Looking to recover from their shock FA Cup exit, Arsenal will be eager to right a few wrongs when they travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League
Viktor Gyokeres makes a return to former employers Sporting as Arsenal face the Portuguese giants in the Champions League quarter-finals this week. The Gunners arrive having suffered successive defeats — beaten by Manchester City in the EFL Cup final before going down 2-1 at Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final — while Sporting come into the tie on a three-match winning run.
Arsenal’s bid for an unprecedented quadruple had gathered pace earlier in the campaign, but the past week has dealt a heavy blow to hopes of a clean sweep. After being second-best against Pep Guardiola’s City at Wembley, Mikel Arteta’s side then failed to turn dominance into reward at St Mary’s, where Gyokeres’s equaliser was not enough to prevent their first back-to-back losses of the season.
Even so, Arsenal remain firmly in the hunt for silverware. They sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table — albeit having played a game more than second-placed City — and their return to Champions League action offers a timely chance to reset.
They are also the only team yet to lose in Europe’s premier competition this season. Arsenal topped the league phase with a flawless record before seeing off Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16, drawing late at the BayArena and then sealing progress with a 2-0 second-leg win at the Emirates thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice. It booked a third straight quarter-final appearance.
As Arsenal chase a second consecutive semi-final place — and only their fourth in total — Gyokeres will be determined to make his mark on familiar territory. The Sweden striker, signed from Sporting in the summer of 2025 after scoring 97 goals in 102 games for the Lions, was on the other side when the clubs last met, a November 2024 clash at Estadio Jose Alvalade that ended in a commanding 5-1 Arsenal win.
Sporting, who are winless in regulation time in five meetings with Arsenal (D3, L2), can still take confidence from their blistering home form. Rui Borges’s side have won 17 straight matches in front of their own fans, a run that includes Friday’s 4-2 victory over Santa Clara, with Pedro Goncalves, Daniel Braganca, Francisco Trincao and Rafael Nel all on target to keep the Lions second in the Primeira Liga.
Their Champions League progress has also been built around Jose Alvalade. Sporting have won all five European home matches this season — beating Kairat Almaty, Marseille, Club Brugge and Paris Saint Germain on their way to a top-eight league-phase finish.
They underlined their threat in the last 16, overturning a 3-0 first-leg loss to Bodo/Glimt by thumping the Norwegians 5-0 at home to become only the fifth team to recover from a three-goal deficit in the Champions League knockouts.
That comeback sparked Sporting’s current surge, with the Lions winning their last three matches while scoring at least four goals in each — momentum they will hope carries into Tuesday’s showdown against an Arsenal backline that could be stretched.
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Arsenal’s loss to Southampton also raised fresh fitness worries after centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes was forced off, but the Brazilian has been cleared to feature on Tuesday.
Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard have also been passed fit, while Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber are not yet ready. Eberechi Eze, Piero Hincapie and Mikel Merino will miss the trip to Lisbon as they continue to recover from injury.
Gyokeres heads into the tie in confident mood, with five goals in his last three appearances for club and country, as he prepares to face his former side.
At Sporting, Luis Suarez — the man charged with replacing the Swede — has been prolific at home in Europe, scoring in the Lions’ last three Champions League matches at Jose Alvalade and netting four times in that spell. He will be looking to extend that run.
Suarez was suspended for Sporting’s most recent outing, which allowed Rafael Nel to come in, but Nel may still drop out of the XI despite scoring. Sporting are without Fotis Ioannidis, Geovany Quenda and Nuno Santos, while Luis Guilherme is a doubt with an ankle issue and Ivan Fresneda is also a question mark after illness.
Captain Morten Hjulmand is suspended, so Daniel Braganca is again expected to partner Hidemasa Morita in midfield.