Portuguese Football in English
At the midpoint of what is proving to be an intriguing 2023/24 season in Portugal’s top division, football journalist Andrew Batista selects the top individual performers to create the Best XI of the Liga Portugal thus far…
Halfway through and it’s been a season of surprises, serious stakes, and super Swedes, we’ve had it all in the Primeira Liga setting the stage for an exciting second half of the campaign.
Here are the standout performers in my best XI of the season so far.
Primeira Liga leaders Sporting Clube de Portugal extended their lead to four points after an exciting 5-2 win in Vizela.
The Lions started strong but it was Alberto Soro who headed the hosts into the lead in the 13th minute. Sporting's persistence paid off deep into added time when Viktor Gyökeres equalised with his eighth shot in the half.
Francisco Trincão scored less than a minute after the restart and the lead was extended in the 57th minute when his cross was headed home by Paulinho.
Vizela stayed in the contest when Samuel Essende used his strength to get past Sebastián Coates and score his ninth goal of the season.
Sporting maintained their superiority however and surged to the finish line, Coates converting Pote’s free kick and Gyökeres capping off a man of the match performance with a clinical strike into the bottom corner.
And just like that, we’re halfway through the Primeira Liga season. With 17 games played, the Primeira Liga table tells the story of a Lisbon title race, underperforming giants, plucky underdogs, and one or two teams having seasons to forget.
However, it’s vital to remember that there is still an awful lot of football still to be played, and the title race and relegation battle could both face huge twists and turns in the second half of the season. PortuGOAL previews first round of matches of the “segunda volta”.
Benfica have moved to increase their options at the problem position of left-back, signing Spanish youngster Álvaro Fernández on loan from Manchester United.
The news from Porto concerns outgoing transfers, with Fran Navarro and David Carmo offloaded to Greek giants Olympiacos.
The draw for the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup has kept the Big Three apart, but Benfica, Porto and Sporting all face road trips in their last-eight ties.
FC Porto, winners of the competition in the last two seasons, travel to the Azores to take on current leaders of the Segunda Liga, Santa Clara. Sporting also face 2nd-tier opposition in the form of União de Leiria, while Benfica take on fellow Primeira Liga outfit Vizela.
Vitória host Gil Vicente at the Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques in the other quarter-final.
