UEFA Futsal Champions League final report: Sporting CP 2-0 Palma

Sporting CP are UEFA Futsal Champions League winners for the third time after ending the record three-year reign of Illes Balears Palma at a sold-out Pesaro Futsal Arena in Italy.

Diogo Santos made Sporting's early pressure tell and although he was sent off near the end of the first half, the Portuguese side got the second goal via an own goal with just over four minutes left. Palma, the first team to win three finals in a row, could not make it four as Sporting, in a joint-record eighth decider, followed up their victories of 2019 and 2021.

Match in brief: Sporting end Palma reign

Sporting were on top early but were nearly caught out on the break when Bernardo Paçó was forced to make a superb double save from Charuto and Lucas Machado. However, the Sporting keeper had been playing a big role in their attack and he set up their fourth-minute opener, playing the ball down the right to Diogo Santos, whose shot squeezed past Dennis Cavalcanti and in off the far post.

Palma had never trailed any of their previous three finals but in each case were pegged back to 1-1, which they now sought to do to Sporting. However, Cavalcanti – a year on from losing a final to Palma with Kairat Almaty – was having to work to keep the deficit down to one goal, doing especially well to deny Zicky and Alex Merlim.

Felipe Valério, also frustrated by a great Cavalcanti save, hit the outside of the post for Sporting, but just under two minutes before half-time they lost goalscorer Diogo Santos to a second yellow card. Fabinho rattled the woodwork with a deflected shot, and then, eight seconds after the interval, Sporting returned to five players with their 1-0 lead intact.

The holders continued to press forward, yet they nearly fell 2-0 down to a moment of Zicky brilliance as he flicked a back-heel against the post from close range. Sporting resumed control as the second half went on, a Tomás Paçó volley met with a diving Cavalcanti save, while Zicky twisted and turned and squared for Ivan Chishkala, who could only screw his shot wide.

Inside the last five minutes, Palma deployed Alisson as a flying goalkeeper, but almost immediately he was tackled by Chishkala near the touchline and the ball rolled into the goal despite Fabinho's desperate attempt to intercept. Palma's reign was now almost at an end and Chishkala even chipped the ball onto the crossbar of the unguarded net as Sporting closed out victory.

Player of the Tournament: Zicky (Sporting CP)

UEFA via Getty Images

Sporting's Zicky was named UEFA Futsal Champions League Player of the Tournament by the UEFA Technical Observer Group.

Paul Saffer, match reporter

Sporting controlled the game throughout and their victory was deserved. It was always going to take something special to deny Palma this title they had been making their own, but Bernardo Paçó, Tomás Paçó, the evergreen Alex Merlim in his homeland Italy and, of course, Zicky were at their brilliant best, as were their team-mates.

Reaction

Nuno Dias, Sporting coach: "Above all, it was a very difficult game against Palma, who forced us to play at our limits. And they forced us once again to approach perfection, as had already happened in the semi-finals against Cartagena. We're not talking about just any opponent but a team that were three-time champions of this competition.

"The key to our success was largely about surpassing ourselves in the most difficult moments. We defended extraordinarily well, not only when we didn't have the ball but also when we did. Teams don't only defend well when they don't have the ball these days. I think we fully deserved this victory against strong, tough opponents."

Antonio Vadillo, Palma coach: "It's not just historic to have won three Champions Leagues, something no one else had done, it's historic to have played in four consecutive finals, which no one else had done either. And that speaks volumes about the good work of the club and the team.

"As for the match, the fact we went behind made the team feel a bit uneasy and I think Sporting were superior to us in the first 20 minutes. Having said that, I also think that the second half was completely balanced. They had their chances to score more goals and we also had several chances to equalise. I said beforehand that matches are decided by details, that you have to be clinical at key moments. We weren't today."

Zicky, Sporting player and Player of the Tournament: "I think we played an extremely competent game on all levels. I think we went into the game with things very well defined, knowing perfectly well what we wanted from this match. Fortunately, we managed to put everything we trained for into practice, and that's always the most important thing in a game of such a demanding level as a UEFA Futsal Champions League final.

