13/3/2008 - Sporting Lisbon vs Bolton UEFA Cup 2nd Leg

It is now obvious that Bolton boss Gary Megson has no intention of spending too much time on this live online commentary UEFA Cup second leg tie between Sporting Lisbon and his Bolton team with a relegation six pointer on Sunday against Wigan. The priority has to be given to the league as Bolton would have to endure less financial security and revenue if Bolton were ever to lose its top flight status. Megson has stated that chasing European success would be great if the club were in a more comfortable position at home, but given the huge potential losses of EPL money were Bolton to be relegated, it would hurt the club in the long term. To illustrate his point, Megson has decided to leave 12 of his first team players at home. This basically means that Bolton will be fielding a second string team against Sporting Lisbon tonight, which usually leads people to believe that they will not have a chance of getting through the rest of the tie.

However, analysing Bolton's performances in the previous rounds of the UEFA Cup would lead one to realise that some of their better results had been earned in similar circumstances such as the one they have walked into for this live online commentary match against Sporting Lisbon. If Sporting Lisbon coach Paulo Bento were to think this game would be a walkover after seeing the lineup, he would be well advised to think twice and have a look at Bolton's matches against Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade and Atletico Madrid, where they fielded decidedly weakened teams and still returned home with surprising results. This can happen if you consider that the second stringers would normally not get to play in the English Premier League and would seize the chance in Europe to shine. Not only does it put you in the reckoning for the subsequent games in the season, you can also raise your own stock in the transfer market if required. But how long this positive spin can continue for Bolton remains to be seen, and they would have to be at their very best again for this live online commentary UEFA Cup match against Sporting Lisbon in Portugal in order to have any hope to progressing further.