2003–04 Sporting CP season

Season Overview

The club had a disappointing season in the wake of teenage starlet Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Manchester United and Mario Jardel's transfer to Bolton Wanderers in August 2003.

Sporting began the season with a 2-1 away victory over Academica Coimbra, thanks to a last minute winning goal from Beto. Sporting then had irregular form for the next 6 matchdays, but then went on an 18-match unbeaten run. Sporting's form started to decline towards the end of the season, starting with a heavy 4-0 loss to Rio Ave on 27 March 2004. Sporting won their next three matches after that to bounce back from the heavy loss, but then lost matches to Boavista, União Leiria, and then lost the Lisbon derby to Benfica thanks to a late goal by Geovanni in the penultimate round of the season, which ended their hopes of qualifying to the Champions League the following season.

In the Portuguese Cup, the club was eliminated in the fifth round, by Vitoria Guimaraes, after entering in the fourth round. In the UEFA Cup, the club was eliminated at home in the second round with three goals in less than ten minutes by Turkish club Gençlerbirliği after having drawn the first leg.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• POR Ricardo
• POR Nélson
• POR Tiago

Defenders

• ARG Facundo Quiroga
• BRAPOR Ânderson Polga
• POR Hugo
• POR Mário Sérgio
• POR Miguel Garcia
• MOZPOR Paíto
• POR Beto
• POR Luís Filipe
• POR Rui Jorge
• POR Santamaria
• ROU Eduardo Maldea

Midfielders

• POR Rui Bento
• POR Carlos Martins
• POR Pedro Barbosa
• CHLPOR Rodrigo Tello
• POR Paulo Bento
• BRA Fábio Rochemback
• POR Custódio
• BRA Clayton
• ESP Toñito
• BRAPOR Tinga

Attackers

• ROM Marius Niculae
• POR Sá Pinto
• POR João Pinto
• POR Lourenço
• BRAPOR Elpídio Silva
• BRA Liédson

Competitions

Primeira Liga

Main article: 2003–04 Primeira Liga

Standings

Matches

• Marítimo-Sporting 2-1
• 0-1 Liédson
• 1-1 Marcelo Carioca
• 2-1 Alan
• Sporting-Beira-Mar 3-1
• 1-0 Liédson
• 1-1 Sandro
• 2-1 João Pinto
• 3-1 Liédson
• Alverca-Sporting 1-2
• 1-0 Torrão
• 1-1 Fábio Rochemback
• 1-2 Liédson
• Sporting-Rio Ave 1-1
• 0-1 Evandro
• 1-1 Silva
• Paços de Ferreira-Sporting 1-2
• 0-1 Pedro Barbosa
• 1-1 Zé Manuel
• 1-2 Pedro Barbosa
• Sporting-Braga 2-0
• 1-0 João Pinto
• 2-0 Silva
• Estrela Amadora-Sporting 1-4
• 0-1 Fábio Rochemback
• 1-1 Júlio César
• 1-2 Pedro Barbosa
• 1-3 Liédson
• 1-4 Liédson
• Sporting-Boavista 1-0
• 1-0 Silva
• Benfica-Sporting 1-3
• 0-1 Fábio Rochemback
• 0-2 Silva
• 1-2 Luisão
• 1-3 Sá Pinto
• Sporting-Vitória Guimarães 2-1
• 0-1 Romeu
• 1-1 João Pinto
• 2-1 Pedro Barbosa
• Sporting-Académica 2-0
• 1-0 Liédson
• 2-0 Pedro Barbosa
• Belenenses-Sporting 1-3
• 1-0 Marco Paulo
• 1-1 Sá Pinto
• 1-2 João Pinto
• 1-3 Liédson
• Sporting-Porto 1-1
• 0-1 Jorge Costa
• 1-1 Pedro Barbosa
• Nacional-Sporting 3-3
• 0-1 Sá Pinto
• 1-1 Gouveia
• 2-1 Adriano
• 2-2 Marius Niculae
• 2-3 Lourenço
• 3-3 Carlos Álvarez
• Sporting-Moreirense 1-0
• 1-0 Fábio Rochemback
• Gil Vicente-Sporting 1-1
• 1-0 Luís Loureiro
• 1-1 Carlos Martins
• Sporting-Marítimo 1-0
• 1-0 Beto
• Beira-Mar-Sporting 0-2
• 0-1 Pedro Barbosa
• 0-2 Fábio Rochemback
• Sporting-Alverca 2-0
• 1-0 Carlos Martins
• 2-0 Liédson
• Rio Ave-Sporting 4-0
• 1-0 Evandro
• 2-0 Jaime
• 3-0 Paulo César
• 4-0 Evandro
• Sporting-Paços de Ferreira 1-0
• 1-0 Liédson
• Braga-Sporting 2-3
• 0-1 Silva
• 0-2 Liédson
• 0-3 Pedro Barbosa
• 1-3 Henrique
• 2-3 Henrique
• Sporting-Estrela Amadora 4-0
• 1-0 Liédson
• 2-0 Liédson
• 3-0 Marius Niculae
• 4-0 Liédson
• Boavista-Sporting 2-1
• 0-1 Liédson
• 1-1 Frechaut
• 2-1 Fary Faye
• União Leiria-Sporting 1-0
• 1-0 Alhandra
• Sporting-Benfica 0-1
• 0-1 Geovanni
• Vitória Guimarães-Sporting 0-2
• 0-1 Marius Niculae
• 0-2 João Pinto

Taca de Portugal

Main article: 2003–04 Taça de Portugal

Matches

Fourth Round

Fifth Round

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2003–04 UEFA Cup

Matches

First Round Second Round

Player statistics

References

References

1. "Sporting Clube de Portugal in 2003–04". Zerozero.