They don’t come much bigger than this. FC Porto host Sporting in the “Clássico” on Friday night at the Estádio do Dragão. The outcome of the match will likely have a huge bearing on whether it is the Dragons or the Lions celebrating as the 2021/22 champions of Portugal come May.
PortuGOAL previews what has the makings of a blockbuster match.
The backdrop
Porto hold the upper hand. The Dragons play at home, Sérgio Conceição’s team are on an incredible 16-match winning run, and they will be fully aware that victory will all but seal the Primeira Liga title. A Porto triumph will extend their lead over Sporting to 9 points, which in reality counts as 10 given that they will have the head-to-head advantage, with just 12 matches remaining. Considering that Porto have dropped only 4 points in their first 21 games of the season, that lead would surely be unsurmountable for Sporting.
However, the Lisbon club have been enjoying another terrific season, having claimed two trophies already in 2021/22 (the Portuguese League Cup and the Super Cup) and they are still going strong in three more competitions.
What’s more, Porto’s sale of Luis Díaz – undoubtedly the best player in Portugal before his transfer to Liverpool – together with the winter acquisitions of Marcus Edwards and Islam Slimani, have given Sporting fans hope they can yet claw back the difference. A win on Friday night and the gap will be just 3 points, with the h2h advantage for the green and whites.
Perfect Porto
Despite winning the Primeira Liga twice in four years since becoming Porto coach, in a backdrop of financial difficulties and disinvestment, before this season not all fans of the Dragons were enamoured with the job Sérgio Conceição was doing in the dugout. A tactical approach that favours physicality first and foremost and a reluctance to trust in home-grown youth were two criticisms often levelled at Conceição. Not anymore.
Porto have been a joy to watch for most of this season, playing an eye-catching brand of attacking football in which their richly talented youth players have been given a starring role. All without losing the fierce tenacity demanded by Conceição from every one of his players. The resulting alchemy has brought truly spectacular results. Should Porto beat Sporting, it will set a new club record for consecutive victories in the league. A 17th win in a row will surpass the 16-game winning run racked up by André Villas-Boas’ Porto side in 2010/11.
Díaz out, Conceição outburst
The mesmeric performances of Luis Díaz set the standards early on, with the Colombian transposing his outstanding showing in the summer’s Copa América tournament to domestic play to dominate the first half of the Primeira Liga. The statistic of 18 goal contributions in 18 games (14 goals and 4 assists) tells its own story, and it is little wonder coach Sérgio Conceição was unable to hide his frustration in his first public declarations after the transfer. “When there is little planning, or none at all, you have to revise your objectives,” said the visibly angry Porto coach when asked about Díaz’s departure.
Nevertheless, Porto have won their two matches without Díaz and his exit has helped highlight other outstanding contributions. While the Colombian was hogging the headlines, it has not gone unnoticed that goalkeeper Diogo Costa, defender Chancel Mbemba, midfielders Otávio and Matheus Uribe and striker Evanilson have all been playing at the top of their game. But it is young midfield duo Vitinha and Fábio Vieira who have really got Porto fans excited that we are witnessing the development of two future superstars of the game and the Portugal national team. Vitinha, still only 21 years old, has been one of the best players in the Primeira Liga this season, while Vieira has increasingly been basking in the limelight. Also 21, Vieira has become an assist machine (twice producing a hat-trick of assists in a game) and appears to have directly benefited in terms of minutes from the space opened up in the team by Díaz’s move to England.
Sporting recover from stutter
Sporting are a different beast under Rúben Amorim. The young coach has done a miraculous job at Alvalade, turning the Green and Whites from a club in a constant state of upheaval and discontent into a well-oiled, highly competitive, extremely consistent outfit with very few weaknesses. After guiding the Lions to their first Portuguese title for 19 years last season, Amorim’s good work has continued. As well as winning the above-mentioned silverware, Sporting have reached the Champions League last 16 for only the second time in their history, and in the league only Porto’s phenomenal season prevents them from being well set to retain their crown.
Sporting have won 17 of their 21 league matches, losing only twice, but those two defeats came relatively recently, against Santa Clara and Braga in January. Since then, though, the Lisbon club have got back on track, a convincing win against Benfica the most noteworthy of a 4-match winning run. The signings of fan favourite Islam Slimani and livewire Edwards could prove crucial if Sporting are to rein in Porto in the last third of the season. For tomorrow’s match in particular, Slimani could be a useful weapon. The Algerian earned the nickname of “the Dragon slayer” in his first spell at the club, having bagged 7 goals in 9 matches against Porto.
Team news
Sporting right-back Pedro Porro is suspended, while key midfielder Pedro Gonçalves is also expected to miss out through injury. Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa is a doubt after being stretchered off in last weekend’s win at Arouca.
Predicted Porto line-up (4-2-3-1):
Marchesin, Bruno Costa, Chancel Mbemba, Pepe, Zaidu Sanusi, Matheus Uribe, Vitinha, Otávio, Pepê, Fábio Vieira, Evanilson
Predicted Sporting line-up (3-4-3):
Antonio Adán, Gonçalo Inácio, Coates, Matheus Reis, Ricardo Esgaio, Nuno Santos, Palhinha, Mateus Nunes, Pablo Sarabia, Paulinho, Marcus Edwards
Quote / unquote
Sérgio Conceição, Porto coach: “We’ve prepared ourselves to win the game, against an opponent who in my opinion is the best Sporting team in the four years since I’ve been here.”
Rúben Amorim, Sporting coach: “We have to win. If we lose it will be a 9-point gap, if we draw it’s six points, and we can’t forget our rival behind us. We have to win to make sure the gap to Benfica does not get smaller and to fight for the championship.”
Prediction
The two teams have met a total of 5 times with Conceição and Amorim at the helm of Porto and Sporting respectively, with honours even: 1 Porto win, 1 Sporting win and 3 draws. Expect another tight game tomorrow, but Porto’s momentum in conjunction with key absentees for Sporting point towards a narrow win for the hosts: Porto 2-1 Sporting
by Tom Kundert
