The first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 stage will start this Thursday, and one of the most interesting matches will involve the current Primeira Liga leaders, Sporting, and Bundesliga's third placed Bayer Leverkusen, who will try to prove why they still have a shot of winning some European silverware this summer.
Both sides get to this match in fine form, as the hosts have an ongoing streak of five games without a loss in all competitions. Meanwhile, Roger Schmidt's crew has been able to survive crucial matches in the Bundesliga, including a goal-less draw against Bayern Munich and one more ego-boosting win against Darmstadt last weekend.
Sporting CP
Coach Jorge Jesus will have most of his top performers available for this game, including Costa Rican midfielder Bryan Ruiz, Colombian striker Teófilo Gutiérrez, and holding midfielder William Carvalho. Nevertheless, all of the Lions' fans will be hoping Algerian striker Islam Slimani to be as influential as he's been for them in the domestic tournament, since the African player is still looking for his first European goal this season.
Bayer Leverkusen
The German side has managed to shock some tough competitors this season, including Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach. After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, Roger Schmidt's men managed to put up a six-game streak without a loss, which ended last week against Werder Bremen in the DFB Pokal.
For this game, Schmidt will have a number of crucial absences, including Kevin Kampl (suspended) and top scorer Javier "Chicharito" Hernández (injury). The good news for Leverkusen will be the presence of Stefan Kiessling, who has been able to rise to the occasion whenever the team's needed him in the past games.
Head to head
These sides have played four official games against each other, and the German team has dominated those meetings with three wins and one draw. This will be their first knockout stage meeting in any tournament, as their four previous games were held in the UEFA Champions League Group stages of the 1997-98 and 2000-2001 seasons.
Where to watch Sporting CP vs Bayer Leverkusen on TV or online?
- Fans living in Portugal can follow this game on SIC, starting at 20:05 WET.
- For those living in Germany, MDR Info, Sky Go Deutschland, TeleClub Sport Live, Sky Sport 4/HD and Sky Sport 1/HD will be broadcasting this game at 21:05 CET
- This game will be broadcast in the U.K. via BT Sport Live Streaming and BT Sport Extra at 20:05 GMT
- In the U.S., fans can follow the outcome of this game on Fox Soccer 2GO USA, Fox Soccer Plus, WATCH ESPN, ESPN Deportes Radio and ESPN Deportes TV at 15:05 EST.
- In Canada, the options to follow this game will be TSN1 and RDS, starting at 15:05 EST.
Live elsewhere? Check out the Sporting CP vs Bayer Leverkusen match page for detailed info to watch this game in your country.
*Please note that all live games, TV Schedules and online streaming info is subject to change.
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