FC Porto captain Pepe is known for his no-nonsense style of play on the pitch and the Seleção centre-back transported his upfront attitude to an interview given to a new Portuguese weekly publication launched this Friday, NOVO.

The veteran defender did not hold back in his praise of Porto coach Sérgio Conceição and Portugal team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, also putting to bed rumours of a poor relationship with José Mourinho.

As for Jorge Jesus, it was a different story, with Pepe extremely critical of the Benfica coach’s recent attack of Paços de Ferreira midfielder Stephen Eustáquio. 

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  Mmaaxx — @Dan/Newark Seems as though well placed humour does not always hit home here. Good seeing Sporting come through with the win this weekend. Just enough to settle any nerves and stay on course for the title....
  Scottez dries — putting paulinho n cr7 in the same sentence is an insult to football .. paulinho won't make 2 11s at the moment .....
  Dan/Newark — We have Paulinho now, no need for Cristiano. He would only slow us down....

Daniel Podence has been speaking to Greek media 15 months after leaving the country, and reveals the extent to which his time with Olympiacos shaped the player he is today.

Reflecting on his departure from Sporting following the infamous fan invasion at Alcochete, the Portugal winger says he was always aware the Lions would be compensated for his transfer and believes the decision to move to Greece has proved the correct choice.

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  Mmaaxx — Nice one Podence. Seems like a good guy with the right attitude. Aim for exceptional and you stand a better chance at having ‘just a good’ career. Aim for good and it’ll be average. Only way to overcome your inherent limitations. He is an exciting player to watch...
  Samuel — Good player, will be very lucky to be called up for the euros and I'm sure he's not gonna win the ballon d'Or. ...

Most Portuguese footballers dream of playing in top-tier clubs dotted around Europe, with particular emphasis on attaining glory in a high-profile domestic league or the UEFA Champions League. However, given Europe’s competitiveness, or the specific phase of a player’s career, some stars may jet-set beyond the continent to find a meaningful position on a roster.

Historically, the MLS has not been deemed an important league for those who like to keep an eye on local transfer rumours. However, the joint North American venture between the US and Canada has made major strides in recent years and will expand from 27 teams to 30 in the next two years. Slowly but surely, the ‘retirement league’, as it’s known in Europe, is maturing into a competitive association. 

FC Porto’s UEFA Champions League campaign came to a close after a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the quarter-final second leg. Substitute Mehdi Taremi scored a screamer deep into added time, not enough to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.

It was always going to be a cautious game in Sevilla with Chelsea defending a healthy advantage. The Blues had little reason to open up and with their defence one of the best in Europe, Porto were always going to be up against it.

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  Samuel — Heroic campaign by FC Porto, reminiscent to some degree of Benfica 2016 champions League run. A team that can take on the toughest opposition with confidence. I'm grateful for all the points they got for the Portuguese League, the group stage performance and the two wins in the knockout stages com......
  Teresa — Congratulations Porto. As much as some of us may hate PdC and Conceição, they put up a good battle. There was very questionable referring in the first leg, and today was perhaps, a little better. I too, question the starting XI. Taremi and Diaz had instant impacts when they came on - and wow wha......

Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed earlier reports from Portugal that Pedro Neto has suffered a serious knee injury which will keep him out for the rest of the season.

According to Portuguese outlet Jornal de Notícias, Neto’s knee problem will see him miss six months of action and therefore rule him out of this summer’s European Championships. While Wolves have not confirmed the length the winger is expected to be on the sidelines, the club stated Neto will not play again this season due to the injury suffered to his knee cap. 

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  Joe — A miss whether he was selected for the senior or u21s this summer....unfortunate given his very good season, was in the running for young player of the year in the EPL. Trincao seems obvious replacement but i would take Leao if he shows form again in the remaining games. Not only does he have pace,......
  Teresa — Oooo this one hurts. Kinda reminds me of when Bernardo missed out in 2016. Wolves are really going to miss Neto for the remainder of the season (imo has been the best player for them this year) as will the Seleçao. I’m not sure how many games he may have started, but Neto injects that bit of ener......

The 26th week of Liga NOS 2020/21 was something of a goal-laden affair, a thrilling 3-3 draw between Boavista and Rio Ave one of the weekend’s highlights. Santa Clara put five past beleaguered Nacional, while in-form Portimonense routed Vitória Guimarães 3-0 in the Algarve.

The title race also heated up as first-placed Sporting dropped points to Famalicão, allowing Porto to close the gap with victory at Tondela.

Another side who took advantage of leaders drawing was their bitter local rivals Benfica, who continued their superb recent results by hammering Paços Ferreira. The Eagles’ Swiss striker Haris Seferović is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week after starring once again for Jorge Jesus’ side.

