Last weekend the Portuguese media was dominated by the potential negative effects of José Mourinho’s scathing criticism of his players after Benfica had toiled to an unconvincing victory in the Portuguese Cup against lower league Atlético CP.
One week later and it’s a different story. After beating Ajax 2-0 in Amsterdam in the Champions League, Benfica produced a remarkable comeback to earn all three points in a 2-1 victory in Madeira against Nacional.
In the 89th minute the Eagles were losing after Chuchu Ramírez had given the islanders the lead on the hour mark.
But substitute Gianluca Prestianni fired in an equaliser in the last minute of normal time, before another substitute, Andreas Schjeldurup, set up a dramatic winner deep in stoppage time for Greek striker Evangelos Pavlidis.
The win sees Benfica pull level on points with city rivals Sporting, ahead of the Lions’ game against Estrela da Amadora tomorrow, with the two clubs meeting in the Lisbon derby next Friday.
Benfica coach José Mourinho’s post-match reaction
“It was a completely deserved victory. If we’d lost, I wouldn’t have said a single word of criticism against my team because they played well from the first minute. Conceding a goal was tough from the emotional point of view, but the team lifted itself up, pulled together and won.
“During the championship points will be lost and won in the final minutes. It’s a fact that Benfica have lost six points in the final minutes and tonight we gained two, but it’s difficult for me to admit the game was won in the final minutes because this victory was constructed from the first minute. Benfica completely dominated from start to finish.
“Prestianni and Schjelderup? The did well when they came on, but those who were substituted also played a good game. I never thought during the game that we wouldn’t win, but they entered fresh and gave more mobility to our game, just like Ivanovic did as well, but the team played a very good game.
“The three points are what matters, but I liked how we were organised and the psychological strength we showed to withstand the pressure.
“Why didn’t I celebrate the 2-1 goal? Euphoria sometimes leads to a loss of organisation. We were playing wide open and I wanted to organise the team for the final minutes, because football can play tricks on you.
“The derby? Now it’s a question of resting, not thinking much about football. The lads have had two tough games; they ran a lot against Ajax. They were two extremely important victories, which cemented ties and give us lots of joy. There are still a lot of days before the Sporting game.”
After five matches in the Europa League both Porto and Braga are in an automatic qualification position for the round of sixteen after tonight’s results completed a highly positive week for Portuguese clubs in Europe.
The northern neighbours were both grateful to their Spanish Gabri’s for vital goals as the Blue & Whites beat Nice 3-0 (two goals from Gabri Veiga) at the Estádio do Dragão and Braga drew 1-1 (Gabri Martínez scoring) against Rangers despite playing a significant proportion of the match a man down.
Porto 3-0 Nice
Porto had no trouble seeing off out-of-sorts French outfit Nice, running out 3-0 winners at the Estádio do Dragão thanks to a first-half brace from Gabri Veiga and a second-half penalty converted by Samu.
“This squad is highly committed, honest and professional,” said a satisfied Porto coach, Francesco Farioli after the match.
“The players approached the game in the right way. The early goal helped us put the match in the right direction.
“In the first half we didn’t concede anything. In the second half we dropped our level and it could have cost us a goal. It’s a great result.
“To qualify we need at least 15 points. There’s a long way to go.”
The Dragons sit 8th in the standings and a favourable remaining schedule in the league phase (Malmö and Rangers at home, Plzen away) will make Porto confident of finishing even higher to book their place in the last 16 of the competition.
Rangers 1-1 Braga
Braga travelled to Glasgow again after their 2-0 win at Celtic in October, and started well enough with Ricardo Horta denied twice early on by Jack Butland.
But Rangers came back strongly, Danilo Pereira and Djeidi Gassama thwarted by Hornicek. But there was nothing the Braga goalkeeper could do when Rangers were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half time for a Fran Navarro handball and James Tavernier made no mistake from the spot.
On a windy night at Ibrox the game turned physical and bad-tempered in the second half, and when Rodrigo Zalazar was sent off for an apparent headbutt on Raskin, although he barely made contact, it looked like curtains for Braga.
