Sporting will go into the first leg against Arsenal with one player definitely out, one doubt because of illness, and a pair of well-rested key men.
The most straightforward part of the picture for Sporting CP ahead of the first leg against Arsenal concerns Nuno Santos, who is not expected to be available.
He has missed training since suffering a muscular injury to the front of his left thigh against Alverca on 22 March, leaving the pitch in tears.
Medical tests pointed to an absence of 15 to 20 days, which takes him into the week of the Arsenal game, but A Bola report that he will not be fit to face Arsenal. His return is instead being pencilled in for Sporting’s following match away to Estrela da Amadora in the league, and even then there is no guarantee he will play.
Given that he had previously spent 15 months out after a serious right knee injury in October 2024, the report says Sporting’s medical staff are being particularly cautious and are not taking even the slightest risk. Sound familiar?
There is less certainty around Ivan Fresneda, whose availability will depend on how quickly he recovers from flu.
He missed the league game against Santa Clara, brought forward to Friday night to give Sporting more time to prepare for Arsenal and, according to A Bola, also remained absent from the recovery session at their training ground the following day because he was still ill.
The same session was also missed by the injured Nuno Santos, Luis Guilherme and Fotis Ioannidis.
For Sporting, Sunday has been scheduled as a rest day for the squad, with full preparation for Arsenal beginning on Monday, which leaves Fresneda’s involvement dependent on whether he is properly over his illness by then.
The most revealing part of the reporting, though, concerns Sporting’s centre-backs.
Ousmane Diomande and Goncalo Inacio were both left out of the league match against Santa Clara, with Correio da Manha saying Rui Borges wanted his first-choice central defensive pair at their ‘maximum potential’ for the first leg against Arsenal at Alvalade.
Eduardo Quaresma was already expected to start this weekend, while the decision on whether Diomande or Inacio would play alongside him depended on their international workloads.
In the end, both were rested. Diomande started for Ivory Coast against Scotland and was taken off after 61 minutes, while Inacio started for Portugal against the USA and went off after 71 minutes, and neither featured against Santa Clara.
Zeno Debast started instead, with the report noting that he played 80 minutes for the USA across two matches, more than his total Sporting minutes from the previous two months.
The piece also notes that Diomande and Gyokeres previously clashed in training when they were team-mates at Sporting.