As soon as the Primeira Liga fixtures for the season are announced, everyone’s first thought is: “When is the first Clássico?”
Well, we haven’t had to wait that long, as Jornada 7 sees the first Benfica-Porto clash in the league this season. This is undoubtedly the biggest fixture in the Portuguese football calendar.
PortuGOAL previews the match and flags up the other games that should not be missed this weekend in Portugal.
Benfica and Porto form guide
Before the season started, many predicted Benfica would be comfortable title winners, given their impressive transfer market, and Porto losing key players such as Otávio and Mateus Uribe. However, Porto currently sit one point ahead of their Lisbon rivals in the table with 16 points thanks to 5 wins and 1 draw from 6 games, giving them a slender advantage compared to Benfica’s 5 wins and 1 loss.
Paradoxically, if you were to ask any observer of the Primeira Liga this season which team is in better form, the majority would say Benfica. Despite losing their opening game of the season against Boavista (a team who would go on to lead the Primeira Liga for the next 5 games) whilst playing with 10 men, Benfica recovered well and overcame some early rustiness to win their next five games, scoring 16 goals which is the most of any team in the league.
Porto on the other hand have limped through their early fixtures, although to their credit nearly always coming out on top. All five of their wins have been by a one-goal margin against a team either newly promoted to the Primeira Liga, or who finished outside of the top 6 last season. In four of those games they relied on stoppage time goals to get all three points.
So what exactly isn’t clicking for Porto? Losing key players did not help. Otávio and Mateus Uribe left a big hole in their midfield, but new signings Alan Varela and Nico González have made a big impact when they have played, and you could argue that midfield is currently the strongest part of their game.
Porto brittle at the back
The biggest issues have come in defence, and in attack. Pepe has been imperious as ever, and Iván Marcano has put in commendable appearances when asked, but neither player is as young as they were, and injuries and fatigue have meant that David Carmo and Fábio Cardoso have formed an inexperienced partnership in recent games. The return of Carmo is a welcome one after a season in the wilderness for a player once considered one of Portugal’s brightest young defensive prospects, but it is clear that both he and Cardoso lack the experience and confidence of their more senior counterparts. Porto have kept only one clean sheet in their eight games this season.
The biggest elephant in the room for Porto is the form of Mehdi Taremi. The Iranian striker has been a talisman for Porto in recent seasons and one of the best strikers the Primeira Liga has seen in recent years. The start to this season however has been disappointing to say the least. Off-field issues have clearly affected him, being close to a move to AC Milan until the very last minutes of the transfer window. The move never materialised and will naturally have left the player unsettled. He has also been the subject of unseemly xenophobic and racist comments on Sporting CP’s TV channel, something the club subsequently apologised for. All this has seen Taremi’s form dip on the pitch, scoring his only league goal of the season so far against Estrela da Amadora. Sérgio Conceição has kept faith with his man and it’s hard to see him being dropped, but if Porto are to get the result they crave against Benfica, then now would be the perfect time for Taremi to rediscover his best form.
Benfica boost squad
Benfica have addressed some early problem areas, including replacing long-serving goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos with 22-year-old Ukranian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin. Rocher Schmidt has also used the ever-dependable Fredrik Aursnes as a makeshift left back, an area that new signings Juan Bernat and David Jurásek have so far not managed to make their own after the departure of Alejandro Grimaldo. The return of Ángel Di María has been a huge boost on the pitch, not only providing quality himself but also bringing out the best in the talented but somewhat inconsistent Rafa.
Ultimately, Benfica will go into this game as favourites on paper given their more convincing performances in the early part of the season, and their on-field quality in key areas which it can be argued currently outreaches Porto’s. These games are never won on paper however, and no team managed by Sérgio Conceição can ever be ruled out of any game.
History favours Porto
What’s more, recent history is on Porto’s side. Although Benfica won this season’s Supertaça 2-0, Porto have won 5 out of the last 10 meetings between the two sides in the league, with two games finishing as draws, and Benfica winning 3. Porto have also won 3 and drawn 1 of the last 4 Clássicos at the Estádio da Luz.
The only guarantee with this fixture is that it will be an unmissable slice of drama. Don’t miss it.
Six players to keep an eye in this weekend’s Clássico:
Fredrik Aursnes (Benfica): The Norwegian utility man has been something of a Swiss Army Knife. A midfielder by trade, he’s also put in phenomenal performances as a winger, and this season as a left-back. Far from simply doing a job in that position, he’s made it his own and will be an asset both defensively and attacking-wise for Benfica.
Orkun Kökçü (Benfica): The Turkish playmaker was Benfica’s statement signing this summer, at least until Ángel Di María came along. A successful midfielder and captain at Feyenoord, he came to Benfica destined for great things, and whilst he struggled somewhat to find his feet in Portugal, in recent games he’s shown his undeniable quality and will be playing in his biggest game so far for Benfica.
Petar Musa (Benfica): When Gonçalo Ramos left Benfica for PSG, the obvious next question was who was going to be brought in to replace him? Well, the answer may have been lying under their nose all along, with last season’s backup striker Petar Musa scoring 3 goals in his last 4 games to keep new signing Artur Cabral on the bench. This will be his biggest opportunity yet to stake his claim as Benfica’s main man up top.
David Carmo (Porto): The most expensive domestic signing in Primeira Liga history, the man brought in from Braga for €20m has had a nightmare start to life in Porto. After spending the majority of last season on the bench, many thought his time at Porto was up. But Sérgio Conceição has brought him back into the fold in recent games and he has looked solid enough. With Pepe possibly coming back from injury, Conceição will have a big decision to make about whether he gives Carmo another start in such a high stakes game.
Alan Varela (Porto): Another marquee signing for the Primeira Liga this season, Alan Varela was signed from Boca Juniors in his native Argentina for €11m. Tasked with filling the gap that Matheus Uribe left, he’s done that with aplomb so far, looking not just the midfield enforcer that every team needs, but also having technical quality which makes him invaluable to Porto. He will have his hands full with Benfica’s wealth of attacking talent.
Mehdi Taremi (Porto): Given his struggles so far this season, this has the possibility to be either the perfect stage, or worse possible game for Mehdi Taremi. Either he makes himself a hero once again for Porto, or gets lost in a game that passes him by. Porto fans, and Liga neutrals, will be hoping for the former.
Other games to watch
With the Clássico on Friday night this week, that leaves a whole weekend of Primeira Liga football to enjoy.
On Saturday Boavista will look to bounce back from their disappointing defeat against Braga, but face a very tough game at home to a Famalicão side who sit 5th in the table. How they respond to that defeat could define whether they remain a team fighting for a European place this season.
Saturday also sees Sporting play Farense in the Algarve. Sporting have been in impressive form, brushing aside teams below them in the table recently and deservedly sitting top of the table, but Farense recently pulled off a surprise home win against Braga, so with their home fans behind them they’ll be hoping for another upset.
Sunday sees Arouca play Chaves. New Chaves manager Moreno almost got off to a dream start against Estrela da Amadora, coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, and only missing out on a win with a surprising last-minute miss, but the morale boost they will have got will be massive, and a game against an Arouca side in a poor patch of form will be a welcome chance to get vital points on the board.
Finally on Monday, Gil Vicente play Casa Pia. Gil have twice scored 5 goals in a game this season, against Farense in Jornada 1, and against Estoril in Jornada 5. Former Chaves manager Vítor Campelos is quietly building an interesting team with exciting attacking players such as winger Félix Correia on loan from Juventus, and Swiss attacking midfielder Maxime Dominguez signed from Rakow in Poland.
by Albert Carter-Phillips (@LongBallFutebol)
