Portuguese Football in English
The Lisbon derby. One of the biggest games in the Portuguese football calendar. That’s right, this weekend Estoril will be hosting Casa Pia in a quite simply unmissable game.
Jokes aside, this weekend is of course all about Benfica vs. Sporting, and what better time could there be for a massive game like this with Lisbon’s two biggest clubs in markedly different places at the minute?
PortuGOAL previews the huge encounter in the Portuguese capital and the rest of the weekend schedule.
It was a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show at Alvalade tonight. After the thrilling comeback victory over Estrela da Amadora on Sunday, Sporting did just enough to beat Polish side RKS Raków in a forgettable game.
Two penalties scored early in each half by Pedro Gonçalves gave the hosts the points against opposition that played most of the game with ten men. A Milan Rundic reply gave the Poles hope of a draw, but Sporting held on for a win that keeps them second in Group D, three points behind leaders Atalanta.
Real Madrid secured safe passage to the Champions League Round of 16 after beating Braga 3-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
The Warriors were awarded an early penalty but couldn’t take advantage with Álvaro Djaló’s spot kick saved.
They paid the price in the 27th minute when Los Blancos took the lead, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo combining to present a chance for Brahim Díaz which he took with aplomb.
Braga were second best after the restart and paid the price, Vinícius Júnior scoring in the 58th minute and Rodrygo netting three minutes later to end the contest.
The result leaves the Portuguese club four points behind Napoli and two points above Union Berlin with two games to play in Group C.
Real Sociedad beat Benfica 3-1 in San Sebastián this afternoon to end the Portuguese team’s slim hopes of making the knockout stages of the competition, making it four defeats in four matches in Group D for the Eagles.
Benfica were lucky to be only 3-0 down at the break after a nightmare showing in the first 45 minutes, and coach Roger Schmidt admitted he had got things wrong.
“In my opinion we weren’t prepared for today’s game and if that was the case it is my responsibility,” he said.
Porto defeated Antwerp 2-0 in a largely uneventful evening at Estádio do Dragão.
Both teams had chances before Evanilson opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute.
Any hopes Antwerp had of fighting back were severely dented seven minutes after the restart when Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was sent off.
Evanilson and Pepê Aquino missed opportunities to kill the game off which nearly came back to haunt the Dragons, Arbnor Muja missing a fabulous chance to equalise in the 89th minute.
Pepe finally sealed the deal in added time, the 40-year-old getting on the end of Francisco Conceição’s cross and heading home from close range.
The victory sees Porto join Barcelona at the top of Group H, both clubs level on nine points.
