Sporting lost the futsal final of the Champions League. In the sixth final in seven years, which speaks well of the value of Nuno Dias’ team in futsal in Europe, the Lions were beaten by Palma Futsal, the sensational team in the sport, who broke Barcelona’s dominance in Spain and now faced Portuguese in their debut year in European competitions.
In the duel Guitta (9 saves)-Luan Muller (8 saves), during the game at Velòdrom Illes Balears, in Palma de Mallorca, he defeated the goalkeeper of Palma and was even voted best player of the competition. The goalkeepers of both teams grew to such an extent that they staged a very personal duel with many defenses (some of them transcendental). They deserved the penalty shootout, it turned out later, after a draw at the end of regular time and at the end of extra time (1-1).
Sporting went into the break and lost by the narrowest margin. Luan Muller not only evaded the Lions’ goal with high-level defenses, but was also involved in the Spanish team’s goal scored by Rivillos. With everything open for the second half of the futsal Champions League final, the battle for the best defense continued… until Zicky beat Té Muller with a superb heel.
Sokolov still scored, but the referee duo destroyed the bid, which would become the target of the leonine cover due to the absence of the Russian. A controversial move that promises to give something to talk about. The result did not change until the end and in extra time Nuno Dias’ team did enough not to score any penalties, but the history of the match had its own script and it was on penalties that the European champion was found.
Nuno Dias’ team has ten appearances last four Champions League (so called UEFA futsal Cup until 2018) and was looking for the third European title, having won the trophy in 2019 and 2021, but ended up losing another final, the fourth in history.
The Spanish islanders thus won the European title, one more for Spain, whose clubs have won 12 of the last 21 editions. And Rivillos, the star of the team, who had previously won the Champions League with Inter Movistar and Barcelona, lifted the trophy again, this time with Palma Futsal.
Benfica on the podium
Benfica won the bronze medal, for the second consecutive edition, but had to make an effort and overcome difficulties to beat the Belgians from Anderlecht (4-3). Chishkala (double), Diego Nunes and Arthur scored the goals for Benfica, which saw the Belgians score through Gréllo (double) and Diego Roncaglio, alongside four balls towards the crossbar from Léo Gugiel’s goal
Source: DN
