Saturday’s Primeira Liga match between Sporting CP and Boavista FC sees two of Portugal’s most storied clubs face off in a fascinating midseason encounter. Both sides enter the Journada 14 fixture in desperate need of points after staggering over the last few weeks.  

Sporting remain top of the league standings, but a string of poor results sees the Lisbon club struggling at a critical stage. With rivals SL Benfica and FC Porto both on their heels, Sporting will be feeling the pressure after failing to secure a point from his last four matches.

Boavista’s paper thin squad continues to scrape and battle for points over the early part of the season, with the Porto club hovering just over the relegation zone in 14th position. A visit to the Estádio José Alvalade will be the ultimate test for Os Axadrezados who will be aiming for their first league win since November 2. 

The draw for European qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place today. Portugal’s opponents will depend on the outcome of their Nations League quarter-final against Denmark in March. 

Should the Seleção beat the Danes, they will be placed in Group F alongside Hungary, the Republic of Ireland and Armenia. If Portugal lose to Denmark in the two-legged quarter-final, they will be in Group C and face off against Greece, Scotland and Belarus. 

From Lev Yashin to Rinat Dasayev, Russia’s footballing history is filled with imposing goalkeepers who have left their mark on the game for club and country. And at 27 years of age, Ivan Zlobin is well on his way to announcing himself as Russia’s next top shot-stopper.

Zach Lowy profiles the goalkeeper who travelled the length of Europe to pursue his dream, had to show resilience, but has found a happy home in Famalicão. 

Porto got their UEFA Europa League campaign back on track at Estádio do Dragão where they produced a deserved 2-0 victory against Midtjylland.

Danny Namaso’s deflected header put them ahead in the first half before Fábio Vieira instigated their second goal in the 56th minute when Pepê’s cross was converted by Samu Aghehowa.

Adam Buksa scored in added time with the goal ruled out by the VAR, the Dragons collecting a vital three points which puts them back into the play-off positions.

We are starting to run out of adjectives to describe Vitória’s European campaign this season. A comprehensive 4-1 win in Switzerland against St. Gallen made it four wins and one draw from their five UEFA Conference League matches to virtually seal the Portuguese team’s automatic qualification to the knockout rounds.

João Mendes, Gustavo Silva, Alberto Baio and Samu Silva scored as Rui Borges’ team outclassed St. Gallen, for whom Kevin Csoboth scored a consolation goal. José Ricardo Leite reports. 

Sporting Clube de Braga’s stuttering Europa League campaign suffered another setback as the Portuguese team were well beaten in the Italian capital against Roma.

Cláudio Ranieri’s team have seemingly turned over a new leaf in their volatile 2024/2025 campaign as Braga were dominated in what ended up a slightly flattering 3-0 loss for the visitors. Kevin Fernandes reports. 

Botafogo 0-3 Pachuca

New Brazilian and South American champions Botafogo were eliminated from the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday at the quarter final stage, ending their dream of playing finalist Real Madrid next week.

Just 72 hours after clinching the Brazilian title in Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo were soundly beaten 3-0 in the Qatar-based tournament by Mexican side Pachuca, who had not played for a month ahead of the last-eight meeting. All three goals, scored by Oussama Idrissi, Nelson Deossa and Salamon Rondón, came in the second half.

It was a strong week for Portuguese goalscoring in the Champions League, not least for Gonçalo Ramos who continued his recent comeback with a goal for Paris Saint-Germain against Salzburg.

Nuno Mendes also scored in the French champions’ 3-0 victory in Austria, while there was another goal for in-form Rafael Leão as Paulo Fonseca’s AC Milan secured a closely-fought win over Red Star Belgrade at San Siro.

Benfica were held to a 0-0 draw against Bologna in a frustrating UEFA Champions League encounter at Estádio da Luz.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored from an offside position before the Italian club took control without threatening Anatolii Trubin.

Ángel Di María tested Lukasz Skorupski before the break and Alexander Bah hit the bar from a tight angle, the Eagles going closest to breaking the deadlock in the 65th minute when Skorupski denied Pavlidis.

Di María and Zeki Amdouni had chances in the closing stages but there would be no breakthrough in Lisbon, Benfica sitting 15th on the table with two games remaining.

Throwback to when the Axadrezados beat Borussia Dortmund

We are in the last week of the 2024/25 season when all five of Portugal’s representatives involved in UEFA European club competitions are in action.

The perfect opportunity, therefore, for Portuguese football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira to take us on another journey into the past, as he recounts Boavista’s first ever victory in the Champions League - a prelude to a golden era for the Porto-based club...

Few would imagine how many happy nights were is store in the future for Boavista supporters when Borussia Dortmund came to town in the late autumn of 1999. That season had been the first Champions League experience for the Porto side and things hadn’t turned out spectacularly well for them, but then an unexpected last golden night paved the way for a winning cycle that would have them crowned kings of Portugal in addition to becoming a well-respected side all over Europe. 

