Portuguese Football in English
The Campeonato Brasileiro 2024 kicked off this weekend, with the four Portuguese coaches involved experiencing mixed fortunes on the opening matchday.
Defending champions Palmeiras, led by Abel Ferreira, made a fine start with a 1-0 win at Vitoria in Bahia. However, Artur Jorge saw his new side Botafogo beaten 3-2 at Cruzeiro, while there were draws for Pedro Caixinha’s RB Bragantino and Corinthians under António Oliviera, who received a late red card.
Rafael Leão is arguably Portugal’s most in-form player at present, with the AC Milan striker again showing his exceptional ability this weekend in Serie A.
Milan, who look set to finish as runners-up in Italy, played out an entertaining six-goal thriller at Sassuolo which ended in a 3-3 draw. Leão’s first-half goal to reduce an early 2-0 deficit was the pick of the bunch, putting him on 8 goals from his last 12 appearances for club and country.
Cadiz 0-1 Barcelona
João Félix may have secured himself a starting spot in Barcelona’s crunch Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain after a stunning winner in La Liga on Saturday.
Félix scored the only goal with a bicycle kick as Barca kept their outside chance of retaining their Spanish title alive with all three points at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla.
Turkish giants Besiktas have announced the departure of manager Fernando Santos after just three months in the job, following a poor run of results.
Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Samsunspor left Besiktas without a win in their last five Super Lig matches, meaning their chances of European qualification have been thrown into doubt.
Abel Ferreira recently became the most successful coach in the history of Brazilian giants Palmeiras, but beyond the trophies one wonders how much his influence on rising star Endrick will be part of his managerial legacy.
Abel has carefully nurtured the young forward’s development since handing Endrick his senior debut 18 months ago, since when the prodigy has made 69 appearances for Verdão. Endrick will join Real Madrid in the summer with the tag of football’s next superstar, but his grounding at Palmeiras will remain a huge part of his story.
