Sporting Lisbon – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

FOOTBALL in Greece has had a troubled season, but Olympiacos are keeping the flag flying in Europe as they go into the second leg of their Conference League semi-final with a 4-2 lead. On the domestic front, Greek football has been shambolic in recent months with violence tarnishing games involving top clubs. Games have been played behind closed doors in recent months and the trouble on the field has involved club officials as well as players. The Super League is a tight battle this season with any one of four capable of winning the title. AEK Athens are currently top with 75 points and two games to go, PAOK and Panathinaikos are four behind but PAOK have a game in hand and Olympiacos also have three to play but are five points worse off than the leaders.

PSV Eindhoven have won their 26^th Eredivisie title after beating Sparta Rotterdam 4-2. This victory put them nine points clear of Feyenoord with two games remaining. The Rotterdam club won 5-0 against Zwolle but they have to be satisfied with the KNVB Cup this season. PSV have lost just once this season, away at NEC Nijmegen. They have netted 23 goals in their last four games. The celebrations after PSV clinched the title were marred when one of their fans lost a finger when some pyrotechnics blew up.

The Danish Superliga is a close-run competition this season with four teams in with a shout of the title; Brøndby, FC København, Midtjylland and Nordsjælland. Meanwhile, the Danish Cup final takes place on May 8 in Copenhagen between Silkeborg and AGF, two teams from the Championship play-offs that cannot win the league. AGF have won the cup a record nine times, while Silkeborg have lifted the trophy just once.

Sporting Clube de Portugal have won their second Portuguese Primeira Liga in four years, both of which have been secured under manager Rúben Amorim. Sporting beat Portimonense 3-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade while Benfica were beaten 2-0 at Famalicão, making it impossible for the Super Eagles to overtake their local rivals. Sporting’s success has been very impressive, beaten twice but have yet to lose at home. They are on target to complete the double as they are in the Taça de Portugal final against Porto. They have scored 92 goals in 32 games and have conceded 29. Amorim, who has been courted by both Liverpool and West Ham, has confirmed he will stay with the club next season. The club continues to be prolific in the market, selling players for handsome profits, such as Pedro Porro to Tottenham and Manuel Ugarte to Paris Saint-Germain, transfers that brought in € 100 million. Uncharacteristically, they also spent quite heavily in 2023-24, securing Viktor Gyökeres and Morten Hjulmand more almost € 40 million.

THE Early leaders in the Chinese Super League are Shanghai Shenhua, who have a 100% record after three games and have yet to concede a goal. Coached by Russian Leonid Slutsky, who was appointed in January 2024, Shenhua have beaten Shandong Taishan, Qingdao Youth Island and Meizhou Hakka with Brazilian striker André Luis leading the way with three goals. Shanghai Port, who still have 32 year-old Oscar in their ranks (he’s the captain), are among the cluster of unbeaten teams. Shenhua won the Chinese Cup in 2023, while Shanghai Port were CSL champions. The two teams play each other at the end of April.

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim has emerged as the new favourite to become coach of Liverpool when Jürgen Klopp departs from Anfield in the summer. Amorim has impressed many people during his time at Sporting, leading them to the Portuguese title in 2021. They are currently top of the table with eight games to go and have just reached the cup final after beating Benfica in the semi-finals. They play Benfica at home on April 6 in the final Lisbon derby of the season. Amorim is just 39 and is renowned as a very good communicator with his players. His approach adopts a fluid attacking style, aggressive and constantly on the front foot. He gained his reputation early on in his coaching career and when he moved to Braga, his first top flight club, he was there for just 13 games before Sporting paid a buy-out clause to secure his services.

Saarbrücken’s fairytale has come to an end. The German third tier side, who beat Bayern Munich, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Pokal, were overcome by 2. Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals. At Saarbrücken’s Ludwigsparkstadion, Kaiserslautern won 2-0 with goals by Marlon Ritter and Almamy Toure and will now play either Bayer Leverkusen or Fortuna Dusseldorf in the final. They are the first team from outside the top division to reach the final since 2011. Saarbrücken have only played in the Bundesliga for five seasons in their long history, the last time being 1992-93.

Southampton made a pre-tax loss of £ 87 million in 2022-23, a season that ended with their relegation to the Championship. The Saints, in their first full season under owner Dragan Solak, who bought the club for £ 100 million in December 2021, saw their revenues drop by 3% to £ 145.5 million. The club’s wage bill was £ 122.5 million, which represented 84% of income. Given Southampton have been a club that has reaped the rewards from selling players in the market, their profit from player sales was just £ 7.4 million. The club has a net debt of £ 80.1 million.

The Copa Libertadores group stage has kicked off and holders Fluminense travel to Alianza Lima on April 4. Among the other attractive ties are San Lorenzo versus Palmeiras and Rosario Central against Peñarol. The early games saw Grêmio beaten in Bolivia against The Strongest and Colombia’s Millonarios draw 1-1 with Flamengo. Brazilian clubs remain the firm favourites this year – there are seven from Brazil, five from Argentina, four Chileans and three apiece from Uruguay and Ecuador.