The Portuguese side, however, do not need to draw inspiration from elsewhere to give themselves hope ahead of their trip to the Westfalenstadion, having already beaten another recent finalist by a three-goal margin in this season's competition, beating Manchester City 4-1 in the League Phase.
The key figure that night for what was then Ruben Amorim's side was Viktor Gyokeres; the Swedish striker bagged a hat-trick against the 2023 champions and if they are to produce a similar performance, the sought-after centre-forward will likely be pivotal again.
Gyokeres has scored six times in eight appearances in the competition this term - also notching against Lille, Sturm Graz and RB Leipzig - but could only manage a 30-minute cameo in the first leg against Dortmund as he regained fitness following a thigh injury.
Back in the starting line-up for a 2-2 draw with Arouca at the weekend, the 26-year-old will provide a focal point for a team which has scored at least once in every UCL game the Swede has started.
An early strike in front of the Yellow Wall tomorrow could quickly change the dynamic of the tie, even if the odds are stacked against Sporting, who have one just once in 14 UCL trips to Germany and are now winless in five in Europe, having gone unbeaten in their first four this campaign.
Daniel Svensson aiming to cruise through
An average of 2.2 goals scored across their last 15 UCL home matches suggests that the Black & Yellows will have enough to comfortably book their passage through to the last 16.
That will be the aim for another rising Swedish star and one of the new additions to the Dortmund squad, Daniel Svensson.
Like his compatriot in Lisbon, Svensson attracted attention from many of Europe's biggest clubs in the January window, before ultimately joining Dortmund on loan from Danish outfit FC Nordsjaelland, with an €8 million obligation to buy in the summer.
It has been quite a rise for the 23-year-old left-back, who made his Sweden debut in October against Estonia. A debut off the bench against Stuttgart this month was followed by 90 minutes in the first leg against Sporting, then he retained his place in Niko Kovac's starting line-up for the weekend loss to Bochum.
That defeat was the latest of nine in the Bundesliga this season, leaving Dortmund in 11th place, but their UCL form has been far removed from that, winning six of their nine games and scoring 25 times in the process.
That attacking output is likely to increase given Svensson's desire and ability to get forward.
"I'm a left-back. I love having the ball and I like to play attacking football, going forward to score goals," he told Borussia Dortmund upon his arrival.
Defence may be key to stopping Gyokeres and his Sporting teammates, but with Svensson in the side, attack may be Dortmund's best form of defence.