One week to go! Two blockbuster fixtures for the opening weeks of Portugal’s Primeira Liga

The Portuguese Primeira Liga is one of the most hotly contested leagues in Europe. In Germany, Bayern Munich have reigned supreme for the last ten years. It’s a similar story in France. Barring Burak Yilmaz leading Lille to a shock success a couple of seasons ago, Paris Saint-Germain are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. In England, Manchester City and Liverpool are well clear of the trailing pack.

But in Portugal FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting CP regularly battle it out for the title, and Artur Jorge’s Braga are not too far off the pace either. Porto are the reigning champions heading into the new season, but they haven’t retained the trophy in over ten years. They have been made the favourites to do exactly that next term by OddsChecker, which compares odds and free offers on European football. 

In one week from now the Portuguese top-flight gets underway with a bang. A number of the league’s top four contenders will be battling each other early doors, attempting to lay down a marker for the season ahead. Let’s take an in-depth look at two blockbuster fixtures from the opening weeks of the campaign. 

SC Braga vs Sporting CP - Gameweek 1

The life of a Sporting Braga supporter must be a strange one. They have been the fourth-best team in Portugal for what feels like an eternity. They still remain some distance away from cracking the top three, but they’re also miles ahead of the rest of the chasing pack. Eleven years ago, they defeated Liverpool, Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica en route to the Europa League final, only to be sunk by Radamel Falcao’s winner for Porto in Dublin.

Since then, they have won four trophies, twice claiming the Taça de Portugal and the Taça da Liga. They were the only team to defeat champions Porto last season. However, the fact remains that they are still some way short of the big boys. 

In the first game week of the season, they will be hoping to change that when they host last season’s runners-up Sporting CP at the Braga Municipal Stadium on Sunday 7 August. Last season, the pair traded wins in the league, with both fixtures resulting in a 2-1 victory for the visiting team, although the Lisbon club also got the better of Braga in the season-raising Super Cup, curiously also by a 2-1 scoreline.

Sporting have strengthened in the summer transfer window, aiming to bridge the six-point gap to champions Porto. Pacey central defender Jeremiah St. Juste has arrived from Mainz, former Barcelona winger Francisco Trincão has joined the ranks, Japanese midfielder Hidemasa Morita has signed from Santa Clara, and ex Vitória winger Rochinha has added to the wide options. As such, Rúben Amorim’s side will make the 363km journey north full of confidence, but Braga are no pushovers, and last season’s Europa League quarter-finalists will be hoping to throw an early spanner in the works for the travelling Leões. 

FC Porto vs Sporting CP - Gameweek 3 

The start of the season doesn’t get any easier for Sporting. After the tough trip to the northern province of Minho on the opening weekend, they head north again a fortnight later, this time to the home of the champions, FC Porto, with last season’s wild 2-2 draw at the Estádio do Dragão still fresh in the memory. Sandwiched between those two tough away tests is a home encounter with Rio Ave, where the hosts that day will be banking on securing three points. Should Sporting grab away wins in gameweeks one and three, they would be sitting pretty on nine points, and many would be willing to bet on them winning a second Portuguese championship trophy in three seasons. 

But with all due respect to Braga and Rio Ave, the clash against FC Porto will provide a more accurate marker of which team is best set up for a title tilt. Since breaking Benfica’s dominance four years ago - snapping the Eagles’ streak of four championships on the spin - Porto have won three titles in five years. Unfortunately for them, however, they haven’t managed to retain the trophy, and you can bet that manager Sérgio Conceição has been drumming that into his players’ ears throughout pre-season. 

The 50,000 capacity Estádio do Dragão - which hosted the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City in 2021 - is the definition of a fortress. They have lost there just once in the last two seasons, and Sporting will have to be at their best if they are to leave the home of the champions with a positive result.