Arsenal will face Sporting CP in the quarter-final of the Champions League, which will represent a rather poetic return to Lisbon for Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners booked their place in the last eight of the Champions League with a second-leg win over Bayer Leverkusen, seeing the tie end 3-1 on aggregate.
Sporting’s route to the quarter-final was far less routine, as after losing 3-0 in the round of 16 first leg to Bodo/Glimt, they turned things around to win 5-0 in the second.
The stage is set for Arsenal to head to the Estadio Jose Alvalade for the second season running in the Champions League, with a return to his former home on the cards for Gyokeres.
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What do you think Viktor Gyokeres’ former teammates are thinking ahead of the quarter-final 😳
Portuguese media react to Viktor Gyokeres’ return to Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-final
Arsenal faced Gyokeres and Sporting last season in the Champions League, winning 5-1 in Lisbon to flex their dominance.
Now, the Gunners will head back, this time, with the striker on their side.
The media in Portugal have immediately reacted to Gyokeres’ pending return to Sporting following his ugly departure in the summer transfer window.
Gyokeres forced his way out of Sporting to sign for Arsenal, which explains why Maisfutebol are running a poll asking fans: How will Gyokeres be received at Alvalade?
At the time of writing, 51% of voters decided that the former Sporting striker deserves applause, whereas 22% voted in favour of whistling the Swede, and the remaining 28% insisted they didn’t care.
The £64m signing left Sporting with 97 goals in two seasons, but the Portuguese giants don’t expect to see the forward return to Lisbon with as much confidence as when he left.
That’s the belief of A Bola, who wrote the following.
“Gyokeres returns to Alvalade with more restricted movements and less confidence, but he is one of the main weapons to hurt the team for which he scored 97 goals in 102 games between 2023 and 2025.”
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Some Portuguese outlets are doubtful of Gyokeres’ start to life at Arsenal, but his former teammates are certainly excited to see him.
Speaking after Sporting’s win, as relayed by CNN Portugal, Ivan Fresneda spoke about Gyokeres’ return.
“We have a game against Arsenal now, it’s going to be a difficult game, like others we’ve had in this competition.
“We’ll see Viktor Gyokeres again. I’m very happy to have Viktor back at this stadium, and now we’ll see what happens.”
Having scored 54 goals for Sporting last season, fans won’t underestimate the Arsenal striker at all, with a visit to his former home booked for the quarter-final in April.
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