A 0-0 draw for Lions sees them lose on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund

Sporting Clube de Portugal exited the UEFA Champions League with a 0-0 draw away to BV Borussia 09 Dortmund, as the German side went through the playoff to the Last 16 as a result of their 0-3 first leg win.

Rui Borges' men were unable to break down an ultra-defensive Borussia Dortmund, who focused on controlling their advantage at the Signal Iduna Park.

Facing the losing finalists of the last edition of the Champions League, currently 11th in the Bundesliga, Sporting CP made wholesale changes. Rui Borges returned to the 3-4-3 formation and made six rotations to the XI he fielded in Liga Portugal the weekend before. Injuries to Jeremiah St. Juste and Daniel Bragança forced his hand, and he decided to rest Francisco Trincão and Viktor Gyökeres.

Sporting CP lined up with Rui Silva in goal; a trio of defenders made up of Gonçalo Inácio, Ousmane Diomande and Eduardo Quaresma; Matheus Reis and Ricardo Esgaio as the wingers; Morten Hjulmand and João Simões occupying the midfield; and the attack featuring Geovany Quenda, Biel Teixeira and Conrad Harder.

As night fell, the temperature also dropped to just above 0ºC. There were more than two thousand Sporting fans present in the largest stadium in Germany -one of the most imposing in the world, with a capacity for 81,365 spectators.

After kickoff, as the minutes passed, Sporting CP began to enjoy a series of transitions, but the action near the areas only began later, in the 28th minute. Borussia Dortmund opened space for a dangerous shot by Marcel Sabitzer from the edge of the area, to which Rui Silva responded with an excellent save.

Serhou Guirassy, top scorer in the European competition, also tried his luck from outside the box, but Rui Silva held onto it efficiently. Sporting CP made some valiant forays from Matheus Reis, Biel and Quenda, although with no shots registered.

Closing the first half, Sporting CP experienced further injury woes: João Simões went off and was replaced by Zeno Debast.

At the start of the second half, there was another change, with 19-year-old Alexandre Brito making his debut in the UEFA Champions League -just days after his first team debut proper. He came on for captain Hjulmand, who had suffered a knock.

Rui Silva continued to make saves in a more frantic start to the second half, denying Karim Adeyemi with a terrific stretch and then stopping a penalty from Guirassy to keep the score goalless.

Maxi Araújo and another Champions League debutant, Afonso Moreira, were introduced, and it was the young players from off the bench who tried to create the necessary reaction. After the winger shot over, Alexandre Brito also went upfield and struck slightly wide of the post.

Dortmund were then denied by the post, off a shot from newly introduced Giovanni Reyna, and soon after, Emre Can had a goal disallowed for offside.

After a promising shot from Quenda that was blocked by the defence, Harder also sent a ball around the post from a flick.

Even though he didn't scare Gregor Kobel because he ended up being blocked by the rebounds, Harder managed a deflection at the near post, but it went wide.

The young Dane then forced goalkeeper Gregor Kobel into action with his header, off a delivery from first team debutant Lucas Anjos.

The score remained the same, and Os Leões said goodbye to the Champions League with a draw, something that no Portuguese team had achieved before against BV Borussia 09 Dortmund in seven games.

With the UEFA Champions League campaign over, Sporting CP now look to Liga Portugal, with an away game scheduled for this Sunday (6pm) at AVS SAD.

Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GR], Ricardo Esgaio, Eduardo Quaresma, Ousmane Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio (Maxi Araújo, 56’), Matheus Reis, Morten Hjulmand [C] (Alexandre Brito, 46’), João Simões (Zeno Debast, 40’), Geovany Quenda (Lucas Anjos, 84’), Biel Teixeira (Afonso Moreira, 56’), Conrad Harder.