Last August, after several weeks and many pushes and pulls on both sides, Alexis Sánchez has found his footballing destiny in Marseillethe club that would bring him back to the football elite, after his departure from Inter.
However, the Chilean striker’s game was not entirely good. Although the team is second in the French Ligue 1 standings, behind millionaire Paris Saint-Germain, the team fails to raise its head in the Champions League, the eternal obsession of the Boy Wonder.
The painting directed by the Croatian Igor Tudor adds two defeats in as many games for Group D. On the first date, visited Tottenham Hotspur and lost 2-0. On the second date, he received Eintracht Frankfurt – champion of the Europa League – and fell by the slightest count.
In that scenario, today’s duel against Sporting de Portugal (13.45) appears as a key to the future of the Provençal cast that, yes or yes, he must win, to keep the options to advance to the round of 16 of the competition.
On the top, The team of the Chilean striker will have to play behind closed doors after the sanction imposed by UEFAafter the incidents between the Marseille and Frankfurt fans, in the last match played at the Vélodrome stadium.
“It’s a shame, but you have to accept it. We will miss our fansbut that does not change the preparation for the match, nor his approach, “said the coach Igor Tudor in the prelude to the duel.
Regarding the moment of the tournament, the Balkans explained that “I don’t need to take the pressure off the players. It is normal that it exists in all parts. We just have to configure our game and try not to miss anything. We didn’t play badly in the Champions League, we did well against strong teams ”.
This season is the twelfth consecutive that Sánchez has played the highest club competition in the world. Since his transfer from Udinese to Barcelona in July 2011the historic gunner of the Red team has never missed an appointment of this type.
Right in his three seasons with the Blaugrana team, the Chilean achieved his best Champions League appearances. during 2011-’12, The cast of Pep Guardiola fell in the semifinals against Chelsea of Englandteam that in the end was champion.
In the next version, already with Tito Vilanova on the bench, the culé team was also eliminated in the group of the top four, always with the monarch, who on that occasion was Bayern Munich.
In 2013-14 he reached the quarter-finals, when he was knocked out by his La Liga teammate, Atlético de Madrid, who would later lose the final to Real Madrid.
In his next three tournaments, he failed to make it to the round of 16 with Arsenal of England. In the middle of the 2017-18 season he played the same instance with Manchester United.
With the same Red Devils he returned to reach the group of the eight best teams, but fell on the street against Barcelona, his former team. After his transfer to Inter, the team has never managed to put together good performances; two poor performances in the group stage and the last elimination in the round of 16, against Liverpool, where Sánchez also saw the red card at Anfield Road.
