The encounter between Sporting and Genk was to decide group victory. For the Portuguese, even a draw would have meant that the Lisbon squad could play Friday’s final. The Genk head coach made several changes in their starting lineup, as the Belgian team had still been fighting for a draw against Honvéd on Wednesday afternoon, but only a victory against Sporting would have meant group victory on Thursday. The Lisbon team started the match pressing aggressively. First Muniz headed wide from a corner, then Ribeiro broke through in the middle. But in vain did he stand alone against the goalkeeper coming out, he lobbed not only De Boeck but also the goal. Genk did not cross the halfway line for four minutes, but when they did, Godts dribbled into the penalty area and aimed for the far top corner, and his shot massively rattled the goal post. On the other side, Gomes was also bold enough to let a bomb fly from 25 metres, which also rebounded off the post into the field. Sporting kept creating their chances one after the other. In the 10th minute, everyone thought Ribeiro's header was in, but the defenders scratched the ball out of the goal area. Then, in the 14th minute, Genk's goalkeeper produced another tremendous save at Anjos's shot, the rebounding ball fell to Gomes standing free to put Sporting deservedly into the lead. Two minutes later, Anjos raced as far as the goal, but his shot was defended by de Broeck, Ribeiro tried again, but the ball bounced back from the defenders onto the referee, so the situation ended with a dropped ball. The Belgian goalkeeper was still kept busy, as he had to save Justo’s 25-metre free kick, which he did easily this time. Close to halftime it was the Belgians’ turn to create their second chance. At the end of a scene reminiscent of a pinball game in front of the goal, Nuozzi fired wide while falling. The last chance of the first half belonged to Edgar Davids lookalike Octavio, whose shot missed the target by far. After switching sides, Genk pressed further up, but it was Sporting that created yet another chance, Anjos's pass found Travassos free, who fired from the left tip of the smaller box, placing it wide. Not long after, it was again the Portuguese right back who was overlapping, but his attempt was going into the middle and provided an easy task for the goalkeeper. Then came Anjos's moments. The left winger had three chances, first he bent it wide off the left post with his right foot. He then dribbled twice until he could shoot from close range, but the Belgian goalkepper saved both times, which the defenders then cleared, even if not easily. Although Genk had more ball possession, they could not really create a big chance. In the 54th minute, no one got a touch to the free kick lobbed forward, so Silva had to palm away the ball heading for goal. Then Carpe got in a shooting position, but his shot heading for the bottom left corner was saved confidently by the Portuguese goalkeeper. Genk could not equalize, and Sporting secured their win and thus group victory in the 63rd minute.

Fernandes fired a great shot from the 16-metre line, which slammed into the back of the Belgian net. After their 2-0 success, Sporting can therefore play the final on Friday. Honvéd came second in the group, and Genk third.

Sporting CP – KRC Genk  2-0 (1-0)

Referee: Rúsz (Punyi, Márkus)

Goal scorers: Gomes (14.), Mateus Fernandes (64.)

Yellow card: Justo (43.), Octavio (54.) and Carpe (47.)

Sporting CP: Silva – Travassos, Junior, Muniz, Moreira – Octavio (Carvalho, 63.) Justo – Gomes (Pacheco 56.) , Santos (Pereira, 60.), Anjos (Garcia, 56.) – Ribeiro (Fernandes, at halftime) Head coach:  Pedro Coelho

KRC Genk: De Boeck – Berten (Konde, 49.), Claes (Sakkali, 49.), Monamay, Et Taibi, - Carpe, Martens, Godts (Slegers, 41.), Michiels – Nuozzi (Diawara, at halftime) Sy (de Grand, at halftime)     Head coach: Jan Wuytens