Thierry Correia, Luís Maximiano, Rafael Leão and Miguel Luís donate their Portugal shirts to the Alvalade museum

Miguel Luís, Rafael Leão, Thierry Correia and Luís Maximiano and the rest of the Sporting CP youth team were at the Sporting Museum this week, for the four to donate their European Championship winning shirts. Accompanying the group was president Bruno de Carvalho and scouting legend Aurélio Pereira.

The players were understandably pleased with the initiative, having earned their place in the Sporting Museum before even reaching the senior squad. "It is an hour to be part of this club. I know that in 100 or even 200 years my shirt will still be here and I couldn't be happier. Hopefully I will be somebody that other players look up to in the future, like I do with the players", said Luís Maximiano, followed in the same tone by Thierry Correia: "I feel really proud. I wasn't expecting this and I really don't know what to say. I want to carry on with the club and to come back with even more trophies."

Rafael Leão also had a big smile on his face, affirming: "I am really happy. This is a huge honour for us and motivates us to carry on putting the work in. I want to win a lot more titles here, starting with the national under-19 title." Last but not least, Miguel Luís highlighted the importance of the initiative: "It is an honour for us. To come here with the president is an honour. I don't feel nervous on the pitch anymore, but I did feel a bit here today."

Sporting CP under-19 coach Tiago Fernandes was also on hand to share his thoughts. "I have been with the lads for six years now, directly or indirectly. They are really strong mentally and they all really to keep on learning. This is the cherry on the top of the cake for what they have achieved", said Fernandes, backed up by Alvalade coaching legend, Aurélio Pereira.

Report from the The European Club Footballing Landscape highlights Sporting CP growth

A study undertaken by The European Club Footballing Landscape and published by UEFA has named Sporting CP in 9th place in terms of increased spectator numbers in Europe. For the first time in the history of the new Estádio José Alvalade, average attendance was over 40.000 spectators, which puts Sporting CP amongst Europe's best.

Also attracting attention was the profits turned over by Sporting CP, with 24 million euros resulting in an increase of 38% which put the club in 13th overall.

President Bruno de Carvalho has commented on his official Facebook account about the report: "According to a report from The European Club Footballing Landscape, published by UEFA, which has analysed clubs in relation to 2015, it shows that Sporting Clube de Portugal is on the right track! The club is in the top 10 in terms of increased attendance and 13th in terms of profit. This is yet again proof that our effort, dedication and devotion is being rewarded."

To read the report, click here.

Manchester United legend takes milestone number before watching Alvalade host Real Madrid

Manchester United legend Eric Cantona is officially Sporting CP's 150,000th Club Member, announced by Bruno de Carvalho before kick-off against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

"I love being in this stadium. Thank you all and I wish you the best. You are a great team", said Cantona in an interview on the pitch, before receiving a commemorative plaque from the Alvalade president.

Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva hosted by Bruno de Carvalho

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, paid a visit to Estádio José Alvalade this week, as part of a delegation hosted by Sporting CP President Bruno de Carvalho, SAD administrator Guilherme Pinheiro and vice-president Carlos Vieira.

Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva explained how the opportunity came about: "This visit is the result of two things: firstly, I am a Sporting fan and wanted to come here. Secondly, I wanted to see Sporting CP from the inside. The club is massive in Portugal and in all Portuguese speaking countries. We are also here to look into developing a partnership with the club. We have been building up some solid relationships with other countries, particularly other Portuguese speaking countries and countries that have Portuguese speaking populations."

The Cape Verde leader also spoke about the proposed partnership with Sporting CP and some of the great Cape Verde names who have starred in Alvalade: "Sporting CP could be a good partner for our growth objectives in terms of sport in Cape Verde. We have two players in the Sporting CP squad right now and we have had others before, like Nani and Oceano. It is an honour for Cape Verde to be represented in this club."

Cristiano Ronaldo's new boots dedicated to the most important night of the Portuguese hero's career

Every player has a pivotal moment in their career. For Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, that moment came on the 6th of August 2003, with the inauguration of the new Estádio José Alvalade.

It was his performance against Manchester United, with Ronaldo tearing down the left wing, that saw Sir Alex Ferguson fall in love and make the inevitable move to take the 18-year old to England.

