Young Boys, who top the Swiss league, will face Sporting in the knockout stages and advance to the last 16 of the Europa League in an unprecedented clash dictated by the draw in Nyon, Switzerland today.
This is the first time Sporting and Young Boys have faced each other in official matches – the Lions won 1-0 in a friendly in Switzerland in 2010 – to a draw in which Portugal play their first leg away from home.
The Lions, who finished second in Group D of the Europa League, will play in Switzerland on February 15, 2024, and will host the third-placed teams in Group G of the Champions League on February 22 at the Estadio José Alvalade in Lisbon.
Although Sporting have never faced Young Boys, their history against Swiss sides clearly favors the Lions, who have won 10, drawn three and lost four in their 17 matches.
Sporting also have a positive goal difference against Swiss teams, 22 goals scored to 13 conceded, but lose a knockout match in which they conceded twice and were eliminated in three.
The Swiss were one of Sporting’s six possible opponents, given that the draw prevented teams from the same country from meeting each other (Benfica and Sporting Braga), and the Lions avoided Milan (Italy), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Shakhtar. Donetsk (Ukraine), Lens (France) and Galatasaray (Turkey).
Young Boys lead the Swiss league with 38 points and qualify for the knockout stages after finishing third in the Champions’ Group G, which saw Manchester City emerge as winners and Leipzig as runners-up.
The Swiss team finished third with four points with a 2-2 draw away and a 2-0 home win over Red Star of Serbia, who finished fourth and last with one point.
The synthetic pitch at the Swiss stadium in Bern, also known as Wankdorf, home of Young Boys, already heavily criticized by the clubs that played there, is one of the additional challenges for the team led by Ruben Amorim.
Sporting competed nine times to reach the round of 16 and then the round of 16, qualifying in the 2009/10 (Everton), 2011/12 (Legia Warsaw), 2017/18 (Astana) seasons “) and 2022/23 (“Midtjylland”). , relegated in the seasons 2010/11 (Rangers), 2014/15 (Wolfsburg), 2015/16 (Bayer Leverkusen), 2018/19 (Villarreal) and 2019/20 (Besaksehir).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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