sporting\u2019s most influential players. He has freedom of movement, exploiting opponents\u2019 flaws, especially in wide spaces, but can also drop to collect the ball and initiate play.<\/p>\n

Arsenal may dictate the tempo, and the tie will hinge on how well Sporting manage the spaces they usually control in domestic games. Whether through Su\u00e1rez\u2019s late interventions or Gon\u00e7alves drifting between lines, will they have enough nuance in the final third to disturb the Premier League leaders?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Portugal, two of the most familiar sayings claim that \u201cgreen is the colour of hope\u201d and that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-517328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}