Twenty-two matches later, AVS Futebol SAD rediscovered the path to league victory.
When questioned regarding the significance of the shock 3-0 victory over Estoril last weekend, AVS manager João Henriques admitted:
“It’s a relief, but a deserved one. The players began to question their quality, and I promised them that it hadn’t disappeared. We’re growing, improving and are more competitive.”
Although cut adrift at the bottom of the standings, the team from Vila das Aves have not given up the fight to avoid relegation, as Henriques stressed: “We'll stay focused, accumulate points and see what happens at the end of the season. We’ve closed the gap on those ahead of us, and we still must face them all.”
The stars aligned as Ian Cathro’s Estoril admitted they were “shocked” by the AVS opener, and repeatedly frustrated in front of goal.
While one of Portugal’s most entertaining sides faltered, Tomané made no mistake.
In another paramount performance (11 duels won), Tomané calmly slotted past former Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles, embodying the focal point AVS have so desperately lacked.
The Matchday 22 PortuGOAL Figure of the Week had to be from AVS, and Tomané is the deserving nominee. The lowdown on the veteran journeyman is courtesy of Kevin Fernandes.
From Serbia to Santo Tirso
António Manuel Fernandes Mendes was born in Fafe, Braga, which is a region steeped in dense Portuguese football heritage, making headlines as recently as this season.
Liga 3 side AD Fafe are currently beating Taça da Liga finalists SC Braga 2-0 in the Taça de Portugal.
Fun fact: Fafe currently sit behind Braga's B team in Liga 3, having lost to them earlier in the campaign. pic.twitter.com/XZ8UytKRoh
Aged 13, Tomané (a fusion of the common Portuguese names António and Manuel) was integrated into the Vitória Sport Clube academy after a short passage with fallen giants Boavista.
After winning two youth titles, aged 17, the centre-forward made his senior debut. However, the turbulence would commence as it would take three years for Tomané to make his second league appearance for Vitória’s first team, where he would score.
In a mindful attempt to keep this short and concise, Tomané has represented AD Limianos, MSV Duisburg, Panetolikos, FC Arouca, CD Tondela, Crvena Zvezda Samsunspor, APOEL Nicosia and SC Farense.
From earning sixteen international youth caps for Portugal to winning four league titles across Europe, Tomané’s career has been uncertain, unpredictable, yet undeniably successful.
🇵🇹Tomané marca o 2.º golo nesta temporada (10 jogos): FC Porto e Benfica.
O avançado já tinha marcado frente às águias em 2018 na vitória do Tondela na Luz por 2-3, golo decisivo para o triunfo. pic.twitter.com/jP7Ux5oXTq
From regular, exquisite goals, even against the traditional Portuguese ‘Big 3’.
To being linked with big moves to the likes of SC Braga, the streets certainly won’t forget Tomané.
Tough nut
Renowned in Portugal for his defensive work rate and dominance in duels as a self-proclaimed ‘worker for the team’, Tomané remains a handful for every Liga Portugal defender.
According to ZeroZero, there is no player in Portugal contesting and winning more ground and aerial duels than Tomané.
While his physical traits may be dwindling and efficiency in front of goal has never been his defining trait, Tomané can still attack space effectively and pull that sporadic rabbit out of the hat.
The 1.86m tall forward is often isolated in an uninspired frontline where overwhelmingly individualistic attacks are regularly squandered prematurely. Hold-up play is valuable for the defence to breathe and attempt to step-up, but irrelevant if the attempt at linking play is rendered practically impossible.
From his impressive stint at Tondela to often thankless efforts for AVS, Tomané is underappreciated as a quality toiler.
As this is being written, AVS are nine points behind the relegation play-off spot and 12 points from safety. With the latest PortuGOAL Figure of the Week amongst the ranks, everything remains mathematically possible.
Casa Pia, Alverca, Estrela and Gil Vicente collect record transfer fees, Famalicão and Rio Ave also make hay
Throughout Portuguese football history Portugal’s Big Three of Porto, Benfica and Sporting have manufactured an overwhelming breach in quality between them and the Primeira Liga’s other sides. There are plenty of reasons for this gap, from the club’s gargantuan fanbases to their financial backing, accentuated in the modern game by their vastly superior TV rights and commercial revenue. But another major explanation for the gulf is the ability of Portugal’s main teams to hoover up the best footballers, especially the most promising young players, from the rest. From Fábio Coentrão (Rio Ave to Benfica), Diogo Jota (Paços de Ferreira to Porto) to Matheus Nunes (Estoril to Sporting), it’s a well-trodden path of players going from Liga Portugal’s minnows to plying their trade at one of Os Tres Grândes to then earning lucrative moves abroad.
