Champions League Showdown in Lisbon

Even Barcelona is keeping a close eye on LASK today

LASK is looking forward to the match against Sporting Lisbon.(Bild: GEPA)

LASK is ready! With their Champions League match in Lisbon against Sporting, Austria’s league and cup champions are stepping into what feels like a surreal world for the third time today. And even FC Barcelona is keeping a close eye on the team from Linz today.

The “Krone” reports from Lisbon

A city with 550,000 residents—and within it, two clubs with a combined membership of more than 600,000. Benfica has around 440,000, Sporting 179,000. Anyone walking through Lisbon ahead of today’s Champions League match between Sporting CP and LASK will quickly realize: Soccer is no trivial matter here. Soccer is a religion.

Criticism of Ronaldo’s Fine
Part of that is a “god” named Cristiano Ronaldo. He came of age at Sporting and is revered here like nowhere else in the world. Even the 255-euro fine imposed by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) following the scandal surrounding Ronaldo’s departure from the national team did not draw ridicule here, but rather criticism: You don’t punish Cristiano!

That’s why the front pages right now aren’t dominated by the Champions League or the Portuguese European Cup contenders Benfica, Porto, Sporting, and the like, but to the superstar who, thanks to his salary at the Saudi club Al Nassr—reportedly rising to as much as 250 million euros per year—effectively earns back the fine every 38.6 seconds .

The front pages continue to belong to Ronaldo.(Bild: Georg Leblhuber)

A Different World
Right in the middle of this universe is LASK once again today; after a 0-1 loss to AEK Athens and a 3-6 defeat against Liverpool, the team must still feel as if it’s in a different world even ahead of its third Champions League appearance.

• While LASK CEO Siegmund Gruber can rejoice over guaranteed UEFA revenue of around 28 million euros—the Linz-based club, however, remains true to its humble motto: “The Champions League is the bonus; the league championship, on the other hand, is our daily bread.”
• And speaking of which: While Sporting is serving octopus, seafood ice cream, and beef tenderloin in the VIP section today, LASK faces a tougher challenge on the field. The Sporting squad is worth a whopping 414 million euros. “They’re good; we need an extraordinary day,” Didi Kühbauer recently said on the matter. He then added: “Actually, we need that in every one of these games.”

Didi Kühbauer(Bild: GEPA)

• Barcelona has also announced its presence at today’s match to scout Sporting’s right back Ivan Fresneda and midfielder Sergi Altimira—even though Altimira’s buyout clause stands at 80 million euros. Of course, this means Barça will also be keeping a close eye on LASK today.
• In any case, Sporting is hoping for its next transfer coup, having earned more than 700 million from player sales over the past ten years. Benfica has even earned over a billion euros.

It’s a whole different world—and not just for LASK. The excitement for soccer is palpable even in a taxi. At least one driver here even knows about Lustenau—and the rest of our Bundesliga, of course.

Will receptionist Diogo Alves get to know “Double-F” Flo Flecker today, after the “Tres F”?(Bild: Georg Leblhuber)

And the hotel receptionist, a Sporting fan, explained that the “Tres F” are the three pillars of Portuguese culture: Futebol, Fado, and Fátima. Soccer, music, and religion. But maybe today he’ll get to know a “Double-F”—Flo Flecker, who recently scored twice against Liverpool.