The Azores are a unique part of Portugal. A stunningly beautiful island archipelago located some 950 miles (1,446 km) west of Lisbon, renowned as a playground for Portuguese and foreign tourists alike.

Made up of 9 islands and home to just 245,746 inhabitants, these islands are a must for anyone visiting Portugal.

What about the football in one of Portugal’s outposts? Paul Gellard explores the region’s football tradition and history, and the teams and players hailing from the Atlantic islands.

FC Porto 2-2 Braga (Braga win on penalties)

There was an exciting climax to the domestic season in Portugal as Braga beat FC Porto in a dramatic final to win the Portuguese Cup for the second time in their history, 50 years to the day after their first success.

Defensive mistakes have haunted Porto all season, and the Dragons rearguard was again all at sea, gifting two goals to Braga. But in a repeat of last season's final, Braga were not able to hold on to a two-goal lead, André Silva's brace, the second in stoppage time, cancelling out Rui Fonte and Josué's goals.

Braga fans must have feared cruel heartbreak for the second year running as Porto turned on the pressure in extra time, but they held out and this time won the lottery of the penalty shootout, Marafona producing two fine stops from Herrera and Maxi Pereira to trigger wild celebrations among the Braga coaching staff, players and fans.

Benfica won the Portuguese championship this afternoon after thumping Nacional 4-1 at a sun-drenched Estádio da Luz packed with 60,000+ ecstatic fans. A brace from man-of-the-match Nico Gaitán, and goals from Jonas and Pizzi overpowered Nacional, for whom Salvador Agra scored a late consolation.

The Lisbon giants win the Liga for the third straight year, something they have not achieved for 39 years.

Benfica’s win meant Sporting’s 4-0 thumping of Braga at the Quarry was in vain, as the Lions finished two points behind their city rivals.

União da Madeira relegated

Tiny Tondela last night achieved what seemed impossible for most of the season. The 2-0 victory at home to Académica saw the club with a stadium capacity of 3,400 move out of the relegation zone for the first time since early November - on the very last round of the season.

That the minnows reached the top flight at all is a remarkable tale, given that they were playing amateur district league football a decade ago. And when they won just three times in the Liga until the start of April a drop straight back down to the 2nd division looked inevitable.

But a shock 1-0 win away at FC Porto on 4 April injected the club with new belief, and 5 wins, 1 draw and just one defeat in their last 7 games saw the team from the inland Viseu region of Portugal pip União da Madeira to secure their top-flight status for another year.