Portuguese Football in English
At the start of the season Sporting fans were confident their team could win back-to-back titles for the first time in 71 years, and that is exactly what ended up happening.
However, what started out a seemingly straightforward, triumphal march to the trophy ended up a bumpy journey with multiple obstacles having to be negotiated along the way. Tom Kundert has 10 reasons why Sporting are the 2024/25 champions of Portugal.
“BICAMPEÃO! BICAMPEÃO! BICAMPEÃO!” was the chant that rang around the Alvalade stadium at full time as two unanswered second-half goals saw Sporting beat Vitória. It is the first time the Lisbon club has won back-to-back leagues for 71 years.
It was far from plain sailing though. Vitória, needing a win to ensure European football next season, battled hard and kept out the hosts until the 55th minute when Pedro Gonçalves finished off a flowing move to break the deadlock.
Fittingly, it was Viktor Gyökeres who sealed the deal, the deadly Swedish striker scoring goal number 39 in 33 Liga Portugal matches this season with 10 minutes remaining, and the party began. Lisbon will be painted green tonight.
Tom Kundert reports from Alvalade.
It’s a big weekend in Portugal. The country goes to the polls again on Sunday barely a year after the last general election, but the day before another kind of right wing, left wing and race to the finish line will dominate the headlines.
The curtain comes down on the 2024/25 Primeira Liga season tomorrow, Saturday 17 May, with practically all the major consequences of the season to be decided when the final set of matches kick off simultaneously at 6pm local time.
PortuGOAL runs through what’s at stake for whom in the race to win the title, qualify for Europe and avoid relegation.
The Portuguese Primeira Liga will be decided on the final day of the season with SL Benfica and Sporting CP both entering jornada 34 level on 79 points. Sporting will face Vitória SC at the Estádio José Alvalade on Saturday. Meanwhile, SC Braga stand in the way of Benfica winning their second league title in three years and simultaneously preventing Sporting from becoming the first side to repeat as champions since the Eagles achieved the feat back in 2017.
Benfica supporters at the Estádio Municipal de Braga (also known as “the quarry” due to its unique design) will have one eye on Sporting’s fixture when Saturday’s match kicks off. After an entertaining draw in last week’s highly anticipated Lisbon derby, Sporting hold a slight edge coming into the last round of games. Sporting sit atop the table due to their head-to-head record against Benfica, and will only need to match Benfica’s result to take home the trophy.
It has been a long and gruelling campaign for a Braga side that started the season with high expectations. There have been plenty of positives to take from the season, but after 53 matches in four different competitions (including 14 games in Europe), os Arcebispos will once again conclude the season without any silverware.
Sporting CP are renowned for developing young players and selling them on to some of the biggest-hitters in European football. Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Nuno Mendes are among a plethora of talented stars Sporting have sold since the turn of the century.
The Portuguese giants will likely be targeted again this summer, with clubs across Europe eyeing several members of the current squad. With that in mind, read on we look at which Sporting players could be moving this summer, starting with one who looks destined for the Premier League.