Curiously, perhaps fired by a perceived injustice, the Portuguese team continued to fight with determination in every challenge and in the 69th minute equalised through Gabri Martínez following a long throw-in after Rangers defender Djiga made a mess of his attempted clearance.
Rangers almost regained the lead straight away, Djiga attempting to make up for his mistake but his header from a corner flew just wide.
At this stage Braga were not looking like a side playing a man down, showing plenty of adventure and a goal at either end looked possible. Ricardo Horta nearly scored directly from a corner, with Victor Gomes latching onto Butland’s unconvincing save and firing towards goal, with the goalkeeper forced to tip the ball over the bar.
Deep in stoppage time Rangers defender Mohammed Diomandé was sent off for a second yellow card, but no further goals were scored.
Braga are 7th in the standings with matches against Nice (away), Nottingham Forest (home) and Go Ahead Eagles (away) to come.
Sporting continued their excellent Champions League campaign by clocking up their third successive home win by outclassing Club Brugge in Lisbon tonight.
Goals by Geovany Quenda, Luis Suárez and Francisco Trincão gave the Portuguese champions a thoroughly deserved 3-0 victory and lifts Rui Borges’ men into the top eight with three matches remaining of the league phase of the competition.
Tom Kundert reports from the José Alvalade stadium.
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Man-of-the-match Maxi Araújo set the tone for the match and his own display in the early exchanges with an audacious roundhouse turn to set up a chance for Quenda who struck a powerful effort wide.
Brugge replied with Portuguese winger Carlos Forbs showing his pace, Rui Silva saving his effort from a tight angle.
Red card scare
Disaster seemed to have struck Sporting in the 9th minute when captain Morten Hjulmand was shown a straight red card for a high kick that left Stankovic in a heap on the floor, but upon VAR review the referee downgraded it to a yellow.
In an open game with both teams playing enjoyable proactive football, Christos Tzolis and Luis Suárez exchanged chances, but it was the home team who grabbed the all-important first goal in the 24th minute.
Simões passed to Geny Catamo on the right wing, the Mozambican showing tremendous acceleration and dribbling skills to skin his marker and shoot for goal. Nordin Jackers saved the shot but the ball fell to Quenda, who turned smartly and slotted the ball into the corner of the net.
The hosts soon doubled their lead with Catamo again the catalyst, turning and playing a perfectly timed through ball to Suárez, who kept his cool and dinked the ball over Jackers to make it 2-0.
Sporting on fire
Sporting were now playing some champagne football, Francisco Trincão and Luis Suárez close to scoring again before the break after some beautiful one-touch combinations sliced through the Brugge defence.
Suárez spurned a glaring opportunity to score again upon the restart, Quenda putting him clean through on goal. The Colombian this time opted to round the goalkeeper but a last-ditch challenge by Joaquin Seys saved the day for the Belgians as the Sporting striker hit the post.
To their credit, Brugge did not throw in the towel and enjoyed their best spell of the match for the next 20 minutes, applying heavy pressure on Sporting and winning a series of corners.
They looked certain to pull a goal back in the 65th minute when substitute Nicolo Tesoldi played a one-two and was clean through, his shot beating Rui Silva but rolling just wide of the post.
Trincão makes sure
The miss proved Brugge’s last chance as Francisco Trincão made the most of a fine assist by Quenda to sweep in a shot on the turn and make it 3-0 in the 69th minute, ending any doubts about who would be walking away with the points.
Iván Fresneda, often the ugly duckling for the Alvalade fans, almost got a goal his faultless performance deserved but Jackers saved his shot from a narrow angle.
Sporting coach Rui Borges took advantage of the comfortable scoreline to give Champions League minutes to academy youngsters Salvador Blopa and Rodrigo Ribeiro and the two substitutes almost combined for a goal in the dying seconds, Ribeiro’s pass latched onto by Blopa but Jackers made a brave save, unfortunately injuring himself in the process with the referee sensibly blowing for the final whistle there and then.