A year after the launch of a new look website, Sporting CP launches brand new online store

President Bruno de Carvalho, Tiago Andrade and of course Jubas officially unveiled Sporting CP's new Official Online Store this Sunday, a few minutes before the start of the Liga NOS matchday 10 win against Arouca.

The new website had more than 500 products available 24 hours a day, no matter where you are in the world.

Visit the new website at lojaverde.sporting.pt

Partnership brings university and Alvalade closer together

The Faculty of Human Kinetics (FHK) is well known for its contribution to healthy human development across a variety of areas, most obviously sport.

With Sporting CP being one of Europe's most important sports institutions, a partnership between the two seems almost inevitable.

FHK president José Alves Dinis spoke about the deal between Alvalade and the faculty, penned this week in a move that opens up a wide range of possibilities: "We have students, both at undergraduate and post-graduate level who are doing their training at Sporting CP, in several different sports. As a university we can contribute to the players' well-being and transform that into benefits for the club."

Aurélio Pereira in UEFA interview about the Alvalade youth system

He arrived in Alvalade at the age of just 14 and years later he was invited back to the club by Hilário, where he would remain for two decades as a youth team coach. In July 1988 he opened the youth football department and went on to discover Luís Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Futre, Simão Sabrosa, Ricardo Quaresma, Nani and an endless list of others.

Aurélio Pereira sat down with UEFA this week to reflect in his time with the Sporting Academy, even revealing some of the tricks to his magical recipe for nurturing talent.

“As soon as we made contact with a player coming from far away, our objective focuses on bringing him over to the Sporting Academy. We are responsible for a massive change in the lives of young players who could become greats one day. We look to build up the lads as players, but also as men. We focus on everything involved in their development and that forges a special link between us. I have known some of the lads who are now in the main team since they were just 12 years' old. We are like family", opened the Alvalade scouting legend, going on to speak about Cristiano Ronaldo: "When we were building the Academy, the players had to move away from the old stadium and come and live at the residence. There was a road nearby where Ronaldo would go. He would put weights on his legs and when the traffic lights turned green he started sprinting. He did that a lot, because he thought it would give him speed and strength. That gives us an idea of what these lads go through."

Rodrigo Tello pays visit to the Sporting Academy

His free-kick goal against FC Porto is probably the first thing that springs to mind when Sporting fans think of Rodrigo Tello. Capable of playing both left-back and left wing, the Chilean spent a total of six seasons at Alvalade and was part of the 2001/2002 championship winning squad. He was back in Lisbon this week and he couldn't turn down the opportunity to visit the Sporting Academy.

"I am really happy to be back home. From when I arrived until i left in 2007 I learnt a lot here, as a person and as a player. I learnt a lot about football, but also a lot of values as well. It was a great league win for us, but it doesn't seem real that it was the last time the club won it. With the quality this club has, we should have won it more times."

The Chilean continues to follow Sporting, paying particular attention to his fellow countrymen who have since played in Alvalade: "I have always followed the club. Various players asked me about Sporting, like Valdés, Matías Fernandes and Rubio. I always told them it is a great club, with a very good academy and incredible fans."

"I finished my career and I have my businesses in Chile. I have opened a hotel, but my main projects are with young players. I have a few here in Portugal and I want to bring some more over to Europe", finished Tello.

Sales news for coming fixtures

on Friday the 14th of October, Sporting Clube de Portugal will begin ticket sales at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices as follows:

BORUSSIA DORTMUND | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHDAY 4

14TH TO 19TH OF OCTOBER: Club Members with a Gamebox 2016/2017

20TH TO 25TH OF OCTOBER: Club Members

26TH TO 31ST OF OCTOBER: General public

Two types of tickets are available: GREEN ZONE (€44.90) and ORANGE ZONE (€48.10). There are limited numbers of Orange Zone tickets and these tickets are mixed with home fans. A valid Gamebox or Member card must be shown during the first two phases of sales, with September 2016 paid. Each card is valid for 1 ticket and each person may present a maximum of 4 cards. For security reasons, ticket sales will follow an order previously established with UEFA.

Kick-off is scheduled for 19h45 on the 2nd of November.

FC AROUCA | LIGA NOS MATCHDAY 10

Tickers start from €5 for Members and €22  for fans. Family tickets are available from €21 and are valid for 3 people, one of which must be a Club Member. Kick-off is scheduled for the 6th of November at 20h15.