Ever since Jornada 7 ended with Benfica taking a narrow 1-0 win at home against eternal rivals Porto, we’ve been looking forward to the return fixture. Five months later and that moment has arrived, as Benfica make the journey up north to face Porto in the Portuguese Clássico, the biggest game in the Portuguese football calendar in recent years.

That game saw Benfica overtake Porto in the standings, but with only two points separating the sides. Now, with 23 games played, Benfica have extended the gap over Porto to 9 points and are very much in the title race, whereas Porto’s season has been disappointing, and this game could be the last opportunity for the Dragons to give themselves any hope of a top two finish come the end of the season.

PortuGOAL previews Sunday’s big game, and the rest of the Primeira Liga action this weekend. 

• Benfica
• Sporting,
• Taça de Portugal
• Ruben Amorim
• Pedro Goncalves
• Roger Schmidt
• Viktor Gyökeres
• Angel Di Maria
• Fredrik Aursnes

Sporting 2-1 Benfica

Sporting have edged themselves closer to the final of the Taça de Portugal after narrowly defeating Benfica 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final, at the Alvalade stadium this Thursday night.

The Lions dominated for large periods of the first half, landing the game’s first goal from Pedro Gonçalves’ header in the 9th minute.

Viktor Gyökeres followed up with his 31st strike of the season to make it 2-0 early in the second period before Fredrik Aursnes was able to claw a goal back for Benfica and complete a 2-1 scoreline, leaving the second leg wide open.

Twenty-two days after the match kicked off, Porto beat Santa Clara in the Portuguese Cup quarter-final to set up a last-four encounter against Vitória.

The original game had been interrupted owing to torrential rain and a waterlogged pitch after 26 minutes, and the islanders made a dream start upon the resumption, scoring from the very throw-in from which the game restarted, through Rafael Martins.

Porto roared back after the interval, overwhelming the hosts, creating several chances and scoring twice in 15 minutes through Evanilson and Wenderson Galeno to turn around the tie, the go-ahead goal created by superb wing play from Francisco Conceição. 

Rio Ave earned a 3-3 draw against Sporting Clube de Portugal in an exciting Primeira Liga clash at Estádio dos Arcos.

The hosts took the lead in the 3rd minute when Úmaro Embaló stepped inside Geny Catamo and shot past Adán. Sporting equalised six minutes later when Morten Hjulmand volleyed into the bottom corner.

Both teams missed chances to take the lead before Amine Oudrhiri’s howler on the stroke of half-time saw Viktor Gyökeres pounce and score yet again.

The seesawing contest continued into added time when Nuno Santos fouled Costinha in the box, Abdul-Aziz Yakubu converting the penalty to make it 2-2 at the break.

The second half was a slow burner until the 67th minute when Adán took out Yakubu, the striker showing no hesitation in taking the penalty and sending the Spaniard the wrong way once again.

Sporting drew level six minutes later thanks to Sebastián Coates, the defender turned forward heading Hidemasa Morita’s cross home from close range.

Renato Pantalon was sent off in added time but the Lions were unable to find a late winner in Vila do Conde, Rúben Amorim’s side sitting two points behind Benfica with a game in hand.