Portuguese Football in English
Porto stay on top of the league as both sides shared the points in a scrappy but entertaining first clássico of the season.
Porto had the better of the first half, in which only Rui Patrício and the crossbar stopped the visitors from scoring.
Sporting improved in the second half but neither side could break the deadlock, giving Benfica a chance to gain ground against Marítimo.
The first clássico of the Portuguese season takes place tomorrow, as Liga NOS leaders FC Porto, boasting a 100% record in domestic play, travel south to the capital Lisbon to take on Sporting.
Jorge Jesus’ side have also had a positive start to the Primeira Liga, dropping their first points in last weekend’s draw at Moreirense after winning their opening six matches, and the Lions have a good record at home to Porto in recent years.
Nevertheless, Porto will not be in the least overawed, Sérgio Conceição having got his team playing powerful attacking football and the Dragons come into the match on the back of a brilliant display to destroy Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday. PortuGOAL previews Sunday’s showdown.
What’s gone wrong at Benfica?In recent times a crisis at Sport Lisboa e Benfica might be represented by one of the cavalcade of fast food trailers outside the ground on the Avenida General Norton de Matos running out of mustard to squirt all over the bifanas.
What we have now at the Estádio da Luz has gone beyond a mere dearth of condiments.
The stark cries of “vergonha” (shame) in the crisp Swiss night sky over the St Jakob-Park on Wednesday night left little to the imagination. The 5,000+ travelling Benfica fans were split between loyalty to the badge and embarrassment at what was unfolding in front of their smarting eyes.
Fans of Portugal’s three teams participating in this season’s Champions League experienced very differing emotions this week.
Porto put in a sparkling display to dispatch Monaco in their own back yard, a spirited Sporting stretched Barcelona at Alvalade, while Benfica fell to a calamitous 5-0 thrashing against Basel.
Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo did what he has spent a career doing: proving his detractors wrong by scoring goals with sumptuous efficiency.
Midfielder scores spectacular braceAndré Sousa is in his third season with Belenenses but he produced his finest game for the club yet in an emphatic win away at Feirense, scoring two excellent goals. He’s PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week for Liga NOS Round Seven.
Round 7 in Liga NOS brought us a healthy supply of goals, with 26 strikes registered across the 9 games. One of the more exciting games was a big win for Belenenses, impressively dispatching Feirense at Estádio Marcolino de Castro, 4-1.
It’s been an up and down start for the Lisbon-based side but they now have back-to-back wins in Liga NOS as they climb to 7th in the table. The central figure of Sunday’s win was central midfielder André Sousa.