An eighth victory in Sporting’s last nine matches in all competitions (the other match being a draw against Juventus in Turin) and the fact a total of five Sporting players who contributed tonight are Alcochete products – Gonçalo Inácio, João Simões, Geovany Quenda, Salvador Blopa and Rodrigo Ribeiro – is ample evidence of a club in a good place right now.
The draw for both the round of sixteen and the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup has been made.
With all the main contenders still in the competition, attention was naturally drawn to the possibility of a Porto v Benfica clássico in the quarter-finals.
But first things first. With 16 teams remaining, there are three all top-flight ties in the fifth round of the Taça de Portugal, with Porto-Famalicão and Santa Clara-Sporting the pick of the bunch.
Famalicão are enjoying a fine season and are currently in fifth place in the standings and are sure to give the current Primeira Liga leaders a tough test at the Estádio do Dragão.
A trip to face Santa Clara in the Azores is always a testing assignment for any team, and Sporting will need no reminding of the fact. The Lions were somewhat fortunate to escape with a last-gasp and controversial victory in the recent league encounter between the two teams in São Miguel.
In the other tie that pits together two sides from the top division, Vitória will fancy their chances at home against rock-bottom AVS.
Full round-of-sixteen draw
Lusitano de Évora-Fafe Casa Pia-Torreense FC Porto-Famalicão Vila Meã-União de Leiria Caldas-SC Braga Farense-Benfica Santa Clara-Sporting Vitória de Guimarães-Aves SAD
Ties to be played between 16 and 18 December 2025
The second phase of the draw decided the quarter-final lineup, and it set up a potential blockbuster matchup. Should Porto beat Famalicão and Benfica overcome Farense in the Algarve, the two bitter rivals will meet with a place in the semi-finals at stake.
Braga will be pleased with the outcome. Carlos Vicens’ side can reach the semi-finals if they win two ties in which they will play lower-level opposition, the first of which Caldas SC who knocked out Tondela in the fourth round.
An unfamiliar name will also be in the semi-finals, with one of Casa Pia, Torreense, Vila Meã or União de Leiria making the last four of competition at least.
Quarter-final draw
FC Porto-Famalicão/Farense-Benfica Casa Pia-Torreense/Vila Meã-União de Leiria Lusitano de Évora-Fafe/Caldas-SC Braga Santa Clara-Sporting/Vitória de Guimarães-Aves SAD
Leandro Barreiro scores at the Johan Cruijff Arena to make sure of the points for Benfica. (Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Benfica kept their hopes of making progress to the knockout phase of the Champions League alive tonight thanks to a 2-0 victory against Ajax in the Netherlands.
Two fine goals, one at the start of the match by Samuel Dahl, the other and the end of the match by Leandro Barreiro, gave the Eagles their first three points of the UCL league phase in 2025/26.
Benfica fans will be hoping the club has turned the corner after a spirited display and a deserved victory.
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European greats fallen on hard times
The game pitted together Europe’s best team in the 1960s against Europe’s best team of the 1970s, but both clubs are a long way from those golden years, with neither Benfica nor Ajax registering a single point in the Champions League before tonight.
Benfica got off to the perfect start. Richard Ríos headed towards goal from a corner, bringing a fine reflex save out of Vítezslav Jaros, but the ball fell to left-back Samuel Dahl who fired in a terrific volley that arrowed into the top corner of the net. Six minutes gone, Ajax 0-1 Benfica.
Benfica continued to hold the ascendency, Pavlidis rifling a shot into the side-netting after a good move.
Ajax were clearly a team shot of confidence. A Davy Klasssen effort comfortably saved by Trubin was the only goal attempt worthy of note by the hosts in the first half.
Ajax fight back
The second half was a different story with Ajax gradually notching up the pressure against a Benfica team that increasingly retreated towards their own goal.
