Dark Knight drags wounded beast to his old home for a redemption mission
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 07.04.26. | 10:34
Victor Gyokeres will lead Arsenal as they face his former side, Sporting Lisbon, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night (10 pm)
"They will be like a wounded beast," said Sporting Lisbon Rui Borges, talking about Arsenal ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals clash this Tuesday night (10 pm).
Borges believes the Gunners will be more focused and more willing to show their collective and individual capacity after back-to-back cup losses (against Manchester City in the League Cup final and Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-final).
"It will make things more difficult for us because they have not had the best two last matches. But Arsenal will be facing a very motivated team in us.
"We believe we can do something extraordinary, something that has never been done by Sporting."
The Portuguese side has never reached the Champions League semi-finals, and will be looking to do so for the first time against their former star, Victor Gyokeres.
"I love you all," the Sweden striker said on his Sporting farewell last year, following back-to-back Portuguese league title celebrations last May.
During his two-season spell at Lisbon, Gyokeres scored a staggering 97 goals in 102 matches, making for one of the most impressive spells in the history of Portuguese football.
A recent poll from CNN Portugal/Mais Futebol shows that half of Sporting's fans think Gyokeres deserves applause when he returns. We'll find out what happens on Tuesday night.
Rui Borges said he was "sure" fans will welcome Gyokeres because he "marked the history of Sporting, and he deserves this acknowledgement".
"He had the ambition, and after talking to the management, they came to an understanding, so ultimately everything that happened was correct for both sides," added Borges.
"He wanted to take that step in his career and we respect that."
On the other hand, Mikel Arteta is determined to make this season memorable despite some obstacles which have appeared during the process.
"Have some perspective about how difficult it is what we have done until now," said Arteta, when asked how he and the team prevent a longer run of defeats.
"Feel the pain, feel the emotion and use it to be better and improve."
The Gunners boss said Arsenal are "hungrier than ever" and that the defeats do not change the importance of the last-eight match against Sporting.
"If we had won the game, this is the quarter-finals of the Champions League, it doesn't get much better," he added.
"We worked so hard throughout the season to be at this stage in the competition. We are going to play an opponent that we know about their records and what they have done."
Arsenal will lack Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, while centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes came off with a knee issue against Southampton on Saturday.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - QUARTER FINALS
First leg
Tuesday
22.00: (2.85) Real Madrid (4.00) Bayern (2.35)
22.00: (4.50) Sporting (3.60) Arsenal (1.90)
Wednesday
22.00: (1.55) Barcelona (5.00) Atl.Madrid (5.10)
22.00: (1.75) PSG (4.20) Liverpool (4.30)
***odds are subject to change***