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  Nunogomes21 — You’re kidding, right? I don’t disagree with the fact that there are calls that go wrong. Yet it can’t be denied that Benfica, Porto AND Sporting (yes they aren’t coitadinhos like you try to make them out to be) get more favourable calls than the contrary. VAR is here to get offside call......
  —Z— — Why wasn’t Moreirense given a red card for that horror tackle on Nuno Mendes last week ? In fact, he was not even given a yellow! They are however able to call off goals that are apparently 2cm offside! The refs in Portugal have a clear anti-sporting agenda and every club plays against sporting l......
  Nunogomes21 — While there is no doubt of that Z, the reality is a red card challenge is a red card challenge. You can’t fault Benfica if the opposing player is careless. Or do you honestly believe that leg breaking tackles should be let go so that Benfica can still play the 11 man Pacos? Personally I’d pr......

Olympiacos won the Greek Super League for the second season running this weekend, demonstrating their dominance by clinching the title with seven games left to play.

A 3-1 win over Panathinaikos, clinched by a goal from Bruma, gave Pedro Martins’ side their 46th league championship. For Portuguese boss Martins the triumph confirms his success in restoring Olympiacos as Greece’s best side after a recent three-year title drought.

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  MMaaxx — Good to see Bruma stabilizing his career. Hopefully this could be a launch pad for a successful 2nd half of it. He has won more than he would have at Sporting over the years and escaped the toxic rot that BC encouraged. Bruma could’ve left Sporting in a better way no doubt about it. But he was......
  —Z— — Bruma scored in an empty net in a notoriously corrupt league and club. Big deal. Karma has turned on Bruma after the way he forced himself out of Sporting. Bem Feito!...

FC Porto have cut the gap at the top of the Primeira Liga to six points after Sporting were unable to go beyond a 1-1 draw at home to FC Famalicão, this Sunday.

The Dragons came out of Matchday 26 with a straight-forward 2-0 win versus Tondela, ramping up the pressure on Sporting before switching their attentions to next week’s UEFA Champions League second leg versus Chelsea.

Benfica were able to do the same with a challenging away trip to Paços de Ferreira made easier by an early Stephen Eustáquio red card and a positive Haris Seferovic showing in a 5-0 victory.

Sporting’s 1-1 draw at Alvalade completed a positive weekend for their rivals, as Sporting de Braga were also left disappointed with a home draw, drifting away in fourth place after failing to beat Belenenses.

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  —Z— — Two disappointing results for sporting. Imo Sporting has missed Nuno Santos. When he came on near the end he was causing danger. He has a good work ethic and delivers good crosses. Only one of Paulinho and TT should start at a time. I am not sure why Amorim has moved a bit away from the 3-4-3 tha......
  Andre/UK — I agree with Teresa, the title race could well end up being closer than it seemed it would not too long ago. Things can change very quickly in football and thus we can never rest on our laurels with anything. If Sporting drop points again next weekend, then things will get very interesting. As Teres......
  Danny — Paulinho turned out to be a bust, bad move by Sporting. We are not going to win the title this way....

Parma 1-3 AC Milan

Rafael Leão scored his first goal since early January as AC Milan got back to winning ways with victory at Parma in Serie A on Saturday evening.

There was also a positive cameo from Diogo Dalot at the Ennio Tardini, with the on-loan Manchester United man assisting Leão’s goal and earning glowing praise for his character from Rossoneri boss Stefano Pioli.

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  Jerrold Hewson — that was some sexy football, wish Juve could move the ball around like that...

Portuguese youngster Tiago Dantas made his full Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich on Saturday, starting for the first time in the German league as the champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Union Berlin.

Elsewhere, André Silva was once again on the scoresheet in Eintracht Frankfurt’s thrilling 4-3 victory against Wolfsburg. The goal edged Eintracht closer to securing Champions League football and moved Silva nearer to the club’s all-time goalscoring record for a single league season.

More Articles ...

  1. “A wonderful performance” – Roma boss Fonseca rallies against media ‘lies’ after Ajax win
  2. Chelsea beat Porto 2-0 in Champions League quarter-final first leg
  3. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Mario González makes the difference for triumphant Tondela
  4. Sporting advantage cut to eight points as Porto, Braga and Benfica all register narrow wins
  5. Portuguese Abroad goals round-up: Ronaldo saves Juventus, Bebé winner in Spain, Ribeiro Golaço helps down Galatasaray, Xande Silva on fire in Greece

      

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Of course I’d like him to come back to Portugal. But I want to see Cristiano happy, that’s the most important thing. And I think he is happy in Turin.”

Pepe
(FC Porto and Portugal centre-back pours cold water on rumours suggesting Ronaldo may return to Sporting) 
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