Champions League Matchday 1: Sporting CP vs Kairat Almaty facts

Sporting CP's bid to reach the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds again kicks off at home to competition debutants Kairat Almaty.

Last match

This is the teams' first meeting, and Kairat's first game against a Portuguese club.

Sporting’s only previous matches against a team from Kazakhstan were a 6-4 aggregate defeat of Astana in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (3-1 a, 3-3 h).

Sporting CP

The Lions are making their 12th appearance in the Champions League proper, and a fourth in five seasons.

Sporting were 23rd in last season's league phase (W3 D2 L3), bowing out against Borussia Dortmund in the knockout phase play-offs (0-3 h, 0-0 a).

The Lisbon club have won their Matchday 1 fixture in three of their last four Champions League campaigns (L1), kicking off 2024/25 with a 2-0 home victory against LOSC Lille.

Kairat

Kairat are in the Champions League proper for the first time. Astana, in 2015/16, are the only side from Kazakhstan to feature, drawing four of their six games (L2).

This is only Kairat’s third Champions League campaign. They lost in the first qualifying round in 2005/06 and in the second qualifying round in 2021/22.

Kairat’s only participation in a UEFA group stage/league phase was in the 2021/22 UEFA Conference League, when they finished bottom of their section (D2 L4).

Kairat beat Olimpija Ljubljana 3-1 on aggregate (1-1 a, 2-0 h) in this season's first qualifying round and overcame KuPS in the second (0-2 a, 3-0 h) and Slovan Bratislava in the third (1-0 h, 0-1 a aet, 4-3 pens) before beating Celtic 3-2 on penalties after two goalless legs in the play-offs.

Key stats

Sporting are without a win in six Champions League matches (D2 L4).

Kairat lost only two of their eight matches in qualifying for the 2025/26 league phase (W3 D3).

The Kazakhstan champions kept four clean sheets in their last five matches in qualifying.