Trubin tipped Bounida’s shot over the bar in the 50th minute, and soon afterwards Klaassen missed a golden opportunity to equalise when a neat one-touch combination in the box with Wout Weghorst gave the Ajax captain a clear sight at goal, only for him to wastefully scuff his shot wide with only Trubin to beat.
Ajax were now camped in the Benfica half, but the Portuguese side produced a dangerous counter-attack in the 72nd minute, Amar Dedic’s low shot well saved by Jaros.
The introduction of the lively Oscar Gloukh caused more problems for Benfica’s defence as the hosts went into all-out attack mode, and only a sharp save by Trubin denied the Israeli an equaliser.
Benfica shut up shop and kill the game
Mourinho had seen enough, bringing on Tomás Araújo for a five-man defence for the final minutes, and the substitution proved effective, the extra numbers at the back stunting Ajax’s momentum.
The game was made safe in the 90th minute when Araújo won the ball deep in his own half, the ball fell to Leandro Barreiro who played a fine one-two with Fredrik Aursnes, the Norwegian threading a peach of a pass into the path of Barreiro who outran his marker and lashed a thunderous finish into the roof of the net with his left foot.
Manu Silva comeback
There was more good news for Benfica late on as Manu Silva made his first appearance in almost a year as he takes the first steps towards regaining match fitness after recovering from his ACL injury.
With Napoli (home), Juventus (away) and Real Madrid (home) the remaining fixtures, Benfica still have a tough job on their hands to stay alive beyond the league phase. Last season, fewer than 11 points meant elimination from the competition.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen quite a few Portuguese players lay claim to the biggest prize in European football. Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe led Real Madrid to an unprecedented three straight UEFA Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018, whilst Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias helped Manchester City secure their first-ever Champions League title in 2023. And this past summer, Paris Saint-Germain got their hands on their maiden UEFA Champions League trophy thanks to the efforts of four different Portuguese players: João Neves, Gonçalo Ramos, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes.
As the UEFA Champions League returns for a captivating Matchday Five, there are more than a few Portuguese players who are worth paying attention to. Today, let’s take a look at the Portuguese players who are competing in Europe’s premier competition.
Benfica
José Mourinho made history in 2004 when he led Porto to the UEFA Champions League title – he’s since won a Champions League with Inter, a Europa League with Manchester United, and a Conference League with Roma. Today, he’s back in Portugal, where he’s seeking to guide Benfica from the cellar to the Champions League playoff spots. He’ll be counting on a number of Portuguese players from vice-captain António Silva to fellow defensive rising star Tomás Araújo, as well as a number of promising homegrown talents like João Veloso, João Rego, Rodrigo Rego, Henrique Araújo and Samu Soares, as they look to vanquish a disastrous start that sees them sitting third in Liga Portugal and 35th in the Champions League table.
Juventus
Juventus have two Portuguese players in their squad. João Mário is plying his trade in Turin after arriving in a swap deal for fellow Portuguese fullback Alberto Costa, and he’s now linking up with his fellow Porto academy graduate Francisco Conceição. Similarly to other players like Rayan Cherki, Carlos Alberto Pintinho, and Ángel Di María, Conceição has a penchant for the extraordinary and is capable of generating danger at a moment’s notice with his quick changes of direction and elusive dribbling, and he looks set to be included in next summer’s Portugal squad in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Manchester City
If Manchester City are the most successful English team of the past decade, it’s thanks to their Portuguese influence. Whilst ex-Benfica stars Ederson and João Cancelo are no longer there, City are still reaping the rewards of two veteran cogs in Bernardo Silva (captain) and Rúben Dias (vice-captain). Silva and Dias are proving instrumental as the team’s midfield playmaker and defensive talisman, but as for Matheus Nunes, he’s gone from midfield metronome at Sporting and Wolves to the team’s right-back following the exit of Kyle Walker, and he’s pushing Cancelo and Nélson Semedo for Portugal’s starting right-back position.
