Sporting Club Lisbon begin their title defense quest on Friday evening against Primeira Liga debutants Vizela at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Last season, Sporting finally managed to end the dominance of Porto and Benfica in Portuguese football. They have won their maiden Primeira Liga title since 2001/02 last season by finishing the campaign five points clear off the second-placed Porto.
They enter the 2021/22 season in the highest of spirits, aiming to repeat the last year’s success.
Ruben Amorim, who is about to lead Sporting in his first full season at the helm, can be more than satisfied with his side’s displays in pre-season. The Lisbon outfit clinched four successive victories going into this season opener against Vizela.
The run includes back-to-back wins over Ligue 1 outfits Angers (2-0) and Lyon (3-2), as well as a 2-1 victory over Braga in the Portuguese Super Cup. The Lions have thus shown impressive attacking form this summer, bagging at least two goals in each of five games they played in July.
The hosts will fancy their chances of translating such a marvelous spell of form to competitive games, especially since they take on competition’s debutants Vizela here.
The visitors will have a very tough task to avoid a defeat in their inaugural top flight affair. They will enter the game in a completely opposite mood, having lost the League Cup tie 2-1 to lower-division Estrela two weeks ago.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

里斯本体育俱乐部将于周五晚上在阿尔瓦拉德球场迎战西甲新秀维泽拉，开始他们的卫冕之旅。
上个赛季，里斯本竞技队终于成功终结了波尔图和本菲卡在葡萄牙足球中的统治地位。自2001/02赛季以来，他们在赛季结束时以5分的优势领先第二名波尔图，赢得了他们的首个甲级联赛冠军。
他们以最高的精神进入2021/22赛季，旨在重复去年的成功。
鲁本·阿莫里姆，即将在他执教竞技队的第一个完整赛季中带领球队，他对球队在季前赛中的表现非常满意。这支来自里斯本的球队在本赛季揭幕战中战胜了维泽拉，取得了四连胜。
其中包括连续两场击败法甲愤怒队(2-0)和里昂队(3-2)，以及在葡萄牙超级杯上2-1战胜布拉加队。因此，狮子队在这个夏天展现出了令人印象深刻的进攻状态，在7月的5场比赛中，每一场都至少进了2个球。
东道主们将会期待他们的机会将如此出色的状态转化到竞技比赛中，特别是在这里他们将迎战比赛的新手Vizela。
客队将面临一个非常艰巨的任务，以避免失败，他们的首个顶级飞行事件。他们将以一种完全相反的心情参加比赛，两周前他们以2-1输给了低级别联赛的埃斯特雷拉。