If the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League dictated that Benfica will face a rival that has already met FC Porto this season, the draw for play off access to the knockout stages of the Europa League indicated that Sporting will face a rival that has already met Benfica this season. The lions will face Midtjylland, from Denmark, whom the reds eliminated in the third round of access to the Champions League.
Rúben Amorim’s team finished with the theoretically most accessible team of all those drawn, avoid a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes by not crossing Manchester United and also escaping from more complex clashes with Roma, PSV or Monaco. Thus, Sporting faces a Midtjylland that between August and September was thrashed by Benfica both in Luz and in Denmark, leaving with a certain favoritism for the tie that determines who will be present in the round of 16 of the Europa League.
The rival of the Lions in the playoff for access to the round of 16 of the @European League and the @fcmidtjylland ✨#UEL #UELraffle pic.twitter.com/bjAKpbYbME
– Sporting Club of Portugal (@Sporting_CP) November 7, 2022
After being knocked out by Benfica, Midtjylland were drawn into Europa League Group F, finishing second behind Feyenoord and ahead of Lazio and Sturm Graz. The Danes added eight points, with two wins, two draws and two losses in the six rounds. and the highlight was a surprise win against the Italians by Maurizio Sarri at the MCH Arena in Herning.
In historical terms, the team led by the Spaniard Albert Capellas – who was an assistant to Peter Bosz and Jordi Cruyff and led Barcelona B – does not have a great track record in European competitions, having also reached play off access to the Europa League round of 16 last season (eliminated by PAOK) and in the 16 of the same competition in 2015/16 (eliminated by Manchester United). The Danes were in the Sp. Braga group, also in the Europa League and last season, and were eliminated by V. Guimarães in the third qualifying round to enter the competition in 2011/12.
????????? Sporting CP vs Midtjylland ???????#UELraffle pic.twitter.com/7p4loNgQyv
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) November 7, 2022
You have to go back to 2001/02 to find the first, last and only duel between Sporting and Midtjylland. At that time, in the first round of the then UEFA Cup, the lions led by László Bölöni eliminated the Danes with two wins: he started winning away (0-3), with goals from Phil Babb, Beto and Mário Jardel, and won again in Alvalade (3-2), with two more goals from Jardel and an own goal from Skriver. In that season, in which they ended up being national champions, the Leonese team still beat Halmstad in the next phase, falling in the third round against AC Milan.
The match everyone wanted in the competition no one wanted to be in: Sporting take on Midtjylland, Ronaldo take on Barcelona
Source: Observadora
