On Thursday, starting with 20:00, the Sporting – Aberdeen match will be played, within the 3rd preliminary round of the Europa League. The two teams have never met in European competitions, thus being a duel for the first time. The winner of the dispute will meet the one between LASK Linz and Streda, in the Europa League play-off.
Sporting aims to be 7th in the Europa League groups, a competition where the best result remains the semifinal of 2012/2013, lost to Athletic Bilbao, then coached by “El Loco” Bielsa. The Portuguese group is forced to play in the 3rd preliminary round for the first time since the 2010/2011 season. Sporting was overtaken by Braga both in goal difference and in direct matches, so that it ranked only 4th last season in Portugal.
Aberdeen have already played two preliminary rounds in the Europa League, ticking clear victories, 6-0 with Runavik (Iceland) and 2-0 with Viking (Norway). The Scots have never passed the 3rd preliminary round of the Europa League, and the last appearance in the groups of a European competition was in 2007/2008 (UEFA Cup). Then, Aberdeen finished 3rd in a group with Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Atletico Madrid and FC Copenhagen. In the first 8 stages of the Scottish Premier League, Derek McInnes’ team scored 12 points and is ranked 4th, 8 points behind the Rangers leader.
-Sporting has 7 appearances in the Europa League groups;
-The Portuguese were eliminated by Basaksehir in the last edition, in the last 16;
-Aberdeen never made it past the 3rd round of the Europa League;
-Scots have a presence in UEFA Cup groups (2007/2008);
PREDICTION: Sporting to win @ 1,40
