Portuguese Football in English
Portuguese champions Benfica have completed the signing of Santos striker Marcos Leonardo.
The highly rated 20-year-old marksman has signed a 5-year contract. He cost the Lisbon club €18 million and his release clause has been set at a whopping €150 million.
After a short Christmas break we enter a new year, and with things still as tight as they are at both ends of the table it will be another important weekend of football.
With Sporting, Benfica and Braga facing in-form teams and Porto having to negotiate a local derby, it promises to be another fascinating round of Primeira Liga matches.
PortuGOAL previews all the action.
Portuguese football is highly asymmetric in that the top three clubs are always several levels above the rest thanks to their budget, squad value, fan bases and historical pedigree. In recent years Braga have made tremendous strides to get closer and closer to challenging Benfica, Porto and Sporting.
This does not mean, however, that the rest of Portugal’s teams should be ignored. This season has showcased several superb collective and individual displays across all the other 14 Primeira Liga clubs.
In the latest edition of the brilliant No Princípio era a Bola podcast, journalists Tomás da Cunha and Rui Malheiro highlighted the players from outside the top clubs who have impressed in the first half of 2023/24. PortuGOAL summarises their analysis.
Portimonense 1-2 Sporting
Sporting have held onto the Primeira Liga top spot at the turn of the new year after defeating Portimonense 2-1 away from home, this Saturday night.
The Lions took a second-half lead through Viktor Gyökeres before being made to sweat following a Filipe Relvas equaliser in the 69th minute.
Rúben Amorim’s men were salvaged by a Paulinho winner, however, securing a 2-1 win that places them one point clear of second-placed Benfica once more, going into 2024.
In the final round of matches of 2023, Benfica and Porto clocked up home victories over Famalicão and Chaves respectively to put pressure on erstwhile leaders Sporting, who must now win against Portimonense in the Algarve tomorrow to recover top spot.
Goals by Arthur Cabral, Rafa Silva and Petar Musa gave Benfica a 3-0 triumph at the Estádio da Luz, while a João Mário strike proved the difference for Porto in a 1-0 win over the Transmontanos.