From a quality perspective, Portugal is undoubtedly one of the best leagues in world football. From a financial perspective, however, it is dwarfed by Europe’s top five leagues as well as a host of other domestic competitions like MLS, Brasileirão, Saudi Pro League, Liga MX, EFL Championship, and Süper Lig. For the most part, these potential buyers have been more than willing to allow these raw talents to prove themselves in a top-tier Portuguese team before paying a premium for a more refined version of the same player.
However, that is finally starting to change, if the events of the 2026 winter transfer window are anything to go by.
Famalicão
Ever since returning to the Portuguese top-flight after a quarter-century, Famalicão have been able to stake out a reputation as one of the shrewdest recruiting clubs in Portugal. From Pedro Gonçalves to Luiz Júnior, from Otávio to Iván Jaime to Ugarte, they’ve sold several players for eight-digit fees since their return to the upper echelon, and their latest sale is none other than Yassir Zabiri.
Famalicão made a huge profit on Moroccon Yassir Zabiri after the striker shone in the U20 World Cup. (Photo: Getty Images)
After rising through the ranks at Morocco’s Mohammed VI Football Academy, Zabiri launched his professional career with Union Touarga, where, after just a half-season of senior football, he joined Famalicão for €600,000. Zabiri was eased into the side, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist in 6 appearances for their U23s and 3 goals in 6 appearances for the first team, before heading to Chile to take part in the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He took the opportunity by the scruff of the neck, finishing as the joint-top scorer with 5 goals and leading Morocco to their first-ever title with a brace against Argentina in the final. Zabiri then returned to northern Portugal and scored his first club goal of the season against Moreirense in November, before bagging a goal versus Braga and a brace against Estoril in his next two matches. It was more than enough to convince Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais to splurge €10 million on the 20-year-old centre-forward, signing him on a contract to 2029, and they’ll be hoping that he provides them an extra spark in their fight for Ligue 1’s final European spot.
“The case of Yassir Zabiri is a great example of Famalicão’s anticipation…it was an appreciable scouting job,” stated Expresso journalist Francisco Martins, speaking to PortuGOAL. “The Morocco youth system is generating great talent, and Famalicão managed to recruit one of their best prospects. From the moment Zabiri did what he did at the U-20 World Cup, it became impossible for Famalicão hold onto him.”
Casa Pia
Whilst Zabiri’s €10m fee wasn’t even enough to make the Mount Rushmore of Famalicão’s biggest sales, Casa Pia managed to net themselves a club-record transfer fee of €6.5 million after selling Renato Nhaga to Galatasaray. Born in Guinea-Bissau, Nhaga left Africa in 2022 but was originally banned from playing football in Portugal for administrative reasons. Patience proved to be a virtue for Nhaga, who joined Casa Pia’s youth academy in 2023 before signing his first professional contract on31 July 2024. After becoming Casa Pia’s youngest-ever debutant on 29 April 2025, Nhaga would play in the Gansos’ final two matches before making his debut for the Guinea-Bissau national team.
He hasn’t just made himself a vital cog for Guinea-Bissau, playing in each of their last six matches and starting the last two, but he also proved to be a revelation for Casa Pia. After being named Casa Pia’s Athlete of the Year and signing an extension through 2028, the diminutive midfielder emerged as a starter thanks to his superb passing ability and poise under pressure, bagging goals against Benfica and Tondela in the process. It wasn’t long before the best team in Türkiye came sniffing around, signing him on a contract through 2030. Nhaga has already made his first-team debut against Eyüpspor, and while he’s ineligible to play in the UEFA Champions League, he’ll be looking to spearhead Galatasaray to their fourth consecutive Süper Lig title.
“Renato Nhaga is the perfect example of a player who develops in the club’s youth system, reaches the first team, and becomes valued,” explained Martins. “Casa Pia isn’t even a club with a reputation for its individual development, but for me, that should be the focus. Players who have left the Portuguese league and found success abroad have given the championship a reputation as a supplier of talent, and mid-sized clubs are trying to identify potential reinforcements at a relatively early stage of their careers.
“However, I don’t think this is beneficial for the competitiveness of the Primeira Liga. If you notice, these players remained in Portugal for only a short time before reaching the peak of their abilities, and some never even reached it. The constant changes in the squads make it difficult to solidify a collective idea: it’s a delicate situation because not selling players is out of the question. In terms of youth development, I believe Benfica, Sporting, FC Porto, Vitória SC and SC Braga are on another level, but where I think other clubs have improved significantly is in scouting.”
