Portuguese Football in English
Rui Vitória's Benfica side continued their impressive Champions League campaign with a fully deserved 2-1 victory over Turkish champions Galatasaray at the Estádio da Luz tonight.
Goals from Jonas and Luisão gave the Eagles the three points and put them top of Group C, virtually assured of their place in the round of 16 with two matchdays still to play.
Matchday 9 of the Liga NOS was another intriguing one for fans of all clubs.
All eyes were on Benfica's response to the derby loss last Sunday, as they travelled to Aveiro to face a struggling Tondela side, while Sporting returned to the Alvalade to take on Estoril.
And Rio Ave and Braga were hoping to continue their good form and keep the pressure on Sporting and Porto.
Last weekend’s Lisbon derby made waves all over the football world. BBC World Service sent correspondent Steve Crossman to the Portuguese capital to see what all the fuss was about.
His investigations included meeting a Fado singer, a family split by their allegiances and some Sporting ultras, as well as speaking to Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho and former Benfica player Diogo Luís. Read about and listen to his report of what certainly lived up to its billing as one of the great Benfica-Sporting encounters.
After Sporting’s historic 3-0 win at the Estádio da Luz on Sunday night, is it finally time for Sporting Clube de Portugal to capture their first Primeira Liga trophy since Mário Jardel was firing the Leões to the title back in 2002?
It has been a rough 13 years for Sporting fans since then. Only under Paulo Bento in 2006/2007 did Sporting really come close to regaining the league title. From that point on, Sporting will look back and wonder why they couldn’t build on that.
Teófilo Gutiérrez took advantage of poor Benfica defending to give the visitors the lead. Islam Slimani’s header made it two before Bryan Ruiz effectively killed the game off after just 36 minutes with goal number three.
Rui Vitória named the same side that lost in Turkey against Galatasaray in midweek with Jonas and Raúl Jiménez leading the line for the home side.
Jorge Jesus, returning to the Estádio da Luz for the first time since becoming Sporting manager, was greeted by as frosty a reception as you can imagine. Bryan Ruiz returned to the starting eleven after passing a late fitness test. Despite the fact Sporting had played on Thursday, Jesus had the advantage of fielding a much rotated team with goalkeeper Rui Patrício the only repeat starter from the 5-1 win over Skënderbeu.
