After the home defeat against FC Porto, 2-1, in the Portuguese First League, the ‘lions’ return to play at the Estádio José Alvalade, against a Danish team that hasn’t officially played since November 13.
Sporting reaches this stage after finishing third in Group D of the Champions League, behind Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt, while Midtjylland was second in Group F, behind Feyenoord and ahead of Lazio.
Midtjylland returns to Lisbon, after losing at the beginning of the season against Benfica in the third qualifying round of the ‘Champions’, and tries to reach the round of 16 of the Europa League for the first time.
The match is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., in Alvalade, and will be refereed by the Frenchman François Letexier.
The eight play-off game winners will join Jorge Jesus’ Arsenal, Freiburg, Union Saint-Gilloise, Feyenoord, Betis, Real Sociedad, Ferencvaros and Fenerbahçe, who won their respective groups.
SC Braga fearlessly aiming for final victory
The Braga team was relegated to a qualifying round for the “eighths” of the third UEFA competition.
To reach the round of 16, SC Braga will have to overcome a Fiorentina far from the best times, which is ranked 13th in Serie A and was forced to participate in this play-off for having finished second in the Group A of the Europa League of the Conference.
This first leg of the play-off for access to the round of 16 is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m., in Braga, with the refereeing of the Spanish Carlos del Cerro Grande, while the second leg is scheduled for 23 February, in Florence.
Source: TSF