Alverca
All things considered, it has been a memorable 12 months for F.C. Alverca. In February 2025, Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior and his partners became co-owners of the club, acquiring between around 75% of its shares for roughly €9 million. In May 2025, Alverca achieved their second straight promotion to return to Liga Portugal for the first time since 2003/04. In May 2025, Alverca got their back-to-back promotion to Liga Portugal. And after a shaky start, Custódio Castro’s side have started to find their feet in the top tier, ascending to 10th in the table, eight points above the relegation playoff spot.
However, they will have to make do without their midfield dynamo Alex Amorim for the final 12 matches. Born and raised in Fortaleza, Amorim broke onto the professional scene in 2025 with Brazilian second-tier side Athletic Club before joining Alverca – who have the same ownership as Athletic – with the Portuguese side acquiring 50% of the player’s economic rights for €310,000. It didn’t take long for them to enjoy a sizable return on their investment: after bagging 2 goals in 21 appearances, the Brazilian midfielder made the move to Serie A side Genoa for a club-record sale of €7.5 million.
Rio Ave
After three consecutive mid-table finishes in their return to Liga Portugal, Rio Ave are in grave danger of suffering relegation to the second tier. The Vilacondenses sit three points above the relegation playoff and five above the relegation zone after losing their last five matches, and they will be entering the season’s final months without two of their best players: André Luiz and Clayton. Ever since being added to a sporting empire containing Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos, Rio Ave have been resigned to losing some of their most prized assets for pennies on the dollar to the bigger sharks in Evangelos Marinakis’ domains.
Having sold Costinha to the Greek giants for €2.5 million in the summer, Rio Ave have once again been raided by Olympiacos for their two Brazilian forwards, Clayton and André Luiz, who scored 17 of their 23 league goals this season. Whilst Marinakis admitted that he was offered nearly €20m for Luiz by Wolves and Benfica as well as over €10m by an Emirati side for Clayton, he ended up selling them both to Olympiacos for a combined €11.75m. And whilst both strikers have gone from starters to substitutes in Piraeus, Rio Ave currently find themselves without a single player who has scored more than two league goals this season.
“André Luiz and Clayton were at a club, Rio Ave, with which it was very difficult to negotiate,” stated Martins. “Both were repeatedly linked to the big clubs in Portugal, but nothing ever materialized: André Luiz was the big saga of the last transfer window, but Evangelos Marinakis raised the price too much. André Luiz is also a particular case because Rio Ave bought him from Estrela (a club that has been recruiting very well), and it is not normal for pricey transfers to occur between lower-level Portuguese clubs.”
Estrela da Amadora
Another club that smashed their transfer record this past month was Estrela da Amadora. The successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in 2011 due to financial problems and bankruptcy, Estrela rose from the ashes in 2020 and returned to the top flight in 2023/24, finishing 14th and 15th in the table, and today they sit 11th. The club decided to cash in on two of their most valuable figures: French-born Mauritania international Oumar Ngom joined Serie A side Lecce for €2 million, with the 21-year-old midfielder becoming the fourth Estrela player to join Lecce for a seven-digit fee in the past year.
The Tricolores also managed to bag themselves a club-record dividend of €6 million for Netherlands-born Cape Verde international Sidny Lopes Cabral, with the right back joining Benfica on a contract through 2030. Cabral has been involved from the get-go, bagging a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win against his former employers, and he’ll be looking to build on his promising displays in the capital and lock down a starting spot in defence under José Mourinho.
Gil Vicente
Four years after qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history, Gil Vicente find themselves in the hunt for yet another date with continental football. The Roosters are crowing louder than ever, having knocked Braga off their usual perch of fourth place. César Peixoto’s side are currently one point above Braga, but if they are to return to UEFA competition, they’ll have to do so without two vital figures: Andrew Ventura and Pablo Felipe.
Andrew has emerged as one of Portugal’s best goalkeepers since arriving in 2021, and it was only a matter of time before the best teams in Brazil (and South America) came knocking on the door. Whereas Andrew has returned to his homeland and joined Flamengo for €1.5 million, his compatriot Pablo Felipe has more than tripled Gil’s previous record fee after joining Premier League outfit West Ham for €23 million. If Gil are missing their top scorer, they certainly aren’t showing it, having won four of their last five Primeira Liga matches.
