Goonerholics Forever

After Consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus obtained the alliance of Olisipo in his campaign to take control over the Iberian peninsula and Lusitania, integrated this ancient settlement into the westward expanding Roman empire, and granted the local populace a degree of self-governing rights and yet at the same time Roman citizenship, the ancient forefathers of the current Lisboans – sounds better than Lisbonians, though neither is used; rather the people of Lisbon tend to be known as Alfacinhas – then ended up playing a pivotal role in the prosperity of the empire, including being a key trading center for the flourishing business with another Roman province, Britannia. There must be at least one living authentic expert about the Londinium-Olisipo sea routes in the first century AD. If they happen to be a part of the Goonerholics family, I hope they would fill in the details of the rest of this imaginary journey in the comments. (I recommend not asking your favorite Language Model, ancient history is particularly prone to being hallucinated upon, given the diversity of opinions out there in what is called the corpus nowadays). 

We leave such a journey from the fertile past to our imaginations, and focus mostly on the relatively prosaic future of Arsenal men’s team taking on one of the Três Grandes of Portuguese football. Unlike Max Ophüls’s all-knowing, all-ironic narrator in La Ronde – who prefers the past because the present is mostly unhappy and the future is uncertain, quoting from memory – we Arsenal supporters have all the reasons to look forward to the future. Well, at least one very specific football match in the very near future. Yes, it is good to be specific. The Future with the dreaded capital F is, indeed, uncertain.

But before we get into the familiar business of football, while reading the introductory paragraph above, dear reader, I hope your curiosity was piqued a little bit about the moniker Alfacinha, the one people of Lisbon are known by. Let me elaborate (if you already know, please feel free to jump over three paragraphs): the word alfacinhas (al-fa-seen-yahs) literally means “little lettuces”. It is a recent term. Well, a very, very recent term for the second oldest of all current cities in the western world, after Athens; likely a trading post of the Phoenicians. For those who like to imagine the past, think of a Phoenician merchant ship 1000 BC (give or take a few hundred years) leaving the port of Byblos, moving along the southern Mediterranean, passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, sailing gently on the Atlantic, hugging the Iberian coastline, then arriving at Olisipo through the Tagus estuary: what did they imagine/think/hope looking at the sun setting in the limitless body of water to their west? Maybe a respite from these ceaseless movements and the endless business assignments, these battles of wits and perseverance in a world full of fright, fight and splendor? Edge of the universe or a mythical paradise? 

Apparently, the term alfacinhas gained popularity in the 19th century through a book by Almeida Garrett – “Viagens na Minha Terra” , i.e., “Travels in my Land” – where the author celebrates the verdant beauty of the city by naming its citizens thus. Supposedly. I haven’t read the book. But the above facts do withstand scrutiny, and in any case they are not obtained from Bayesian prediction machines.  Neither Jose Saramago nor Fernando Pessoa (or his many heteronyms) I remember have ever used the term. My Portuguese literature exposure extends only to those two greats, so others with a keener knowledge of the language or the culture should correct me if I have inadvertently spent a few minutes of my time (and yours, if I may add, apologetically) on a completely unimportant word. 

I must say I do like the knowing wink of the history – the history of longue durée, slow and permanent formation of mankind and societies – embedded in the etymology of alfacinhas, its Arabic roots. We have been formed, shaped, defined, sculpted, made worthy of ourselves by our movements, and the gifts of interchanges those movements have brought. From the dawn of prehistory to now. 

Well, back to the present. Sporting Lisbon – or, as they are known in Portugal, Sporting CP for “Sporting Clube de Portugal” – stands between the mighty Gunners and our second consecutive semifinal appearance in the Champions League, this most prestigious of the European club competitions. Sporting – or as they are sometimes called Leões , or Verde e Brancos (looking at the Sporting crest or home jersey will solve the puzzle) – is one of the big three of Portuguese football, along with Benfica and Porto. In terms of trophy count, they are just behind the other two. And while they have been a consistent presence in European football – especially in UEFA Cup/Europa league, where they are the most participated team, though their only European trophy came in 1963/64 Cup Winners’ Cup — they have never won the Champions League (or its previous incarnations). Well, neither have we. 

