Emphatic wins for Benfica and Porto headlined Week 23 of Liga NOS, while Sporting also won by the skin of their teeth in controversial fashion away at Tondela.

However, perhaps the most surprising and impressive result of the weekend saw Abel Ferreira’s Braga romp to a 5-0 victory in the Minho derby against Vitória Guimarães, who promptly sacked manager Pedro Martins after the match.

One of the standout performers in the game was the versatile Ricardo Esgaio, one of their most consistent players this season and also PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.

• Benfica
• Sporting,
• Sebastian Coates

After a week of mixed emotions on the continental stage, the focus switched back to the title race and the potential hiccups, twists and turns that it could bring to the forefront.

It was mission accomplished at the Estádio da Luz, with Ruben Dias, Jardel and Jiménez all weighing in to defeat Boavista 4-0.

FC Porto responded in the perfect manner, not just to their rival's result, but also to the heavy 5-0 defeat inflicted by Liverpool last Wednesday, dealing Rio Ave a 5-0 thumping of their own at the Estádio do Dragão.

The final bit of action was reserved for Sporting, who would take things down to the wire, and some, before finding a winning goal deep into stoppage time, as they controversially claimed a 2-1 turnaround victory away from home. PortuGOAL takes you through the title race goings-on of the weekend.

Manuel Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Bruma impress

European club competitions resumed this week with some outstanding action all around the continent, bringing mixed fortunes for Portuguese teams and individuals.

Porto had high hopes of obtaining a positive result against Liverpool at the Estádio do Dragão to set up an exciting Champions League second leg at Anfield. But it all went horribly wrong as Sérgio Conceição’s men crashed to a 5-0 defeat – the heaviest home defeat in Porto’s entire history.

Braga did not do much better in the Europa League, and were lucky to escape with only a 3-0 loss at Marseille, but it was better news for Sporting who turned around a half-time deficit to beat Astana 3-1 and all but book their place in the last sixteen.

Elsewhere, Manuel Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Bruma all put on a show of Portuguese flair to help their clubs to positive results. PortuGOAL rounds up the action.

Jorge Jesus led Benfica to three Europa League semi-finals and two finals in his Benfica days, and the charismatic coach is aiming for similar success in the competition with Sporting this season.

The Lions face the long trip to Kazakhstan to take on the largely unknown Astana in a last-32 tie on Thursday.

Manuel Veth, an expert in football in the post-Soviet states, gives PortuGOAL the lowdown on the Kazakh champions.