“All of these players have had very different development processes, but the most impressive, especially considering the amount paid by West Ham, is Pablo Felipe,” stated Martins. “It’s a case of great individual merit. There aren’t many players loaned from teams other than Benfica, Sporting and FC Porto who succeed. Pablo played for Paços de Ferreira in the Second Division, on loan from Famalicão, and struggled, but his success at Gil Vicente is impressive because of his unusual trajectory, a story of resilience. In the past, these players would probably have had to go through one of the Big Three clubs to leave Portugal for those amounts. Today, that’s no longer the case.”
Benfica suffered a 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid in an action-packed Champions League play-off first leg at the highest attended game at Estádio da Luz.
The Eagles got off to a flying start but it was Real Madrid who threatened first, Kylian Mbappé and Arda Güler firing warning shots at Anatoliy Trubin. Federico Valverde’s deflected cross then fell for Vinícius Júnior who sent an effort narrowly past the post.
Fredrik Aursnes’ deflected strike was saved by Thibaut Courtois before the visitors ended the first half on fire.
Mbappé fired over the bar and went desperately close to getting on the end of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross with the goal at his mercy. Los Blancos finally started to combine, Mbappé missing the target after initiating a move involving Álvaro Carreras and Vinícius.
Mbappé wasted a decent chance, Vinícius shot wide and Güler was denied by a fine save from the increasingly busy Trubin. The half-time whistle was welcomed by José Mourinho and his side who were being thoroughly outplayed on their own pitch.
Vinícius brilliance breaks the deadlock
The decisive goal came in the 50th minute when Mbappé gave the ball to Vinícius who took advantage of Amar Dedic, advanced towards goal and sent an unstoppable shot into the top corner. The Brazilian’s celebration at the corner flag sparked a fracas that would soon take centre stage.
Vinícius approached referee François Letexier before the restart and appeared to accuse Gianluca Prestianni of racial abuse. The game stopped for almost ten minutes, Mourinho spending a large proportion of them in conversation with the goal scorer.
Vinícius tested Trubin twice before Mourinho went to his bench in the 74th minute, Richard Ríos and Georgiy Sudakov replacing Rafa Silva and Andreas Schjelderup.
Gianluca Prestianni was booked for diving before Vinícius forced another save from Trubin. Mourinho made two more substitutions, Fredrik Aursnes and Prestianni making way for Sidny Cabral and Dodi Lukebakio.
Cabral blazed over the bar before Ríos was taken down by Eduardo Camavinga on the edge of the box. Mourinho was furious with Letexier which saw the referee show the manager consecutive yellow cards.
Álvaro Arbeloa made his first substitution in the 87th minute when Brahim Díaz replaced Güler. Benfica tried hard but couldn’t break Real Madrid’s defence down, the Spanish side closing it out in Lisboa.
More to this story
Benfica were unable to replicate the performance that saw them beat Real Madrid 4-2 and snatch a spot in the play-offs. Álvaro Arbeloa has adopted a 4-4-2 formation and Thibaut Courtois was hardly troubled all evening long.
Los Blancos are far from a free-flowing side and have plenty to work on, but Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior only need one moment of magic to unlock a contest and so it proved.
José Mourinho may regret getting himself sent off which means he won’t be in the dugout at Estadio Bernabéu.
Benfica will need all the help they can get in their attempt to stop Mbappé and Vinícius in the Spanish capital, the Portuguese club overturning a first leg home defeat in a European qualifying round only once in eight previous attempts.
It was great to see Richard Ríos and Dodi Lukebakio return to action. With Alexander Bah an unused substitute, the Eagles are getting back to full strength but not quite in time for the second leg next week.
There will be plenty of discussion about the racist remarks that Gianluca Prestianni was accused of directing at Vinicius Junior. Expect a thorough investigation that could lead to a lengthy ban for the Argentine.
Kylian Mbappé spoke about the racial allegations in the mixed zone: “Apologies? Look at his face? This kind of thing can’t happen. He’s a young man, how can you say these things on a football field?"
“We were going to leave the field, it was the team’s decision, I don’t know what happened and then we came back. This type of human being is not my colleague, he shouldn’t play in the Champions League again.”
“We cannot accept that a player like that plays in the Champions League, he doesn’t deserve it. But let’s see what UEFA decides. It’s a serious case.”
Mourinho addressed the incident in the post match press conferernce, saying: “I already spoke in the flash interview and I wanted to be more balanced than Álvaro Arbeloa and Mbappé. I spoke with Vini and he told me one thing, I spoke with Prestianni and he said another.”