However, they are the reigning champions of the Liga Portugal, which they topped in the season before as well. The player who was instrumental in their domestic success exhibiting an extraordinary goalscoring prowess – 97 goals in 102 matches, and in the last season 54 goals in 52 matches – is, however, now in our ranks, and one hopes the familiar sights of the Estádio José Alvalade will inspire Viktor Gyökeres to emulate his efficacy in the penalty box in Arsenal red-and-white. Viktor’s absence may have not been felt too keenly by Sporting, who are chasing Porto in the league, 5 points behind with a game in hand. Their last five domestic matches are W, W, D, W, W. This is a team in form, with Viktor’s replacement the Colombian Luis Suárez  –no relation to the Uruguayan Luis Suarez as far as I can tell, without doing any research in their genealogy whatsoever – scoring for fun with 24 goals in 25 matches. 

The managerial architect of Sporting’s current resurgence is of course the familiar figure of Ruben Amorim. We will leave him respectfully be, especially given that he is no longer managing one of the arch-enemies. 

Rui Borges took over the managerial reins in December 2024. His record at Sporting is a respectable 51-14-9, which is a 68% win ratio. Before Sporting, he managed a series of relatively smaller clubs in different divisions of the Portuguese domestic leagues. His playing career was mostly restricted to a respectable, but unspectacular, winger role in the second and third divisions of Portuguese football, with a year or two in between in the top division. 

Leaving aside the Liga Portugal – while highly competitive between the top three clubs, there is a wide gulf of quality especially in comparison with the clubs in the bottom half, and hence not easy to transpose the form or tactics in the context of a Champions League match –  Sporting this season has played 10 matches in the CL, won 6, lost three, draw 1. In the group stage they performed well enough to finish in the top eight – they had finished 7th with a 5-1-2 record – and so have qualified for the second round directly. After losing away at Bodø/Glimt 3-0, they famously defeated the Norwegian team 5-0 at home. Their home form in Europe has been impressive this season, reverse chronologically: 5-0 against Bodø/Glimt, 2-1 against PSG, 3-0 against Club Brugge, 2-1 against Marseille, and 4-1 against Kairat. 

Evidently, a powerful attacking team at home, but defensively not the most robust. There is a wonderfully detailed and thoughtful analysis by a Sporting CP blogger whom you should read if you would like to understand their current team, formation, and tactics under Rui Borges etc. https://www.rhsportsanalysis.com/blog/2026/Apr/sporting-vs-arsenal-preview-april-2026-champions-league 

As the blogger mentions succinctly, “alvalade (the Sporting stadium) has been our fortress.” 

Across the two European competitions, we have faced Sporting five times: twice in  double-headers in the Europa league in 2018-19 and 2022-23, and of course in last season’s group stage away at Sporting where we put on a fine all-round display to win 5-1. Interestingly, both of our wins against Sporting – the other three are draws – came away at their ground, the previous one in October 2018. 

So, while we must absolutely respect the opposition, the impact of the home atmosphere and the crowd etc., we should also be confident to play to our strengths, with cool heads, tactical discipline and complete commitment to controlling possession and space. Given the traveling squad, my preferred starting eleven would be:      

Raya

White – Saliba – Gabriel – Calafiori

Ødegaard – Zubimendi – Rice 

Madueke – Gyökeres – Martinelli 

There would be temptations to start Max Dowman after his eye-catching performance last weekend, but I feel it would best serve our cause to bring him in with thirty minutes left on the clock and let him simply play his natural game, covering for his obvious immaturity around defensive workrate etc. Sporting will sense an opportunity to impose themselves early – especially given what is widely being advertised as an Arsenal squad under pressure, though I don’t really buy at all into any psychological problems with the team – and if they throw themselves into the attack, Martinelli can then become the trigger to launch rapid counter-attacks. However, I suspect Arteta may prefer Leo to impose more control. I like the Calafiori-Martinelli combination, and would hope to see that working fluently. This would also be a good match for Madueke to bring back the scintillating performance against Brugge, a team of just a little less quality but similarly front-footed attitude in front of their home crowd.

Let us start strong, quieten the crowd, control the tempo and possession and we should create enough chances to score a couple of goals towards a 2-0 away win. 

Come on Arsenal!