It was another productive weekend for Portugal’s foreign-based contingent as many of Europe’s top leagues draw to a close. Seleção internationals Bruno Fernandes, Rony Lopes and Nani were among the goals in England, France and USA respectively, while there was a special moment in France as youngster Thierry Correia got on a La Liga scoresheet for the first time.

Meanwhile, there was a final match in charge for the departing Luís Castro at Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine and an impressive start for the well-travelled José Morais in his new job with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.

Diogo Jota has been speaking about his unconventional move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Championship in 2018, and admits agent Jorge Mendes has been proved correct to take him to the then second-tier club.

Speaking to British publication FourFourTwo, Jota says he and his family had doubts over him leaving Atletico Madrid for the West Midlands club, while also looking ahead to the European Championships and reflecting on his earliest Seleção memory.

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  Justin/rochester — Haha I just realized I didn’t put Bruno in there. So Bernardo would have to be dropped for now I guess. Maybe something like this with the same idea I said above, just sucks not having Bernardo out there but I could see Cancelo and Bernardo swapping perhaps. I don’t know, clearly my brain is onl......
  Justin/rochester — I’m just going to throw this out there and see what you guys think for a starting 11. I’ll describe my reasoning why I came up with this later. This is assuming everyone’s healthy and in form. Rui Cedric Pepe Dias Mendes Cancelo Palhinha Raphael Bernardo Ronald......

Sporting moved to within touching distance of the league title in a dramatic 31st round of Liga NOS, overcoming Rio Ave and in doing so taking advantage of a 1-1 draw in the Clássico between rivals Benfica and Porto.

Pacos Ferreira capped a fine season to secure European qualification after drawing with Braga, while Belenenses SAD, Gil Vicente and Famalicão all moved away from the relegation zone with important victories.

One side that remains very much in the latter fight is Boavista, who battled to earn a point against Tondela. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Alberth Elis has been one of the team’s shining lights and he made another potentially pivotal contribution to their cause last night.

Benfica 1-1 FC Porto

Sporting have been left just two points away from clinching the Primeira Liga title after Benfica and second-placed FC Porto played out a dramatic 1-1 draw at the Estádio da Luz, this evening.

Everton Cebolinha broke the deadlock for Benfica in Lisbon in a game the hosts needed to win to strengthen their chances of automatic Champions League qualification, sitting four points behind their opponents before kick-off.

A second-half strike for Matheus Uribe levelled the game for Porto, in search of a win to claw themselves back into the title race, before late drama with a disallowed Pizzi goal that had threatened to undermine the Dragons’ season.

The 1-1 draw, leaving Porto eight points behind table-topping Sporting, all but kills their hopes of becoming back-to-back champions, meanwhile Benfica’s ambitions of climbing up to second also take a big hit with just three league games of the season to go.

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  —Z— — My one criticism of the referring in this game was ASD not ejecting Pepe for a second yellow around the third minute. Only 2-3 weeks ago, this very same official gave two bookings to Goncalo Inacio within 18 minutes of the first half against Braga , and that was done for much less than what Pepe com......
  Chris — Wow, lots of spicy takes here, meaning one thing: It's a big year with a lot of tension and pressure because there's a lot on the line. Regarding the Referee criticism, the calls were actually all made by VAR, and they were super close but I think most were ultimately correct. I wouldn't argue ......
  antonio — Yes Pepe should have gotten a second yellow. But SC also got 3 weeks suspension on previous game and was back on the bench. Anyway 2 points away baby. Aonde vai um vao todos!! Majority of players are from our academy, no 100 M spent here. I have had champagne on ice for 19 years hope is still go......

Win a copy of “The Thirteenth Chapter”

As we approach the European Championship where Portugal will be defending the trophy they won in 2016, a special bumper episode of the Seleção podcast asks the following question: Which is the greatest Portugal team not to win a major tournament?

Host Danny Pinto is joined by the authors of The Thirteenth Chapter, Tom Kundert, Simon Curtis and Nathan Motz, as we chronologically go through the Portuguese national teams that came close to glory at World Cup 1966 (semi-finals), EURO 1984 (semi-finals), EURO 2000 (semi-finals), EURO 2004 (runners-up), World Cup 2006 (semi-finals) and EURO 2012 (semi-finals) and try to decide which is the greatest team of the “nearly men”.

We also run a competition to win a copy of The Thirteenth Chapter, the book that chronicles the 50-year journey of the Portuguese national team at World Cups and European Championships, starting in 1966 and culminating in the triumph at Euro 2016. 

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  —Z— — I haven’t listened to the podcast yet , but It’s probably the 1966 team I would think ! Maybe the 2004/2006 team. Euro 2000 was a great team but defensively I don’t think they were all that competent....
  Andre/UK — Without a shadow of a doubt in my opinion, it was the Euro 2000 team. That remains by far the best Portugal national team I've ever seen. It was the golden generation of Figo, Rui Costa, João Vieira Pinto, Paulo Sousa, Fernando Couto, Sergio Conceicao etc etc. And they played in the true Portuguese......

Rio Ave 0-2 Sporting

Sporting have taken themselves one step closer to winning the Primeira Liga title after qualifying for next season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League, three games away from the end of the season, with a 2-0 away win versus Rio Ave, this Wednesday.

