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Watch Real Madrid Vs. Sporting Lisbon Live Stream: Start Time, Preview As Los Blancos Open Champions League Defense

By Jonathan Vankin
Published on: 12:14 PST, Sep 13, 2016

Real Madrid open the defense of their 11th European Championship, when they face Portuguese powerhouse Sporting Lisbon in a Group F opening match on Wednesday, a match that will stream live and which pits Real Madrid megastar Cristiano Ronaldo against the club that launched his career 14 years ago.

Ronaldo joined the Sporting Club youth program at age 12, and by the time he was 17 the future world’s most famous football player was playing on the club’s senior team. But on August 12, 2003, English Premier League club Manchester United paid £12.24 million — over $16 million in today’s United States cash — to bring the prodigy to England.

Then in 2009, Manchester United sold Ronaldo, who was by then one of the best players in the world, to Real Madrid for £80 million — over $105 million — and Ronaldo has been at the Bernabeu ever since.

“It’s a special match, it’s a special team. To play Sporting again is a privilege for me,” Ronaldo said on Tuesday.

“It’s a great challenge and I think at Real we have a chance to win it again,” he added. “We know it’s a very difficult competition, but we think positive, that it’s possible to win it again.”

Real Madrid would become the first UEFA Champions League winner to repeat as trophy-winners since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992.

Watch a special promotional video for the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon match, below.

To find out how to watch a live stream of the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon UEFA Champions League 2016 Group Stage opening match, see the streaming links at the bottom of this article. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, September 14.

For fans in the United States, that start time will be 2:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific.

Despite winning the UEFA Champions League in the 2015-2016 competition, Real Madrid finished second in Spain’s La Liga, just one point behind winners Barcelona. Sporting Lisbon also finished second in their league, the Portuguese Liga, two points off the pace set by champs Benfica.

Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane took over as Los Blancos boss in January, and proceeded to guide his team the rest of the way through the Champions League tournament to the championship, which they won on penalties against crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid.

This year, for the first time, Zidane has the chance to take Real Madrid all the way from the group stage opener to glory.

“When I began as a coach people were questioning what I would be able to do. I can say that, with humility, I’m getting better. I improved as a player, and I’m improving as a coach,” Zidane said at a Tuesday press conference. “But maybe in six months this all ends. So at the moment I’m enjoying every moment, every training session, my players, the atmosphere.”

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Can Real Madrid get off to a winning start under manager Zinedine Zidane, who will guide Los Blancos through the tournament from the beginning for the first time? Or can Sporting Lisbon put a chink in the armor of the UEFA Champions League titlists in their opening match of the competition? To find out, watch the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon UEFA Champions League Matchday One contest from 81,000-seat Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, with streaming video provided by Fox Sports Go at this link, or by downloading the Fox Sports Go app to watch on tablet computers and smartphones. Fox Sports Go also streams live on the Amazon Fire TV and Roku set-top streaming devices, allowing fans to watch the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon Champions League Group Stage match stream live to their TV sets.

Fans without cable login credentials can watch Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon match legally and for free on Sling TV, by signing up for a seven-day free trial of the Sling “Blue” or “Orange” plans. Both include Fox Sports 2, which carries the UEFA Champions League match. The Sling TV plans can be accessed at this link.

[Photo By Denis Doyle/Getty Images]

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