Ronaldo looks forward to ‘special’ Sporting showdown

MADRID (Reuters) – Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo faces an emotional reunion with boyhood club Sporting Lisbon when his side begin the defense of its Champions League crown on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo, who scored the decisive penalty in the shootout win over Atletico Madrid in last season’s final, returned to club soccer following an injury layoff when he scored in the 5-2 thrashing of Osasuna on Saturday.

The Portugal captain netted in a 1-0 win and a 2-1 triumph over Sporting while he was with Manchester United, but has yet to face the club in a Real shirt.

Ronaldo moved from his family home in Madeira to Sporting’s academy at the age of 12 and spent one season in the first team, scoring five times in 30 appearances in all competitions before joining United in 2003.

“It’s a special match, it’s a special team,” he told www.uefa. com. “To play Sporting again is a privilege for me.”

No team has retained the Champions League title since the competition was revamped in 1992, but Ronaldo said Real, which has been kings of Europe a record 11 times, was capable of bucking the trend.

“It’s a great challenge and I think at Real we have a chance to win it again,” he added. “We know it’s a very difficult competition... but we think positive, that it’s possible to win it again.”

Ronaldo played 65 minutes against Osasuna, his first appearance since injuring his knee in Portugal’s Euro 2016 final win over France in July, and is expected to start against Sporting.

Karim Benzema is likely to return to the starting lineup for the first time this campaign after struggling with a hip problem but midfielder Isco, defender Fabio Coentrao and goalkeeper Keylor Navas are injured.

Sporting is top of the Primeira Liga after winning is fourth consecutive game of the season on Saturday, easing to a 3-0 victory over Moreirense.

Spurs seek lift in Wembley fortunes against Monaco

Meanwhile, Tottenham has had bitter recent experiences at Wembley, but will try to make the stadium a home from home as it begins its second Champions League campaign against AS Monaco on Wednesday a few miles away from its own ground.

The north London club has sold 80,000 tickets for the Group E opener – boasting that the crowd will be the biggest home attendance for an English club in the competition.

Spurs moved their Champions League matches to Wembley because their atmospheric White Hart Lane stadium has been reduced to a 31,000 capacity for its final season while a new 60,000-seat arena is built adjacent to their current ground.

Next season they will use the national stadium for all their fixtures as the old ground is bulldozed.

Whether the vast expanse of Wembley will inspire Tottenham any more than the opposition is the big question, however,