THEhe current national champions arrive at this round with zero points (only Lille and Slovan Bratislava are equal) – in a scenario that would be unthinkable at the beginning of the league phase – and receive Napoli forced to win to still be able to dream of continuing in the competition.
Something different is the life of Sporting in the ‘Champions’, which, despite the defeat against LASK Linz (3-2) at the José Alvalade Stadium in the last round, remains with six points and has an open path to move forward.
However, the pressure also promises to be a lot for the ‘Leonine’ team, not because of the scores in the competition, but because of the situation of coach Rui Borges, who seems to have his place at risk due to the results and performances, which led to the coach starting to be heavily contested by the fans.
The duel with Shakhtar Donetsk could help alleviate some of the dissatisfaction that exists within the ‘Leonine’, even more so because the Ukrainians are forced to play outside their country in home games, due to the invasion of Russia.
Therefore, Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home in London, will be the venue for the match, with Shakhtar reaching the fourth round with four points and surprising results, such as the draw with PSV in Eindhoven (1-1) and the home victory over AEK (3-1).
In the last round, the Ukrainians caused Inter many difficulties and left Milan with a minimal defeat (1-0).
Sporting plays in the English capital on Tuesday, with FC Porto coming into action the following day, at Estádio do Dragão, in what will be almost an ‘all or nothing’ return to the most important European club competition.
The defeat against PSV (1-0), also at Dragão, left its mark and, above all, made some Porto fans doubt Farioli’s ability to lead the team at the highest level.
For this reason, a victory over the Neapolitans is not only mandatory for FC Porto to re-enter the fight in the league stage, but also for the Italian coach to demonstrate that he can also take the ‘dragons’ far in the ‘Champions’, especially after on Saturday having led the team to the best start in the Portuguese First League in the last 86 years, with a thrashing of Estoril Praia which marked the 10th victory in the same number of rounds in the competition.
A result other than triumph promises to shake the ‘kingdom of the dragon’, even more so with the Italians arriving on Portuguese soil with just three points in their European ‘baggage’ and already two defeats (against Arsenal, 1-0, and Villarreal, 3-1).
Two-time European champion Paris Saint-Germain, with only victories, will go to Spain to face Villarreal, while Arsenal, last year’s runners-up, will play in Prague with Slavia.
Real Madrid, owned by José Mourinho and the competition’s record holder (15 titles), plays in Athens with AEK and FC Barcelona, ​​which is coming off a defeat against PSG, hosts Aston Villa, one of the five teams with only victories in the league phase.
Also noteworthy are Atlético Madrid-Bayern Munich and Manchester United-Roma, a match that promises to leave Old Trafford ‘hot’, due to the Red Devils’ record of nine consecutive games without victories in all competitions. On Saturday, the team of Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot were defeated again, by Chelsea, and are just above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
