Sporting Lisbon will host Strasbourg on Monday night in a preseason friendly that gives both clubs another look at their summer plans before the new campaign begins. Sporting arrive after beating Celtic 4-1 last week, while Strasbourg come in with a different problem to solve after a shaky finish to last season.
The match has already drawn attention because it brings together a Sporting side that finished runners-up in Portugal and ended the 2025/26 campaign with a 3-0 win over Gil Vicente, and a Strasbourg team still trying to tighten up at the back. Sporting won each of their final three Liga Portugal matches by an aggregate score of 12-2, which is why Rui Borges is expected to use the game to keep that momentum going while giving new and returning players minutes.
Jesse Derry, the 19-year-old who joined Sporting Lisbon on loan from Chelsea this month, should be involved, while Rui Silva is set to return after missing out on a World Cup appearance with Portugal this summer. Trincao, who was part of Portugal's North American squad, is also expected to be back in the mix, and Luis Suarez, after finishing with 28 domestic goals and Sporting's Golden Boot last season, should feature as well.
Strasbourg have their own reasons to treat the trip seriously. They lost 2-0 on aggregate to Rayo Vallecano in the Europa Conference League in May, ended last season with a wild 5-4 home win against Monaco on May 17 and managed only one clean sheet in their final 14 consecutive matches across all competitions. Diogo Sousa, who joined from Guimaraes for €10 million this summer, is expected to be given a run, and Sebastian Nanasi should play some part after missing Sweden's World Cup squad.
One name will not be part of the same picture. Joaquin Panichelli has not featured since returning from March's international break because he is still recovering from a long-term knee injury, and that makes his status the main unresolved issue around Strasbourg's preseason. The friendliest part of Monday night is the result; the sharper question is whether either side uses the game to settle a lineup or merely to keep testing one more time before the 2025/26 campaign settles into view.
