One of the competition's most enduring rivalries will be revived to open Saturday's action. The pair first met back in the 2004/05 second qualifying round, an epic 4-3 win for Inter, but a decade later Sporting prevailed 1-0 to reach the finals. But it is the three more recent encounters that stick out: Inter's 7-0 and 5-2 victories in the finals of 2017 and 2018 that increased their record tally of titles to five, followed by Sporting's 5-3 success in the 2019 semis, at the same Almaty Arena where they had conceded seven two years earlier.
Quarter-final highlights: Sporting 3-2 KPRF
Dieguinho, who got a hat-trick that day, is no longer at Sporting but plenty of veterans of those showdowns will be involved in Zadar, though not the Lions' former Inter pivot Cardinal who is injured, while team-mate Vinicius Rocha is suspended having shone in Thursday's 3-2 defeat of KPRF. Inter looked comfortable in beating their Russian opponents Ugra Yugorsk 3-0, but they are taking on a Sporting side unbeaten in 45 competitive games since January 2020.