Nacional is having a normal season for their standards. The team is in the middle of the table, but still not way off the relegation zone (five points ahead). They depend mainly on their home games as usual (4-3-2), but against the best teams in the league they find it really difficult to get even a point. They lost against Benfica and Vitória Guimarães so far, but still have to play with Sporting, Porto and Braga, so their home stats won't be so good after this games.

So far in the cup they had luck with the draw. In the previous two rounds they played against Moreirense (win after penalties) and Tirsense (again win after penalties).

Sporting is on a really bad run in the league, but in the last round finally managed to get a three points (2:0 against Beira Mar) after four straight games without a win before that. The team can only fight for third position, because the difference between them and the top two now is just too big. But still Sporting can save their season with a trophy in the cup. Porto, Benfica and Braga are already eliminated from the tournament and now Sporting is the big favorite for the trophy. This second leg against Nacional will be vital and if they manage to win it they will be in the final where will play against UD Oliveirense or Académica.

Sporting just can't miss such an opportunity, despite their bad form right now. The first leg between the two teams finished in a draw (2:2), which means that the visitors in this game should win this game if they want to make it to the final. This can easily be said to be their game of the season and the team will be motivated 100%.

Nacional is not playing bad, but when they meet a team from the top four the situation is different and the team just cannot play at the same level as them.