Skip to main content

Legia Warsaw 1 Sporting CP 0: Guilherme seals Europa League spot

Legia Warsaw leapfrogged Sporting CP to qualify for the Europa League after beating their Portuguese visitors 1-0 in the final game of Champions League Group F.

Guilherme's first half strike was enough to keep the Polish champions in Europe after they had entertained spectators with swashbuckling efforts against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

But the result rounds off a disappointing campaign for Sporting who, despite enjoying the lion's share of the ball, struggled to create opportunities until the final minutes against a Legia side that had conceded 24 goals in their five previous group games.

Carvalho flashed a powerful drive narrowly wide for the visitors, before Legia's Aleksandar Prijovic was rightly flagged offside when he converted a right-wing cross from close range in the seventh minute.

Prijovic sprung the Sporting offside trap in the 28th minute but skewed his effort into the side netting when well placed to test Rui Patricio.

However, Legia did take the lead two minutes later through Guilherme, the Brazilian timed his run into the box perfectly to emerge ahead of Paulo Oliveira and poke home Prijovic's low cross past a wrong-footed Patricio at his near post.

Sporting's best chance came 16 minutes from time when substitute Andre got his feet in a tangle as he attempted to convert Gelson Martins' fizzing low cross from the right and sliced wide.