Portuguese Football in English
Portugal international Bernardo Silva has been at Manchester City since 2017 and he continues to be an integral player in Pep Guardiola’s side.
Silva is having one of his best campaigns since arriving at the Etihad Stadium. 25 games into the Premier League season, he had scored seven goals, matching his highest total for a campaign in England.
Portuguese striker Beto has been one of the surprise packages in Italy this season, scoring regularly for Udinese since arriving in the country as an almost unknown from Portimonense last summer.
It has been a rapid rise for the Lisbon-native, who joined Primeira Liga side Portimonense in 2019 from third-division outfit Olímpico Montijo. Prior to that, Beto reveals he was holding down a regular job while playing amateur football at the age of 20, at which point he relied on his own belief that his future would be in football.
When rumours surfaced late last month that Sporting’s teenage forward Tiago Tomás was being lined up for a move to VFB Stuttgart, many around the German club refused to believe there was much hope in the deal materialising.
Stuttgart, struggling to avoid relegation at the bottom of the Bundesliga, were given little chance of securing a player who had already acquired experience of winning the Portuguese title, as well as featuring in the Champions League for Rubén Amorim’s side.
It is fair to say that more than a few eyebrows were raised when Liverpool splashed out £41 million on the signing of Diogo Jota from Wolves during the summer transfer window of 2020. Nobody was questioning the Portugal international’s ability, but a giant leap into the unknown was being taken as part of a squad at Anfield that was already well-stocked with proven attacking talent.
Fast forward, a little under 18 months, and a once questionable recruitment call has proved to be yet another masterstroke for the Reds from Merseyside. Jurgen Klopp and co. have picked up a useful habit of unearthing hidden value where others fear to dig. An immediate return on considerable investments of faith and funds has been delivered by Jota, who has been a reliable player since he joined the side.
Manchester United 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
While the Champions League took centre stage for plenty on Tuesday evening, there was a much-needed victory for Manchester United in the Premier League at the expense of Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo ended his recent goal drought in stylish fashion with the crucial breakthrough early in the second half, before Bruno Fernandes made it a Portuguese double by adding a second in the dying moments of the match.