How does a team go from being unbeatable (17W 1D 0L in 18 games), winning matches at a canter, playing wonderful football to the diametric opposite at the flick of a switch?

Okay, the switch in question has “Ruben Amorim OFF, João Pereira ON” written on it, but even accounting for the sudden loss of their coach, the manner in which the Portuguese champions appear to have forgotten how to play football is truly baffling.

Books may be written on the phenomenon in years to come. For now here is the report after another traumatic night for Sporting in Belgium and an attempt to describe what is going on at the Lisbon club. 

The top teams feeling the pressure

It was a very unusual week in Portugal’s Liga II. The top teams were shocked and none of them won. Tondela drew against Vizela 1-1, but still managed to stay leaders at the end of round 13.

Penafiel, however, continued the rough patch they are going through with a 3-0 loss away from home against Feirense, which brings up the question: is Penafiel’s promotion drive running out of steam?

PortuGOAL rounds up the weekend action in the Segunda Liga. 

Azores team on the up and up

The Estádio de São Miguel is becoming a fortress as surprise package Clube Desportivo Santa Clara build on their brilliant start to 2024/25.

Four successive wins, including victories over champions Sporting and a strong Vitória, have the Azorean outfit securely in fourth position, showing no signs of slowing down in their newly found pursuit of European football.

“We must keep up this spirit if we want to achieve greater things. We’re a well-oiled team and today’s goal was, once again, a well-worked team move that ended well.” So said Vinícius Lopes following their latest victory.

The Brazilian striker is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week. Kevin Fernandes reports. 

The greatest week in the history of Brazilian giants Botafogo ended on Sunday afternoon with the club’s first league title in 29 years, sealing a remarkable double by Artur Jorge’s side.

Having lifted the Copa Libertadores last weekend, becoming South American champions for the first time, Fogão’s 2-1 victory over São Paulo at home on Sunday saw them clinch the Campeonato Brasileiro on the final day.

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, known in the football world as Nani, announced the end of his stellar playing career on Sunday evening.

Nani clocked up 733 matches in a career spanning two decades, playing in seven different countries, scoring a total of 154 goals, and winning a hatful of trophies including Euro 2016 with Portugal, and the Champions League and 4 Premier League titles with Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. 

José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe saw their recent run of good form come to an end this weekend, losing 1-0 away to out-of-form Beşiktaş in the Istanbul derby.

There was a degree of fortune about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 73rd-minute winner, with the Englishman’s attempted cross evading everyone before nestling in the far corner, but the result is costly for Mourinho’s side in their attempts to compete with Galatasaray in the Super Lig.

Manchester United 2-3 Nottingham Forest

Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest secured a memorable victory at Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday evening, consigning Rúben Amorim’s side to consecutive defeats.

Having beaten Liverpool at Anfield already this season, Forest added another scalp at Old Trafford thanks to quick starts to both halves. Meanwhile, Amorim admitted United paid for their mistakes and insists there is much work ahead as he settles into a huge job to turn the Red Devils’ fortunes around.

Famalicão and Porto played out an entertaining 1-1 draw tonight. The visitors were well on top for most of the match, especially in a dominant first 45 minutes, only to go into the break losing after Óscar Aranda pounced on Diogo Costa’s mistake on the stroke of half time.

Porto equalised early in the second half through the inevitable Samu Aghehowa and the Spaniard seemed to have given the Dragons the lead when he finished off a brilliant counter-attack.

However, the goal was disallowed and a penalty awarded to Famalicão at the other end of the pitch for a handball infringement by Pepê in the Porto box at the start of the move, after intervention from the VAR.

To add to the drama, Diogo Costa redeemed himself for his earlier mistake by brilliantly saving Aranda’s spot kick and there was no further scoring.

Porto drop to third, level on points with Benfica but behind their rivals from the capital on the head-to-head result, with just two points separating the duo from leaders Sporting. 

In a tight game of few chances Benfica got the job done against an impressive Vitória side thanks to a first-half goal by Kerem Aktürkoğlu.

Benfica took the lead in the 29th-minute when the lively Turk ended a sweeping move by rifling in from 15 yards out, Pavlidis providing the assist, although Vitória goalkeeper Bruno Varela may feel he should have done better.

Manu Silva was outstanding for the visitors as Vitória remained in the hunt for points until the final whistle, but Benfica held on relatively comfortably to claim the win. 

From Argentina to Auckland, from Egyptians to Brazilians, from Munich to Miami.

Benfica and FC Porto this week learned their opponents in the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, which shall take place in the United States of America from 14 June to 13 July 2025. 

SL Benfica will be looking to secure three points when they face Vitória SC this weekend at the Estádio da Luz as they aim to keep the pressure on Sporting CP. This Jornada 13 fixture, however, will be no walk in the park. Saturday’s matchup pits the third and sixth-placed sides in the Primeira Liga against each other, with plenty of star talent on display. 

