# 2002–03 Sporting CP season

The 2002–03 season was Sporting Club de Portugal's 96th season in existence and the club's 69th 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, UEFA Champions League Qualifying rounds and UEFA Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003.

## Season Summary

As defending league winners, the club collapsed in this season, finishing a massive 27 points behind league leader Jose Mourinho's FC Porto. This was mainly due to issues in their attacking line, including an Mário Jardel injury in January. In Europe the team was eliminated early; in August the side was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League Qualifying round by Inter Milan. After that, in September Serbian club Partizan FK defeated Sporting in the UEFA Cup first round. At the end of the season 18-yr-old midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo left the club to be transferred to Manchester United.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | POR | Ricardo |
| 1 | GK | POR | Nélson |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago |
| 13 | GK | POR | Nuno Santos |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Facundo Quiroga |
| 6 | MF | POR | Hugo |
| 21 | DF | MOZ | Paíto |
| 22 | DF | POR | Beto |
| 23 | DF | POR | Rui Jorge |
| 3 | MF | POR | Rui Bento |
| 8 | MF | POR | Pedro Barbosa |
| 11 | MF | CHI | Rodrigo Tello |
| 15 | DF | CHI | Pablo Contreras |
| 17 | MF | POR | Paulo Bento |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | DF | BRA | César Prates |
| 30 | MF | ESP | Toñito |
| 7 | FW | ROU | Marius Niculae |
| 10 | FW | POR | Sá Pinto |
| 25 | MF | POR | João Pinto |
| 20 | MF | POR | Ricardo Quaresma |
| 16 | FW | BRA | Mário Jardel |
| 9 | FW | BLR | Vitali Kutuzov |
| 28 | MF | POR | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 14 | MF | POR | Ricardo Fernandes |
| 26 | MF | POR | Carlos Martins |
| 18 | DF | POR | Luís Filipe |
| 27 | MF | POR | Custódio |
| 29 | MF | ANG | Lourenço |
| 55 | MF | BRA | Marcos Paulo |
| 32 | MF | POR | João Paulo |
| 19 | MF | POR | Danny |

## Competitions
### Primeira Liga
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Porto (C) | 34 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 73 | 26 | +47 | 86 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Benfica | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 74 | 27 | +47 | 75 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Sporting CP | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 59 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Vitória de Guimarães | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 47 | 46 | +1 | 50 | |
| 5 | União de Leiria | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 49 | 47 | +2 | 49 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
* ↑ Leiria qualified for the UEFA Cup as Portuguese Cup runners-up

#### 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | L | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | D | L | D | W | D | W | D | D | L | L |
| Position | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Cup
#### First round
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Champions League | Champions League | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | POR | Nélson | 19 | -26 | 19 | -26 |
| 15 | DF | CHI | Contreras | 32 | 2 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Quiroga | 28 | 1 | 25+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | POR | Hugo | 25 | 1 | 23+2 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | POR | Rui Bento | 30 | 1 | 26+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | DM | POR | Paulo Bento | 29 | 1 | 23+6 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | POR | Quaresma | 33 | 5 | 27+4 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | ESP | Toñito | 30 | 5 | 21+7 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | POR | João Pinto | 25 | 8 | 25 | 8 |
| 9 | MF | BLR | Kutuzov | 26 | 3 | 16+8 | 3 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | BRA | Jardel | 19 | 11 | 17+2 | 11 |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago | 17 | -14 | 15 | -12 | 2 | -2 |
| 23 | DF | POR | Rui Jorge | 24 | 1 | 18+4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | POR | Beto | 19 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | CHI | Tello | 15 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | POR | Barbosa | 26 | 2 | 12+12 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | BRA | César Prates | 20 | 5 | 11+7 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | POR | Ronaldo | 26 | 3 | 11+14 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | ROU | Niculae | 19 | 3 | 9+8 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | POR | Sá Pinto | 13 | 1 | 5+8 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | POR | Fernandes | 8 | 1 | 5+1 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | POR | Martins | 6 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | POR | Luís Filipe | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 55 | MF | BRA | Marcos Paulo | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | POR | João Paulo | 6 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | POR | Danny | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | POR | Nuno Santos | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | GK | POR | Ricardo |
| 27 | MF | POR | Custódio |
| 29 | MF | ANG | Lourenço |
| 21 | DF | MOZ | Paíto |
* Source: https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/t/t2002-035001.html?t=lista