Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund facts

Sporting CP are bidding to win a tie in the UEFA Champions League proper for the first time as they welcome Borussia Dortmund for the first leg of their knockout phase play-off.

The Portuguese side – who have also never won a knockout tie against a German club – are without a victory in their last four games in the competition (D1 L3), ending the league phase in 23rd place on 11 points. Dortmund were tenth on 15 and are under new management after Niko Kovač's appointment.

Previous meetings

Matches 4
Dortmund wins 3
Sporting wins 1
Draws 0
Dortmund goals 5
Sporting goals 4

2016/17 Champions League group stage
Sporting CP 1-2 Dortmund
Dortmund 1-0 Sporting CP
First-half goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Julian Weigl gave Dortmund a win in Lisbon on Matchday 3 despite Bruno César's 67th-minute reply, while a 12th-minute Adrián Ramos strike proved to be the only goal in Dortmund on Matchday 4.

2021/22 Champions League group stage
Dortmund 1-0 Sporting CP
Sporting CP 3-1 Dortmund
Dortmund's Donyell Malen scored the only goal on Matchday 2 in Germany and was also on target in Lisbon on Matchday 5 – but that was a 93rd-minute consolation after goals from Pedro Gonçalves (31, 39) and Pedro Porro (81), the latter after Gonçalves' penalty had been saved by Gregor Kobel. Dortmund's Emre Can was dismissed in the 74th minute.

Form guide

Sporting CP

Record vs German clubs: W4 D6 L21 F28 A57
Home record vs German clubs: W3 D5 L7

Sporting have already played German opponents this season, losing 2-1 at Leipzig on Matchday 7.

They had previously been paired with Bundesliga opponents in the 2022/23 group stage, winning 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt but losing 1-2 at home on Matchday 6 to bow out of the competition.

The 3-1 home win against Dortmund in 2021 means Sporting have two victories in their last four fixtures against German clubs, as many as they managed in their first 27.

Sporting failed to win any of their first eight home games against German visitors (D4 L4) but have won three of the subsequent seven – although that defeat of Dortmund is their only victory in the last five (D1 L3).

This is Sporting's first knockout tie against Bundesliga opponents since a 1-4 aggregate loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League round of 32. The Lions have lost all seven of their two-legged ties against German clubs; indeed, they are yet to win a knockout match (D4 L10).

Sporting are making their 11th appearance in the Champions League proper, and a third in four seasons.

The most recent came in 2022/23, when the Lions finished third in their section behind Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Sporting went on to reach the Europa League quarter-finals two seasons ago and also spent 2023/24 in that competition, eventually losing 2-3 on aggregate to Atalanta in the last 16.

This is only Sporting's third Champions League knockout tie, the first two ending in heavy round of 16 defeats by Bayern München in 2008/09 (0-5 h, 1-7 a) – that 12-1 aggregate scoreline still a competition record – and Manchester City in 2021/22 (0-5 h, 0-0 a).

The Portuguese club have five victories in their last 16 home European games (D5 L6). In the Champions League, they have won seven of their last 16 matches in Lisbon, losing eight including 1-5 against Arsenal on Matchday 5; they have beaten LOSC Lille (2-0) and Manchester City (4-1) this season before a 1-1 Matchday 8 draw with Bologna.

Sporting claimed their 20th league title last season and a second in four years, having not lifted the crown between 2001/02 and 2020/21.

Rui Borges was appointed Sporting's third coach of the season on 26 December, replacing João Pereira who had himself succeeded the Manchester United-bound Ruben Amorim on 11 November.

Dortmund

Record vs Portuguese clubs: W9 D0 L5 F24 A12
Away record vs Portuguese clubs: W2 D0 L5

Dortmund's 2021 games against Sporting are their last with a club from Portugal.

BVB lost three of their first five matches against Portuguese sides (W2) but their 2021 defeat by Sporting is one of only two in their subsequent nine (W7).

The German club have lost their last two games in Portugal having won the previous two.

Dortmund have not played a knockout fixture against a Portuguese side since the 2016/17 Champions League round of 16, when they beat Benfica 4-1 on aggregate (0-1 a, 4-0 h) to make it three wins from three ties against clubs from Portugal.

BVB are in the Champions League proper for the 19th time overall and the ninth successive season. All but two of their last 12 campaigns have extended into the knockout rounds, including last season, when a team coached by Edin Terzić reached Dortmund's third European Cup final, losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley.

This season's 3-0 wins at Club Brugge and GNK Dinamo Zagreb have made it 13 victories in BVB's last 30 away European matches (D3 L14). They also lost 5-2 at Real Madrid and 2-1 at Bologna on Matchday 7.

European champions in 1997 and runners-up in 2013, Dortmund have been eliminated in the last 16 in three of their last six Champions League campaigns.

BVB were fifth in the Bundesliga in 2023/24, their lowest league placing since finishing seventh in 2014/15.

Nuri Şahin replaced Terzić as coach in the summer but left his post on 22 January, Niko Kovač appointed his successor on 2 February.

Links and trivia

Has played in Portugal:
Yan Couto (Braga 2021/22 loan)

Have played in Germany:
Jeremiah St. Juste (Mainz 2019–22)
Eduardo Quaresma (Hoffenheim 2022/23 loan)
Viktor Gyökeres (St. Pauli 2019/20 loan)

Have played together:
Conrad Harder & Daniel Svensson (Nordsjælland 2022–24)
Zeno Debast & Julien Duranville (Anderlecht 2022/23)

International team-mates:
Viktor Gyökeres & Daniel Svensson (Sweden)
Zeno Debast & Julien Duranville (Belgium)

Latest news

Sporting CP

On Friday Portuguese Liga leaders Sporting conceded a 94th-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at third-placed Porto.

A 3-1 home win against Farense on 2 February made it three successive league victories for Sporting – their longest run since starting the season with a club-record run of 11.

Sporting's Portuguese Cup final at Gil Vicente, originally scheduled for 5 February, will now be played on 27 February.

Viktor Gyökeres has ten goals in his last 13 games having finished 2024 with 62 goals in 63 games for club and country, ahead of Erling Haaland (49) and Harry Kane (46).

The Sweden striker has 43 goals in 40 appearances for club and country this season, including five hat-tricks.

Gyökeres and Hidemasa Morita both returned as substitutes on Friday having been out with muscle fatigue since 25 January.

Geny Catamo was replaced in the first half against Farense having suffered an ankle injury and did not feature at Porto.

Nuno Santos (out since 26 October, knee) and Pedro Gonçalves (10 November, thigh) have both been sidelined.

Dortmund

Niko Kovač's first game as Dortmund coach ended in a 1-2 loss at home to Stuttgart on Saturday.

Dortmund had been unbeaten in three games, all under Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg, winning the last two including 2-1 in Heidenheim on 1 February.

BVB had parted company with Nuri Şahin after the defeat at Bologna on Matchday 7 having lost four successive games and won only one of nine (D3 L5).

For the first time ever, Dortmund lost the first three Bundesliga matches of a calendar year – also the first time BVB had lost three successive league games since October-November 2017.

Serhou Guirassy, who has 24 goals in 31 games for club and country this season, scored five in his last five games.

Felix Nmecha has been out since 25 January with a knee injury.

Niklas Süle, who had been sidelined by an ankle injury since 7 December, returned to team training on 5 February and was an unused replacement on Saturday.

On 3 February BVB signed Chelsea's Carney Chukwuemeka and Nordsjælland's Daniel Svensson on loan for the rest of the season.

Dortmund recalled Salih Özcan from a loan spell at Wolfsburg on 28 January.