Arsenal FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg
Mikel Arteta’s men will take on Sporting (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal have been warned they are coming up against a Sporting CP side capable of beating ‘anyone in Europe’ ahead of their Champions League quarter-final showdown.
After a 1-1 draw away to Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash, the Gunners took care of business back at the Emirates with a 2-0 win in the return fixture to book their place in the last eight of the competition.
Sporting looked to be staring down the barrel of an early exit after losing 3-0 away to Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in their first leg. But the Portuguese giants staged a remarkable comeback, battling back to win 5-0 in Lisbon.
It marks the first occasion Sporting have reached the quarter-finals of the competition in its modern format, having reached the same stage of the old European Cup in 1982-83.
This season, Sporting have already beaten defending champions Paris Saint-Germain having memorably thrashed Manchester City in the same competition last season.
Arsenal are still undefeated in Europe this term and are still chasing the treble, having seen their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple go up in flames with defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final last month.
They are among the favourites to win the Champions League this season but former Sporting right-back Virgilio, part of the side that reached the quarter-finals back in the early 80s, is confident his old side can claim another scalp.
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Sporting Clube de Portugal v FK Bodo/Glimt - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg
Sporting won 5-3 on aggregate after a stunning fight-back (Picture: Getty)
While the Gunners will be strong favourites on paper, he insists outworking the Premier League leaders will hand them the advantage.
‘Sporting has the quality and conditions to beat any of these teams,’ Virgilio said.
‘We’ve already beaten (Manchester) City, Paris Saint-Germain, a number of clubs, and now it’s another one. Sporting has the quality and conditions to beat any team.
Arsenal FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen - UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg
Arsenal will be wary of the Portuguese giants (Picture: Getty)
‘It’s a matter of having the same spirit from yesterday [Tuesday] in these games. In terms of quality, we are very similar, so if we work harder than them, we will have an advantage.’
Arsenal put five past Sporting in their last meeting in 2024 but the Portuguese side do have history of causing them problems, eliminating the Gunners from the Europa League on penalties at the last 16 stage four seasons ago.
Carlos Xavier, another member of that 1982-83 Sporting side, said: ‘Anything can be expected.
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‘It’s a very difficult tie. Arsenal are going through a great moment and it’s not the same as the team we eliminated recently.
‘Sporting has its weapons and the hope, even because of what it did in the second leg against Bodo/Glimt, of being able to play two high-level matches.
‘Sporting has nothing to lose. It’s about trying to move forward. A very complicated and difficult task, both for Sporting and for Arsenal. It will be difficult for both.’
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