Vitória, currently sixth place in the Primeira Liga standings, come into Saturday’s match after an impressive 4-0 victory over Gil Vicente, and have managed 10 points from their last five matches in all competitions. Benfica have also been in fine form, accumulating a perfect 12 points from their previous four fixtures, including an impressive 4-1 win over FC Porto in November. 

Rafael Leão is in fine form of late, scoring five goals in his last seven appearances for AC Milan and Portugal. However, given Leão’s record of patchy spells of bright performances, many are yet to be convinced the Seleção man has turned a corner in his battle to achieve consistency.

Former Milan star Roberto Donadoni told reporters earlier in the week that Leão must produce across sustained periods to shake his reputation as an unreliable performer. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Milan’s trip to Atalanta on Friday, manager Paulo Fonseca appeared keen to send a similar message.

After holding Benfica to a draw and knocking FC Porto out of the Portuguese Cup this season, Moreirense clocked up another impressive performance and result by beating Sporting 2-1 in Moreira de Cónegos.

The Lions started well, Victor Gyökeres earning and converting an early penalty. But Moreirense had turned it around by half time thanks to goals by Dinis Pinto and Guilherme Schettine, and the home team could have scored more before the interval.

In the second half it was one-way traffic, twice Sporting hitting the bar, but João Pereira’s team failed to carve out clear-cut chances and the new coach is now under intense scrutiny after three successive defeats. 

This week, the Long Ball Futebol podcast welcomes guests Andrew Batista and Kevin Fernandes to discuss Jornada 12 of the Primeira Liga season.

João Pereira loses his first league game in charge of Sporting, allowing Benfica and Porto to close the gap at the top of the table. The show also discusses Rio Ave being part of a multi-club ownership conglomerate and how that will impact the league. 

Four in a row! The female Seleção today beat Czechia 2-1 away in the second leg of the Euro 2025 playoff for a 3-2 aggregate victory and qualification for a FOURTH major tournament in a row. It is progress few would have considered possible a decade ago.

After making it to Euro 2017, Euro 2022 and World Cup 2023, Portugal have taken another step in their affirmation towards becoming one of the top nations in women’s football.

Diana Silva was the hero of the hour, forcing an own goal by Aneta Dedinová to give the visitors the lead then scoring the winner in the 76th minute.

In between Katerina Svitková equalised from the penalty spot, but Portugal’s superior technical quality made them deserving winners over the two legs of the playoff. 

Porto got back to winning ways in the Primeira Liga after beating Casa Pia 2-0 at Estádio do Dragão. Nehuén Pérez and Galeno tested Patrick Sequeira in the first half with Jérémy Livolant going close for the visitors.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the 51st minute when Fábio Vieira finished off a fine move to punish a loose pass from Ruben Kluivert. Samu extended the lead four minutes later when he exchanged passes with Pepê, raced clear and fired past Sequeira.

Otávio rattled the post and Galeno couldn't capitalise after a shocking pass from Sequeira, Casa Pia going close late on when Diogo Costa tipped Duplexe Tchamba’s header off the bar.

Porto’s victory relieves some pressure on president André Villas-Boas and manager Vítor Bruno after a poor run of form saw them lose at Lazio, Benfica and Moreirense before a draw at Anderlecht.

The pitiful attendance of 32810 was the lowest seen at Estádio do Dragão in some time, many Porto supporters having enough with 8.30pm kick-off times on a Monday night and/or giving up on their team.

PortuGOAL’s Liga II weekly roundup is back. Throughout the season José Ricardo Leite will be reporting on the race to join Portugal’s elite next season and the fight to avoid dropping out of the nation’s two fully professional leagues.

This week, the Liga II action brought some significant changes at the top and bottom of the championship. 

It has been a positive few days for Rúben Amorim at Manchester United, after the Portuguese followed the midweek Europa League victory over Bodo Glimt by earning his first Premier League win against Everton at Old Trafford.

United won 4-0 on Sunday afternoon, with strikers Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee each getting a confidence-boosting brace, as Amorim prepares his side for an intriguing trip to Arsenal in the capital on Wednesday.

Benfica had little trouble clocking up three more points with a 2-0 victory in Arouca to cut the gap to leaders Sporting to five points with a game in hand.

Arouca centre-back Jose Fontán scored an own goal to hand Benfica an early lead, before in-form Ángel Di María made sure of victory with the second goal from the penalty spot in the 70th minute.

Benfica have won 7 out of 7 matches in the Primeira Liga since Bruno Lage returned to the dugout and look in good shape to mount a serious title challenge. 

Atlético Mineiro 1-3 Botafogo

"My goal is to create a dominant Botafogo, with courage and values, that has its own identity. Believe in the idea." Those were the words of Artur Jorge in April, having been announced as the new manager of Botafogo.

238 days later, Jorge has written his name into folklore at the Rio de Janeiro club after winning the first-ever Copa Libertadores in their history. As usual, Fogão did not to things the easy way, suffering a red card after just one minute of the final in Buenos Aires.