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| Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade Date: 24 September Time: 20:00 BST |
| Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio Scotland 810MW/DAB and follow live updates on the BBC Sport website & app |
Aberdeen face a “formidable task” against Sporting Lisbon, insists manager Derek McInnes, despite the Portuguese club’s Covid-19 problems.
Sporting’s preparations for the third qualifying round tie have been disrupted by their head coach and nine players testing positive.
The winner will host LASK or Dunajska Streda in the play-off round.
“We have not really considered their problems too much,” said McInnes, who fully expects the tie to go ahead.
“If you delve into their squad and the quality they have to chose from, it is a formidable task, there is no doubt about it.
“But the excitement of being here and taking on such an opponent is why we work so hard to get into Europe every year.”
A final decision from Uefa and local public health authorities is set for Thursday.
Aberdeen slumped to a surprise 3-0 loss at home to Motherwell on Sunday, while Sporting’s scheduled opening league fixture against Gil Vicente was called off at the weekend because of the outbreak.
Team news
Scott McKenna has completed his move to Nottingham Forest, while Sam Cosgrove, Michael Devlin, Matty Kennedy and Curtis Main remain injured, but on-loan forward Ryan Edmondson made his comeback as a substitute against Motherwell on Sunday.
What do we know about Sporting?
Sporting are one of Europe’s glamour clubs, but just how strong a side the Portuguese giants will be able to field remains unclear.
Amorim and the nine players who returned positive coronavirus tests will miss the game. A batch of youth players have been brought in to replace them. Their league opener against Gil Vicente was postponed at the weekend. And the team have relocated from Lisbon to the Algarve to train.
Despite all that, though, Sporting still have a vast array of talent to choose from.
Sporting have been crowned champions of Portugal 18 times but last season fished a distant fourth, 22 points behind winners Porto.
Their record against Scottish clubs is not great, winning just five times from 14 fixtures against Rangers, Celtic, Dundee and Hibernian.
What they said
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: “Your preparation has to be a lot on the opposition, but it also has to be on ourselves, trying to make sure we get the balance right to have the chance to land some blows on them.
“We are going to have to do a lot of things right in the game, defend well, have a good level of concentration and confidence in possession. A lot of these things are going to have to be valid for us to get the result.”
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