Sporting vs. Barcelona: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info for UCL Match

Barcelona and Sporting CP will collide at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday as both teams seek to preserve their winning starts to this season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

Ernesto Valverde got off to a triumphant start in his first European outing as Barca boss and defeated Juventus 3-0 a fortnight ago to take an early grasp of Group D.

But Sporting were impressive in their trip to Athens and beat Olympiakos 3-2 on foreign soil to pull level with the Blaugrana on three points apiece, a tally they'll hope to double in the Portuguese capital on Wednesday.

Both teams have also got off to strong starts domestically, and while Barcelona have topped La Liga with a perfect record, Sporting find themselves just two points off Primeira Liga leaders Porto after seven matches.

Read on for a preview of Wednesday's Champions League group-stage meeting, complete with live-stream information and a breakdown of the latest team news heading into the fixture.

Date: Wednesday, September 27

Time: 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon

Live Stream: BT Sport app (UK), beIN Sports Connect (U.S.), fuboTV (U.S.)

TV Info: BT Sport Extra (UK, red button), beIN Sports 2 (U.S.)

Team News

Both teams are fortunate to boast close to clean bills of health coming into their midweek encounter, although it's Barcelona who are undoubtedly missing the bigger names of the two sides.

Namely star summer signing Ousmane Dembele, who recently underwent surgery on a ruptured tendon but took to Instagram to say he'll return in two months, rather than the predicted three-and-a-half, per Spanish daily AS:

Rafinha Alcantara is the other big concern for Valverde at present, although he may be expected to return form a four-month lay-off soon after he underwent surgery on his knee in April, per BBC Sport.

Sporting manager Jorge Jesus has no new concerns on his mind, per Transfermarkt, and Wednesday should see former Barca defender Jeremy Mathieu start against his old club, whom he left over the summer months.

Preview

Two outfits contesting for their respective league titles early on this term will turn their focus to Europe on Wednesday, where Sporting will look to extend their unbeaten home streak to seven consecutive matches.

The Lions were last beaten at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in July, when they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Vitoria Guimaraes, but Portuguese football expert Jan Hagen attested to the fierce atmosphere that awaits Barca in Lisbon:

It's been nine seasons since Sporting CP last managed to make it into the knockout stages of a Champions League competition, and Wednesday's meeting is a must-win if they want to beat Juventus in qualifying this year.

But Barcelona have looked near unstoppable under new coach Valverde, who spoke of his contentment with the beginning of his reign at the club, having clinched six wins from an attempted six, via Goal:

Saturday saw the Blaugrana book a 3-0 win over La Liga newcomers Girona, although the Catalan giants didn't look to be at their attacking best considering two of those goals were scored by opposition players.

This post-Neymar Barcelona team proved with a 3-0 win over Juve in their most recent European outing that they're here to contend for Champions League honours, and a six-point meeting awaits early on for these two teams in Lisbon.