Broadcast info
Who's playing: Under the guidance of ex-Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, Sporting CP finished second last season. Still, having to concede the league title to a bitter rival - Benfica - is never something a team wants, and they will be hoping to start the upcoming campaign on the right foot.
And what better way to prepare for the new season than to take part in friendlies? The Lions have commenced the summer off well, with a resounding 3-1 win over Nyon in their first friendly match of the summer.
Their next opponents, Russian powerhouse Zenit, finished third in the Russian Premier League as well as clinched the Russian Cup. Mircea Lucescu's men will be playing their continental football in the Europa League for the upcoming term - a tournament they won during the 2007/2008 season.
Zenit will be coming into this game having cruised to an easy win over Swiss side Basel on July 13th, and are keen on building up some positive momentum ahead of their next friendly against Monaco just three days after this game.
What time: 10.00 PST/13.00 EST/17.00 UTC/18.00 BST/19.00 CET
Which stadium: This game will be played at the Estádio José Alvalade, which has a capacity of 50,095.
Which channel:
- In Portugal on: Sport TV1
- In Russia on: Match TV Game, NTV+ Sport Online, Sportbox.ru
*View up-to-date global listings
Match facts
- To date, Zenit are one of just two Russian teams to win a European title. The other is CSKA Moscow, who clinched the Europa League in 2005
- Current Zenit boss Mircea Lucescu was last in charge of Shakhtar prior to his arrival. Under his leadership, Shakhtar became the first - and only so far - Ukrainian side to win the Europa League
- This is the first friendly match between Sporting CP and Zenit
Team news
Sporting CP
Unfortunately for one Sporting CP player, his first game did not go as planned. Defender Lukas Spalvis, who just signed with the team, suffered a knee injury during their last friendly. As per the club's Twitter feed, the 21-year-old Lithuanian international will have to be assessed:
.@LSpalvis has suffered a knee sprain today. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow by the club's doctors. Get well soon, Lukas!
— Sporting CP_en (@SportingCP_en) July 14, 2016
Zenit
In terms of transfer rumors, key midfielder Axel Witsel looks likely to be on the move. The Belgian international has been long linked with a move to Italy, with Napoli, Inter, and AC Milan being among his suitors, or potentially England, with Everton being keen on his services. The Blues apparently have beaten off the Italian sides in the race for his signature.
Furthermore, Brazilian striker Hulk has already departed the club as one of the latest stars to make a big money move to China for a cost of €56 million (which could increase based on performance). As in the case of numerous other players, the Chinese club, specifically Shanghai SIPG, appeared to come out of nowhere and quickly snapped him up by making promises of a huge salary, reported to be €12.5 million per season.
The upcoming campaign will be Mircea Lucescu's first in charge of the Russian giants. Prior to accepting his new job back in May, the Romanian tactician - who reportedly speaks a total of seven languages, including Russian - was at the helm of Ukrainian titans Shakhtar Donetsk.
Lucescu enjoyed a highly successful 12 year spell with Shakhtar. During that time, he clinched a whopping 8 league titles, 6 Ukrainian cups, 7 Ukrainian Super Cups, and most significant, 1 Europa League in 2009.
Zenit are already well into their pre-season preparations:
F/T Zenit win 4-1 v Basel in the sixth game of the #GazpromTrainingCamp #FCBZen
— FC Zenit in English (@fczenit_en) July 13, 2016
and are looking to make it two wins in two games this Saturday.
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