Sporting CP Captain Hjulmand to Miss Arsenal Clash Through Suspension

Sporting CP will be without their captain Morten Hjulmand for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal.

Sporting produced one of the standout comebacks of the round of 16 by overturning a 3–0 first-leg deficit against Bodø/Glimt, ending the Norwegian side’s impressive European run.

The Portuguese outfit, who finished seventh in the league phase, drew level on aggregate late in normal time thanks to goals from Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Gonçalves and Luis Javier Suárez.

They then completed the turnaround in extra time, with Maximiliano Araújo and Rafael Nel finding the net to seal progression and book a quarter-final meeting with Arsenal.

However, Sporting’s memorable night was marred by a setback, as Hjulmand received a yellow card early in the second half. It was his fifth booking of the Champions League campaign, triggering an automatic one-match suspension under UEFA regulations.

As a result, the Danish midfielder will be unavailable when Arsenal travel to Lisbon for the first leg, scheduled for either 7 or 8 April.

Mikel Arteta’s side, who advanced with a 3–1 aggregate victory over Bayer Leverkusen, head into the tie without immediate suspension concerns. Martín Zubimendi and Christian Nørgaard both avoided bookings in their last outing.

However, with yellow cards not reset until after the quarter-final stage, any further caution for either player across the two legs would result in a one-match ban.

Several Arsenal players are also carrying a single booking into the tie, including Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhães, Kai Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba and Ben White, all of whom will need to tread carefully across the two legs.