“I could have been ’red’ and said that I only believe what Prestianni told me, or I could have been balanced and said that in the world of football I always try to be more balanced. I don’t want to say that Vinícius is a liar and that Prestianni is a wonderful kid. I don’t want to say that.”
As has often been the case this calendar year, Sporting left it late to claim victory. A rare headed goal from substitute Daniel Bragança in the 82nd minute gave the Portuguese champions a 1-0 win over Famalicão at Alvalade.
Sporting came into the game without star striker Luis Suárez who was suspended and knowing only a win would do after title rivals Benfica and Porto had passed their difficult island assignments by collecting three points in the Azores and in Madeira respectively.
Fama threaten in first half
Famalicão are one of Portugal’s better teams and proved it tonight, especially in the first half. A stupendous long-range shot by Ibrahima Ba arrowed into the net, but the visitors’ celebrations were cut short when VAR ruled out the goal for a foul in the build-up on Maxi Araújo. Famalicão also missed a glaring opportunity to take the lead in the 34th minute when a mistake by the otherwise excellent Ousmane Diomande allowed Simon Elisor to race clean through on goal, but the French forward shot wide with just Rui Silva to beat.
Festival of missed opportunities by Sporting
Nevertheless, Sporting created plenty of chances of their own in the opening 45 minutes, Maxi Araújo, Francisco Trincão, the lively Luís Guilherme, Morten Hjulmand and Pedro Gonçalves all went close, and left-back Ricardo Mangas smacked a powerful shot onto the post.
In the second half Famalicão disappeared as an attacking force as a more aggressive Sporting snapped into tackles and anticipated interceptions with more vim, but the hosts did not create chances with as much regularity as in the first half.
With the clock ticking down, the breakthrough finally came via an unlikely route, the diminutive Bragança ghosting into position at the near post to expertly flick the ball into the net from a Trincão corner.
The standings remain unchanged at the top with Porto four points clear of Sporting at the summit, and Benfica three points behind their city rivals in third.
Porto defeated Nacional 1-0 at Estádio da Madeira in their first outing since Samu’s season ending knee injury.
All the early chances fell for the Dragons, Alan Varela’s shot deflected wide before Kaique collected efforts from Oskar Pietuszewski and Deniz Gül.
Pepê was heavily involved on the right wing, the Brazilian sending a shot wide before Nacional missed a glorious opportunity to take the lead in the 33rd minute.
Paulinho Bóia’s corner was met by Jesús Ramírez, the striker looking certain to score before heading straight at Diogo Costa who did enough to divert the ball over the bar.
It was the start of Nacional's best spell of the game but they couldn’t make it count.
Gabri Veiga replaced Rodrigo Mora in the 59th minute and made an impact with his first touch of the ball. He whipped a corner into the danger area where Jan Bednarek headed into the net.
Nacional huffed and puffed but were unable to test Costa for the remainder of the contest, Miguel Baeza volleying over the bar in added time.
Crucial Victory
It was an important victory for Francesco Farioli's side who were coming off a 1-1 draw against Sporting Clube de Portugal and 2-1 defeat at Casa Pia. The win took Porto seven points clear of Sporting and Benfica, the Lions with a game in hand.
Zaidu Sanusi returned to the starting side since the 3-1 Taça da Liga quarter-final defeat to Vitória de Guimarães in early December. Oskar Pietuszewski made his first start for the Dragons at just 17 years and 8 months old.
Farioli highlighted his squad, saying: "We are where we are because of the strength of the squad. Everyone is ready to play, everyone is ready to help. This week was really complicated because of the injuries to Samu, Kiwior, and Martim.
"Samu's injury, in particular, is a big loss. It affects us a lot because we feel the pain we've been sharing these past few days. That's why it was important to rebuild the group in a situation where we also had the pressure of getting another important result."
The win came exactly a year after the death of former Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa.
Porto now return to Estádio do Dragão where they should have few problems beating Rio Ave and Arouca. They then contest two crunch games in Lisboa, against Sporting in the Taça de Portugal semi-final first leg and Benfica in the Liga.
All things considered, it has been a memorable 12 months for 
Four years after qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history, Gil Vicente find themselves in the hunt for yet another date with continental football. The Roosters are crowing louder than ever, having knocked Braga off their usual perch of fourth place. César Peixoto’s side are currently one point above Braga, but if they are to return to UEFA competition, they’ll have to do so without two vital figures: Andrew Ventura and Pablo Felipe.
Porto defeated Nacional 1-0 at Estádio da Madeira in their first outing since Samu’s season ending knee injury.