The table-topping Lions were keen to put the pressure on FC Porto ahead of their Clássico clash against Benfica, scheduled for tomorrow night, as they bid to defeat Rio Ave in Vila do Conde.

Pedro Gonçalves steered his club in the right direction from the spot before Paulinho stole the limelight with a storming second goal for the title hopefuls, securing a 2-0 victory away from home.

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  —Z— — This was Sporting’s best performance in probably a month or more. I am sure they will wrap up the title against Boavista on Tuesday. It’s been a great season and as a life long Sportinguista I am delighted and I do not know how I will react but I’ve honestly Already cried a couple of times t......
  Samuel — it was good to see Coentrao and Joao Pereira play...
  Joao — Sporting lack of finishing prevented this game ending 5-0 at least. Was very disappointed on the penalty, takes the shine off a very one sided game, it's a incredibly harsh penatly. Congratulations to Ruben A, for setting a record in his first full year at a club and had the potential to win the l......

José Mourinho will take charge of Roma at the end of the season on a three-year contract, the Italian club confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.

Paulo Fonseca's departure after two seasons at the helm was announced earlier in the day and will now be replaced by countryman Mourinho, who makes a quick return to football having been sacked by Tottenham Hotspur last month.

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  Filjpe — I actually think this is a bad move for Roma to be honest. Mourinho has had great success in Serie A in the past so I wish him luck but I don't seem him improving Roma's position. What next for Paulo?...
  Samuel — I wish him luck, Roma is a tough club to manage successfully....
  Nunogomes21 — Fonseca did a fantastic job with a mostly mediocre squad. Challenged for a good time for a champions league birth as well as made it quite far in the Europa league. Nothing to scoff at there. Mourinho has been wishywashy these past few years but i due believe that is also in part due to the changi......

Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espírito Santo praised the performance of striker Fábio Silva after the Portuguese youngster scored in their 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Monday night.

Prior to Monday’s Black Country derby in the Premier League, the weekend’s action brought a rare goal for Adrien Silva in Sampdoria’s victory over Roma in Italy. Elsewhere, Nani turned on the style again in MLS, while veteran Paixão twins, Marco and Flávio, were both on target in Turkey and Poland respectively.

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  Jerrold Hewson — well, what does everyone think, should Nani get a call up?...

With four rounds of matches remaining in Portugal’s top flight, excitement is at fever pitch with a potential new champion in the offing after 18 years of a Porto/Benfica duopoly in the Liga NOS.

No less intense is the battle to avoid relegation with as many as 10 clubs still unable to rest easy as regards their berth in the upper echelons of Portuguese football next season. PortuGOAL looks at the remaining fixtures of the 2020/21 season and what is at stake for whom. 

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  Matt de Medeiros — This is great for Portugal and Portuguese football to see Sporting at the top of the table throughout the season and now so close to winning their first league title in two decades and lets not forget how many Portuguese players have been selected consistently. This is great!...
  Nunogomes21 — Z I 100% get your excitement, but turn down the conspiracy ideas. Portuguese officials are in my opinion some of the weakest bunch, however that doesn’t mean they blatantly try to ‘cheat’ clubs. They make more errors for the big clubs in general but not purposely. Any person has the right to......
  —Z— — Update Rio Ave x Sporting - Pedro Porro is unavailable and Fabio Verissimo is the ref with Tiago Martins as VAR Benfica x Porto - ex super dragao ASD is the ref , a guy who two weeks ago blatantly tried to tank sporting with a forced early sending off for Goncalo Inacio. It isn’t over yet boyos......

Udinese 1-2 Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero for Juventus on Sunday afternoon with two crucial late goals as the Bianconeri came from behind to beat Udinese and remain in the top four in Serie A.

An early goal by Nahuel Molina looked set to consign Juve to 5th place at the end of the weekend’s action, but Ronaldo’s late intervention means his team still have Champions League qualification in their own hands.

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  Justin — Well considering Porto were miles better then Juventus in there matchup and went toe to toe with Chelsea the next round and had it not been for Coronas give away they possibly wouldve made a semi final I have to disagree. As a neutral fan I have watched all the big games this year and Porto and Spor......
  Nicholay Carvalho — I get that Sporting is Cr7s club but why would he go now when he still is playing at a high level? Sporting no offense but what is he gonna win? He still wants to win Champs league?...
  —Z— — A reputable Italian journalist said today that Ronaldo will finish his contract at Juventus next year and then go to SPORTING. 2020s = the beginning of Sporting dynasty ?...

More Articles ...

  1. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Jovane Cabral’s devastating cameo edges Sporting towards title glory
  2. Sporting resume march to the title after Porto and Benfica gear up for derby day with a pair of wins
  3. Man United 6-2 Roma: Fernandes inspires rampant United as Fonseca rues injury misfortune
  4. Under pressure Fonseca hails “fantastic” Bruno Fernandes ahead of Man Utd vs Roma clash
  5. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Petit’s defensive doggedness steers Belenenses SAD towards safety

      

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Jorge Mendes eventually convinced me, and now he says, ‘See how I was right all along?!’”

Diogo Jota
(Liverpool and Portugal forward talks about the decision to go from Portugal's top flight to England's second tier by joining Wolves) 
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