Portuguese Football in English
Portuguese winger Francisco Conceição was issued his first Eredivisie start of the season by Ajax at the weekend. The Dutch champions were held to a 1-1 draw at NEC, but Conceição impressed enough to earn praise for his performance.
Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder was without key players Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus for the trip to Nijmegen, meaning 20-year-old Conceição was drafted in for a full league debut and his first start since joining from FC Porto in the summer.
Fenerbahçe 0-3 Galatasaray
Sunday’s Istanbul derby proved a disaster for Jorge Jesus’ Fenerbahçe, who were thrashed 3-0 at home by city rivals and Super Lig leaders Galatasaray at Ülker Stadium.
Portuguese midfielder Sérgio Oliveira scored the all-important opener to give Galatasaray a half-tie lead, following which late goals from Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Mauro Icardi means Fener slip four points behind their rivals at the top of the table.
Cristiano Ronaldo was paraded by new club Al Nassr in Riyadh this evening. The Portugal captain, who has signed a deal until 2024, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of being presented to the fans at the club’s Mrsool Park.
Speaking at his press conference in the afternoon, Ronaldo spoke of helping to grow football on and off the pitch in Saudi Arabia. The former Sporting man believes his time in Europe is over, while revealing he turned down offers from across the world in order to join Al Nassr.
Paulo Fonseca says he was disappointed by the treatment of his players from sections of the Lille fanbase during last night’s draw with Reims, and has suggested he could leave the club as a result.
Lille fans whistled on occasions when the team played the ball backwards, in what is a key principle of Fonseca’s desire to build the play from defence. The match ended 1-1 and following the final whistle, Fonseca spoke candidly about the atmosphere in the stadium.
It has been a lively festive period for Portuguese wing-back Nuno Tavares in France with Marseille. Not only has the former Benfica defender rediscovered his early-season goalscoring touch, Tavares was issued a red card for a wild kick at an opponent towards the end of Monday’s victory at Montpellier.
Speaking after the match, Marseille boss Igor Tudor confirmed the Arsenal loanee will face minor punishment in order to curb his behavior in the future, having witnessed Montpellier threaten to snatch a late point in Tavares’ absence.
