For decades these two Lisbon rivals have been battling it out, and this match will be no different. Although the match does not have title implications for Sporting, the ‘Leoes’ will not want to lose at home, especially to their neighbors.

How will an inconsistent Sporting do against a Benfica squad that is looking to beat out Braga and Porto for the title?

Sporting Lisbon vs Benfica and the impact of coach Sa Pinto

Since the arrival of Sa Pinto on the sidelines for Sporting, they appear to have found there form somewhat. While doing extremely well in the Europa League, they still appear to be periodically inconsistent domestically.

This past weekend, they finally managed to get there first away victory in nearly six months. Now for a team that is considered one of the bigger clubs in Portugal, going that long without an away win is not very flattering.

Meanwhile, Sporting have defended their home turf very well as of late. They defeated the all mighty Manchester City 1-0 for the Europa League, before dumping them out on aggregate at the Etihad Stadium. They also just managed a slender 2-1 victory over Ukrainian side Metalist for the first leg of the Europa League Quarter Finals.

The way Sporting played at home against Manchester City was incredible. They pressured very high up the field, suffocated City’s players when they had the ball and they managed to work the ball around the pitch. A strange back heel goal from Brazilian defender Xandao gave the hosts the victory that could have been larger.

Hungry Benfica looking to bounce back with Sporting victory

Sportings opponents will arrive at the Estadio Jose de Alvalade coming off a ‘moralizing’ defeat to Chelsea. I say moralizing because for those who saw the match, Benfica outplayed Chelsea in every aspect of the game, and they had to deal with a 10-man disadvantage for the last 50 minutes.

Domestically, Benfica appeared to have the season wrapped up just two months ago, but a decrease in form has allowed Porto to take hold of the first place spot. Last week they managed a nervy victory in stoppage time against title contenders Braga with Bruno Cesar snatching the late winner.

The last time these two Lisbon rivals met, Benfica won by the minimum margin of 1-0 at the Estadio da Luz. After the final whistle, complete chaos set in as the visiting fans set a portion of the Benfica stadium on fire. Chairs were completely melted and a portion of the roof had smoke damage. This not only infuriated the Benfica fans and administration, but it also set a very hostile environment for this upcoming match.

From a neutral standpoint, one can only hope that the Benfica fans don’t stoop to that level and try to pay back for what was done in the first match. With first place potentially on the line for Benfica, there will be a very hostile and competitive environment. Hopefully the match official will perform at a high level, allowing the players to play the game with no controversy.

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus will hope that he will have his backline sorted out before kick off. After having to put together a makeshift backline against Chelsea, he will hope that captain Luisao and Garay will hopefully be fit to play. Garay has been out for about a month now, but had his sights set on returning for this weekend.

Will the mid-week match against Chelsea cause some fatigue for the Benfica players on Monday? With a long flight to Ukraine for the second league of the Europa League Quarter Finals, will Sporting have time to rest and recover?

Prediction

I see this being a very open match with both teams creating chances to score. Jorge Jesus pulled off Oscar Cardozo early in the second half against Chelsea as well as Nico Gaitan, already thinking about the match with Sporting. Cardozo who has a hot foot when playing against Sporting will appreciate that extra rest going into this match.

With Benfica really needing to grind out a result, I see them looking to slow the game down and dictate the pace of the game. The Sporting players will be fired up with the crowd behind them, and could end up playing right into Benfica’s hands. A fast paced Sporting could end up hurting themselves in the end.

Sporting 1-2 Benfica