Porto preparing to face old nemesis
Leicester City may be unfamiliar Champions League opponents for Porto, who visit the King Power Stadium today, but Islam Slimani is a player they know all too well.
During his three seasons with Sporting Lisbon, the Algerian striker scored six goals against Porto in six appearances.
Now paired up front with Jamie Vardy for Leicester, he will hope to resume his torment of the Portuguese giants as the English champions play the first home top-tier European game in their 132-year history.
Leicester broke their transfer record to sign Slimani, 28, from Sporting on transfer deadline day, paying a fee of around £28 million.
But he is every bit as rough-cut as Vardy, who joined Leicester from non-league Fleetwood Town in 2012, or his Algerian team-mate Riyad Mahrez, who was signed from French second-tier side Le Havre.
Slimani was playing in the Algerian fourth division at the age of 21 and did not make the move to Europe until he was 25, joining Sporting from Algiers outfit CR Belouizdad.
He also starred in their triumphant Portuguese Cup campaign in 2014/15, scoring in normal time and a penalty shootout as Sporting overcame Braga to win their first trophy since 2008.
Slimani’s reputation as a bruiser is another reason why Porto’s centrebacks will be apprehensive about crossing swords with him again.
In an ill-tempered Portuguese Cup tie against Benfica last season, he was caught on camera lashing out at Greek midfielder Andreas Samaris.
Nevertheless, Slimani’s willingness to get his hands dirty appealed to Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.
Slimani scored two headed goals in a 3-0 win over Burnley on his league debut. – AFP
Today: Dinamo Zagreb v Juventus, Leicester City v Porto, Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid, FC Kobenhavn v Club Brugge, Monaco v Bayer Leverkusen, CSKA Moscow v Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla v Lyon, Sporting Lisbon v Legia Warsaw.
Tomorrow: Ludogorets Razgrad v Paris Saint Germain, Arsenal v Basel, Borussia Moenchengladbach v Barcelona, Besiktas v Dynamo Kyiv, Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munchen, Napoli v Benfica, Rostov v PSV, Celtic v Manchester City.