SOCCER: Sporting driven by ambition in fight for semi-final spot

Sporting CP coach Rui Borges says his side remain calm but determined to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Arsenal F.C. and reach their first-ever UEFA Champions League semi-final. Kai Havertz’s stoppage-time winner handed Arsenal the advantage from the first leg in Lisbon.

Gerhard Mey, Paul Vieira Stefan Haskins/Reuters

April 15, 2026

Sporting CP coach Rui Borges celebrates after the match, Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - Estrela v Sporting CP - Estadio Jose Gomes, Amadora, Portugal - April 11, 2026.

Rodrigo Antunes/Reuters

Sporting Lisbon coach Rui Borges says he and his team are calm but have the fighting ambition to overturn a 1-0 deficit away to Arsenal and progress to a maiden UEFA Champions League semi-final.

With Kai Havertz’s injury time winner giving Arsenal the advantage after the first leg in the Portuguese capital, Borges on Tuesday (April 14) stressed that it was perhaps just him and his squad that believed that they could reach this point, citing the individual and collective effort of this squad.

The last time the Lisbon side visited the Emirates Stadium, led by Ruben Amorim in 2023, they advanced via a penalty shootout in the Europa League last 16, after draws in both legs of the tie.

-Gerhard Mey, Paul Vieira Stefan Haskins/Reuters