Article by Aurelian Botezatu – Published Monday, 08 December 2025, 15:13 / Updated Monday, 08 December 2025 15:31
Bayern and Sporting Lisbon meet on Tuesday, from 19:45, in the Champions League. The match will be live-TEXT on GSP.RO and live on Digi Sport 1 and Prima Sport 1.
On Saturday, immediately after Bayern's victory in Stuttgart (5-0), the sporting director of the German champions, Max Eberl, went to the referees' dressing room. Not to reproach them, but to get information from the “central” Tobias Stieler about Sporting Lisbon!
Max Eberl: “Tobias Stieler managed Sporting – FC Bruges”
Asked by Bild journalists what he was looking for in the referees' booth, Eberl replied: “To be honest, I spoke to Stieler about the Portuguese, because he recently refereed the match between Sporting and FC Bruges.”
Indeed, on November 26, Tobias Stieler led the match between Sporting and FC Bruges, in the Champions League. And he gave the Bavarian official plenty of cutting edge information. The most important? “He told me it's already a very, very good team – not that we didn't know. But it's still a confirmation of what you feel, that Sporting simply has a very good team,” commented Max Eberl.
Sporting are two up in Portugal, ahead of Jose Mourinho's Benfica
Despite the departures of goalscorer Viktor Gyökeres (27), transferred to Arsenal for 65.8 million euros, and striker Conrad Harder (20), purchased by RB Leipzig for 24 million euros, Sporting are currently second in the Portuguese league. Five points behind FC Porto and three points clear of city rivals Benfica.
In the Champions League, Sporting is 8th in the single group, tied on points with Dortmund and Chelsea. This is also thanks to top scorer Luis Suarez (28), who has scored 12 goals in 21 official matches so far. Suarez was brought in from Spanish second division club UD Alméria for €22.2m before the start of the season.
Eberl's take on Tuesday's opponent: “In Portugal, there's the luxury that Benfica and Sporting almost always play at international level. That means they can constantly develop top players. That's what makes Sporting outstanding, that's what makes Benfica outstanding. Games against Benfica have always been difficult and it will be no different against Sporting.”
