Sporting Lisbon can be huge threat to Arsenal’s ambitions when they clash in the last eight of the Champions League and ex-boss Carlos Carvalhal warns of danger signs
Carlos Carvalhal sits down with Mirror Football ahead of Sporting vs Arsenal(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Carlos Carvalhal has warned Arsenal face another “dangerous” test in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta has seen his quadruple hopes slashed to chasing just two trophies in the space of two games after losing the Carabao Cup final and then getting knocked out of the FA Cup at Southampton.
Arsenal will look to Tuesday’s European quarter final tie at Sporting Lisbon as a chance of redemption but Carvalhal has warned the Gunners their trophy chase could soon be down to one. Former Sporting boss Carvalhal says Arsenal cannot afford to take his old club lightly but believes if the Gunners can come through the quarter final then Arteta has the quality to go all the way.
Ex-Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea boss Carvalhal said: “I do feel Sporting have chances. If you ask me whether Arsenal are favourites to win the Champions League then I think, yes, maybe they can do it.
“But this will be a hard tie for them. Sporting are a very good side. It will be difficult to break Sporting even at home. This game looks to be 50-50 and they both have a chance. They can beat Arsenal.”
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Carvalhal, 60, will be working as a pundit at both legs for Portuguese TV and he has kept a close eye on Arsenal and Sporting ahead of this game. Arsenal’s last visit to Lisbon saw them win 5-1 in November 2024. But Sporting boss Rui Borges – brought in after Ruben Amorim’s immediate successor Joao Pereira failed to work – has rebuilt the team after Viktor Gyokeres left for Arsenal in a £64m deal last summer.
Carvalhal has singled out Geny Catamo, Maxi Araujo and Pedro Goncalves as big dangers but says Sporting captain Morten Hjulmand being suspended is “good news for Arsenal.”
He said: “Sporting are a very dangerous team. They will give Arsenal a lot of problems. They press high, they are fast in attack and Arsenal will do the same because they have similar qualities. Sporting have so much passion. They play with width and their wing backs are like wingers in attack. They love to get forward.
“They have Geny Catamo on the right, Maxi Araujo is a very good player on the left and Luis Suarez is a very good attacker. Pedro Goncalves is good inside left. Geny is very fast, good dribbling, right side, left foot and he can be very dangerous. I have watched both teams to prepare and I feel that he can have a big impact on the tie.
“Maxi has good intensity, dribbling and is doing really very well. Their centre backs are good on the ball, they play well between the lines and build from the back.”
But Carvalhal is full of praise for the job Arteta has done overall and says Arsenal are one of the teams capable of winning the Champions League this season.
Carvalhal said: “Yes, it is definitely a possibility, really. Arsenal are such a good team. A very well organised team, compact and good at set-pieces. Arsenal will be favourites in the game in London. So I do think Arsenal are favourites overall in this tie but also in the competition they can be among the main contenders to win it. They are a very, very good team.
“I like Arteta, he’s a very positive person. I like him a lot. They can score goals, well organised and to win the Champions League and to win different competitions you have to be very solid and they are definitely very good.”
Carvalhal says he enjoys a special connection with Sporting fans as his stint in charge saw him lead the club through a “difficult time” to a respectable finish in 2009. The Portuguese tends to make friends wherever he goes thanks to his wonderful, bubbly personality which endeared him to fans at both Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea.
He is attending a charity match in England and has taken part in a new book about Wednesday entitled Carlos Had A Dream about his two-and-a-half years at Hillsborough.
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“I have stayed in love with Sheffield Wednesday now and forever,” he said. “I love the people. It’s hard to see now because it’s a massive club, they belong in the Premier League and I hope the people can solve it.”
Carvalhal’s last job was at Braga but he is taking a break, recharging – a second grandchild is on the way – and now he is ready to get back in. “I’ve had lots of approaches from the Middle East, Egypt, Spain, Brazil and Portugal. I love English football and England,” he said.
“The fans are just incredible. I think the most likely is Spain or England. I know I have markets in La Liga and also the Championship. I would love to take a team from the Championship to the Premier League and I feel I have some unfinished business trying to do that from Sheffield Wednesday. I miss English football a lot.”
Carvalhal has also kept a close eye on Gyokeres, the Arsenal striker who has divided opinion but forged his reputation in a prolific two years at Sporting after joining from Coventry.
Carvalhal added: “I saw a lot of him in the Championship and he was a good striker, very fast, scored goals and he adapted very well in Portugal with Sporting. With space, he is a very dangerous player: he is fast, he is strong. His movement from the centre to the left.
“The Sporting defenders will know him very well. They will press high, they will go one-to-one and in one-to-one situations he is very dangerous as well. They will know how dangerous he can be with his pace and he can be a very good player for Arsenal.”
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