"I went through some physical problems throughout the season, but I overcame everything with a lot of hard work and I couldn't be happier. We knew where we could attack our opponents and exploit their weaknesses. We corrected what we needed to correct in relation to the two previous games against Palma. Never lowering the intensity during the 40 minutes was, in my opinion, crucial to our success."

Alex Merlim, Sporting player: "It's an immense joy to be able to celebrate winning this competition again. It's the result of a lot of hard work from everyone at this club and, on a personal level, all I can say is that I feel very good and immensely happy to be able to continue helping the team win. It was a very intense final in which we faced an excellent team that had won the last three editions.

"We prepared very well for this game with the help of all the technical staff, and the result is there. I think we won deservedly because we were the better team throughout the game. There were moments when we had to suffer, of course, but it's in those moments that you see the true champions."

Lucas Machado, Palma player: "We knew it would be a difficult game; Sporting are an amazing team. The details went in their favour today and the final result was just. They were better – maybe not so much better, but in finals the small details are important and, if you are not focused 100% through the game, you will concede goals, and it happened today.

"It is so difficult to get here; as a Spanish team, the domestic competition is so hard. And Palma, with the 'three-peat', it was amazing. But you can't win every tournament. We have to work to get back here. It starts now!"

Line-ups

Sporting: Bernardo Paçó (GK), Tomás Paçó, Diogo Santos, Wesley França, Alex Merlim; Goncalo (GK), Zicky, João Matos, Pauleta, Felipe Valério, Ivan Chishkala, Bruno Pinto, Bruno Maior, Vinicius Rocha

Palma: Dennis Cavalcanti (GK), Piqueras, Ernesto, Fabinho, Machado; Luan Muller (GK), Carlos Barrón (GK), David Peña, Lin, Charuto, Lucão, Deivão, Mateus Maia, Alisson

Key stats

• Sporting are the first non-Spanish team to claim three titles, matching Palma's tally. Only Inter FS (five) and Barça (four) have more.
• João Matos has featured in all eight Sporting finals stretching back to 2011. This was his 25 finals match and 98th competition appearance, both records.
• Gonçalo, Alex Merlim and Vinicius Rocha were also winning their third titles with Sporting after 2019 and 2021.
• Sporting coach Nuno Dias (in a record seventh final) equals the record of three titles along with Palma's Antonio Vadillo and Jesús Velasco. Only Dias and Vadillo have won the title three times with the same club.
• Sporting and Palma met in a second final, equalling the record final rivalries of Action 21 Charleroi vs Playas de Castellón (2002, 2003), Benfica vs Inter (2004, 2010), FC Dynamo vs Inter (2006, 2007), Barça vs FC Dynamo (2012, 2014), Inter vs Sporting CP (2016, 2017) and Barça vs Sporting CP (2021, 2022).
• Sporting's Bruno Pinto ends the season as joint-top scorer with Soufiane Charraoui of Tigers Roemond on 11 goals.

Third-place match: Cartagena claim bronze on penalties

For the second year running, Cartagena Costa Cálida finished third with a penalty shoot-out victory. Just as in their semi-final with Sporting, Cartagena led Étoile Lavalloise 2-0 and trailed 3-2 before Gon Castejón equalised to force a shoot-out, which the Spanish side won 5-4.

Muhammad Osamanmusa and Pablo Ramirez struck to give Cartagena a two-goal cushion with just over 11 minutes gone, but Abdessamad Mohammed pulled one back and Souheil Mouhoudine converted a penalty just before half-time.

Étoile looked like they could claim France's first-ever medal when Bilal Bakkali made it 3-2 with his tenth goal of the competition. However, Player of the Match Gon Castejón found an equaliser, as in the semis, and this time Cartagena won the shoot-out, with Chispi (in for the injured Chemi) saving from Nelson Lutin before Juninho buried the decisive kick.