# 2020–21 Sporting CP season

The 2020–21 season was the 115th season in existence of Sporting Clube de Portugal and the club's 87th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. In addition to the domestic league, Sporting CP participated in this season's editions of the Taça de Portugal and the UEFA Europa League. The club also qualified for the Taça da Liga, winning the competition and achieving an unofficial double. The season covered the period from 26 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Sporting won the 2020–21 Primeira Liga with two matches remaining, following a 1–0 home win against Boavista, and thus became Portuguese champions for the 19th time in their history, and for the first time since the 2001–02 season. In this season, Sporting set a league record for the longest unbeaten run in a single season with 32 matches in a row (25 wins and seven draws) out of 34 matches.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 15 February 2021.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Antonio Adán |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Matheus Reis (on loan from Rio Ave) |
| 3 | DF | MAR | Zouhair Feddal |
| 4 | DF | URU | Sebastián Coates (captain) |
| 5 | DF | POR | Nuno Mendes |
| 6 | MF | POR | João Palhinha |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Bruno Tabata |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Matheus Nunes |
| 11 | FW | POR | Nuno Santos |
| 13 | DF | POR | Luís Neto |
| 17 | MF | POR | João Mário (on loan from Inter Milan) |
| 19 | FW | POR | Tiago Tomás |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | ECU | Gonzalo Plata |
| 21 | FW | POR | Paulinho |
| 22 | GK | POR | André Paulo |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Pedro Porro (on loan from Manchester City) |
| 27 | DF | POR | João Pereira |
| 28 | MF | POR | Pedro Gonçalves |
| 52 | DF | POR | Gonçalo Inácio |
| 55 | DF | POR | Vitorino Antunes |
| 68 | MF | POR | Daniel Bragança |
| 72 | DF | POR | Eduardo Quaresma |
| 77 | FW | CPV | Jovane Cabral |
| 81 | GK | POR | Luís Maximiano |

### Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 40 | GK | BRA | Renan Ribeiro |
| 76 | DF | ANG | Bruno Gaspar |
| 80 | MF | POR | Rodrigo Fernandes |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 89 | DF | GHA | Lumor |
| 96 | FW | POR | Joelson |
| 99 | GK | POR | Diogo Sousa |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | POR | Ivanildo Fernandes (at Almería until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | POR | Tiago Ilori (at Lorient until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | POR | Mauro Riquicho (at Fátima until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | FRA | Valentin Rosier (at Beşiktaş until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | POR | João Silva (at Istra 1961 until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | ARG | Rodrigo Battaglia (at Alavés until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | POR | Filipe Chaby (at Académica until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | MLI | Abdoulay Diaby (at Getafe until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | CIV | Idrissa Doumbia (at Huesca until 30 June 2021) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BRA | Eduardo (at Crotone until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | BRA | Mattheus (at Coritiba until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | CRO | Josip Mišić (at Dinamo Zagreb until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | COL | Leonardo Acevedo (at Logroñés until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | POR | Rafael Camacho (at Rio Ave until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | POR | Pedro Marques (at Gil Vicente until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | POR | Pedro Mendes (at Nacional until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | SVN | Andraž Šporar (at Braga until 30 June 2021) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source |
| 1 | GK | Antonio Adán | Atlético Madrid | Free transfer | 20 August 2020 | |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
| 15 | | | TBD | | 1 July 2020 | |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Primeira Liga | 27 September 2020 | 19 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 34 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 65 | 20 | +45 | 076.47 |
| Taça de Portugal | 23 November 2020 | 11 January 2021 | Third round | Fifth round | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 066.67 |
| Taça da Liga | 15 December 2020 | 23 January 2021 | Quarter-finals | Winners | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 100.00 |
| Europa League | 24 September 2020 | 1 October 2020 | Third qualifying round | Play-off round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 42 | 32 | 7 | 3 | 82 | 28 | +54 | 076.19 |
Source: Soccerway

### Primeira Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sporting CP (C) | 34 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 65 | 20 | +45 | 85 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Porto | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 74 | 29 | +45 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Benfica | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 69 | 27 | +42 | 76 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Braga | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Paços de Ferreira | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
* 1 2 Braga qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2020–21 Taça de Portugal. Since they would have qualified for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round by finishing fourth, the berth was awarded to the fifth-placed team (Paços de Ferreira), and the Europa Conference League second qualifying round berth reserved to the fifth-placed team was awarded to the sixth-placed team (Santa Clara).

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Liga Portugal

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 28 August 2020.

### UEFA Europa League
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Taça de Portugal | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Taça da Liga | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ESP | Antonio Adán | 37 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | POR | André Paulo | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | BRA | Renan Ribeiro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | GK | POR | Luís Maximiano | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | GK | POR | Diogo Sousa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BRA | Matheus Reis | 15 | 0 | 4+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | MAR | Zouhair Feddal | 34 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | URU | Sebastián Coates | 40 | 7 | 33 | 5 | 2+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | POR | Nuno Mendes | 35 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | POR | Luís Neto | 28 | 0 | 20+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Pedro Porro | 37 | 4 | 30 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | POR | João Pereira | 5 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | DF | POR | Gonçalo Inácio | 25 | 2 | 15+5 | 1 | 1+1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | DF | POR | Vitorino Antunes | 13 | 0 | 4+4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 72 | DF | POR | Eduardo Quaresma | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | POR | João Palhinha | 38 | 2 | 28+4 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Matheus Nunes | 39 | 3 | 12+19 | 3 | 2+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | POR | João Mário | 34 | 2 | 24+4 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | POR | Pedro Gonçalves | 37 | 23 | 32 | 23 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 68 | MF | POR | Daniel Bragança | 25 | 0 | 6+15 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 80 | MF | POR | Rodrigo Fernandes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 | MF | POR | Tomás Silva | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | MF | POR | Dário Essugo | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | BRA | Bruno Tabata | 20 | 2 | 2+14 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | POR | Nuno Santos | 37 | 8 | 23+8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | POR | Tiago Tomás | 37 | 6 | 16+14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | FW | ECU | Gonzalo Plata | 14 | 1 | 1+8 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | POR | Paulinho | 14 | 3 | 13+1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | BRA | Luiz Phellype | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | FW | CPV | Jovane Cabral | 28 | 8 | 6+18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | SVN | Andraž Šporar | 20 | 4 | 6+7 | 3 | 1+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ARG | Luciano Vietto | 5 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | MKD | Stefan Ristovski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | POR | Pedro Marques | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | COL | Cristian Borja | 4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | POR | Miguel Luís | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | BRA | Wendel | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 73 | DF | POR | Tiago Ilori | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | DF | FRA | Valentin Rosier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 78 | FW | POR | Rafael Camacho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 98 | MF | CIV | Idrissa Doumbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: playmakerstats

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat | Name | Primeira Liga | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 28 | FW | | Pedro Gonçalves | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 2 | 11 | FW | | Nuno Santos | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | 77 | FW | | Jovane Cabral | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | DF | | Sebastián Coates | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | FW | | Tiago Tomás | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | FW | | Andraž Šporar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | 24 | MF | | Pedro Porro | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | MF | | Matheus Nunes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 21 | FW | | Paulinho | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | 3 | DF | | Zouhair Feddal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | MF | | João Palhinha | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 7 | MF | | Bruno Tabata | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 17 | MF | | João Mário | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 25 | FW | | Pedro Marques | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 52 | DF | | Gonçalo Inácio | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | 10 | FW | | Luciano Vietto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | 20 | FW | | Gonzalo Plata | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | 35 | DF | | Nuno Mendes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 65 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 82 |