Sporting and Levski out to assert authority
Friday, September 17, 2010
Article summary
The top two sides in Group C meet on Matchday 2, with PFC Levski Sofia taking a good recent away record to a Sporting Clube de Portugal side who will look to make home advantage count.
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Sporting Clube de Portugal will look to build on a positive start in UEFA Europa League Group C with PFC Levski Sofia eager to impress in a city that club legend Georgi Asparuhov might once have called home.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.
• Sporting's only experience of Bulgarian opposition came in the second round of the 1982/83 European Champion Clubs' Cup, when they prevailed on away goals against Levski's arch-rivals PFC CSKA Sofia, drawing 2-2 in Sofia and 0-0 in Lisbon.
• Levski's four games against Portuguese sides to date have ended W1 D1 L2 (W0 D0 L2 away). Their only previous match in the Portuguese capital ended in a 3-2 defeat by SL Benfica in the 1965/66 European Cup; Eusébio scored for the hosts while club legend Asparuhov was responsible for both of the visitors' strikes.
• According to Bulgarian footballing lore, Benfica were eager to sign Asparuhov after that fixture – he also scored in the first leg – but he ended up staying in his homeland. He died in a car crash in 1971, with Levski's home stadium now bearing his name.
Match background
• A 2-0 loss to Brøndby IF in this season's play-offs ended an eight-game unbeaten run at home for Sporting.
• Levski are unbeaten in their last four UEFA club competition games on their travels. Prior to winning 1-0 at S.S. Lazio in their final fixture last season, Levski had lost all four of their UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage away fixtures.
Team facts
• Former forward Paulo Sérgio never represented any of the top clubs in Portugal in his playing career, but slowly worked his way up as a coach, with spells at FC Paços de Ferreira and Vitória SC crucial to him replacing Carlos Carvalhal as the man in charge at Sporting.
• Levski coach Yasen Petrov spent one season as an attacking midfielder with the club in 1991/92, representing their local rivals FC Lokomotiv Sofia and FC Slavia Sofia as well as clubs in China, Cyprus and Germany. Twice a Bulgarian Cup winner as a player, he won three international caps, he coached four other top-tier clubs before being hired as Levski coach in May 2010.
