The Bulgarians cannot progress to the knockout stages of the competition after a string of hapless performances. However, they will attempt to at least treat their fans to an entertaining finale and the scalp of a prestigious club like Sporting would go some way to brightening the mood. They need to secure a win and hope that Gent do not lose to Lille if they are to avoid finishing bottom of the pile. Sporting, meanwhile, qualified easily and are group winners regardless of tomorrow's result. The highlight of their campaign so far was a rampant 5-0 win over Levski in Portugal. Sporting coach Paulo Sergio has taken a 20-man squad to Bulgaria secure in the knowledge his side will still be involved after Christmas. Liedson and Pedro Mendes are missing with Simon Vukcevic set to start in midfield, while up front he has a choice of Helder Postiga or Yannick Djalo. Daniel Carrico had a minor operation earlier this week and will not travel for the match at the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium. For Levski, Ivo Ivanov is expected to anchor the defence while Serginho Greene will look to create for the Bulgarians unless he is rested by coach Yasen Petrov. Midfielder Aleksandar Aleksandrov is a slight doubt for the fixture and Michael Tawiah will have a fitness test.