Borussia Dortmund
Six years after breaking onto the scene for Porto and shattering a number of records, it’s fair to say that Fábio Silva hasn’t lived up to the hype. After struggling to convince following a club-record £35 million move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Silva bounced around from Anderlecht to PSV Eindhoven to Rangers before being loaned out to Las Palmas, where he scored 10 goals in 25 appearances. His impressive form in the Canary Islands led to a maiden Portugal cap as well as a permanent transfer to Borussia Dortmund. So far, however, Silva’s development has been limited by an adductor injury as well as the stellar form of Serhou Guirassy up top.
Chelsea
As opposed to summer arrival Dário Essugo, who is yet to play for Chelsea since making his debut vs. Palmeiras, one Portuguese player who is making his mark for the Blues is Pedro Neto. Neto emerged as one of the deadliest wingers outside of the Premier League’s top six with Wolves before making the move to Chelsea in 2024, where he initially struggled for consistency. However, after a world-class summer which saw him lead Portugal to victory in the UEFA Nations League Finals and spearhead Chelsea to glory in the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, Neto has been able to build on this momentum and emerge as a decisive figure in Enzo Maresca’s attack as well as a regular contributor in the final third.
Kairat Almaty
Kairat Almaty made history by making it through four rounds of qualifying and becoming the first Kazakh team in a decade in the main draw of the UEFA Champions League. And after suffering blowout defeats to Sporting and Real Madrid, they’ve rebounded with a draw vs. Pafos and a narrow 2-1 defeat at Inter. Kairat are punching above their weight thanks to two Portuguese players, both of whom have enjoyed circuitous paths. Having plied his trade in Portugal’s lower leagues and Luxembourgian side Differdange, Jorginho has emerged as a key figure at the attacking midfield role since joining in January, whilst Luís Mata has gone from Porto’s B team to sojourns in Spain and Poland before eventually excelling at left-back for Kairat since his July arrival.
Pafos
Pafos are walking on sunshine thanks to their Portuguese gems like Pedro ‘Pêpê’ Rodrigues, who led them to their first-ever title in their 10-year history with the 2024 Cypriot Cup, and Domingos Quina, who proved exceptional in Pafos’ league title last summer. And whilst Alexandre Brito has struggled for minutes since joining from Sporting on loan, there are a number of Pafos players who, despite not representing the Seleção, have ample experience in Portuguese football, such as João Correia, Anderson Silva, Bruno Langa, and David Luiz. Currently 20th in the table, Pafos currently boast a superior Champions League record to the likes of Napoli, Juventus and Marseille.
Olympiacos
Pafos may have a strong Portuguese influence, but they don’t even lay a finger on Olympiacos in this regard. Chiquinho, Daniel Podence and Gelson Martins have formed a fearsome attacking trio behind Moroccan centre-forward Ayoub El Kaabi, whilst Diogo Nascimento has emerged as a vital cog in midfield following his summer arrival from Vizela. And whilst Rúben Vezo has been phased out of the team, one Portuguese defender who is playing a big role in the backline is Costinha. That’s not even to mention the plethora of ex-Primeira stars like Mehdi Taremi, Bruno Onyemaechi and Roman Yaremchuk who are now plying their trade in Piraeus.
Villarreal
It has been a rollercoaster few years for Renato Veiga. After struggling for playing time at boyhood club Sporting as well as Augsburg, Veiga made the permanent move to Basel, where he helped them avoid relegation. Veiga then traded Switzerland for England, where he became a regular at Chelsea but nevertheless grew unhappy at having to play at left back instead of his preferred centre-back role. It’s why, after forcing a January loan to Juventus, Veiga departed the Blues and joined Spanish side Villarreal for a club-record £26 million, where he has emerged as a pivotal figure in central defence alongside Juan Foyth and recently Rafa Marín. Many leading Spanish football journalists like Sid Lowe and Álvaro Romeo have praised him as one of the top young defenders in Spain, and it could very well catapult him to a successful Portugal career.
Club Brugge
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and that’s proven to be the case with Carlos Forbs. Born in Sintra to Guinea-Bissau parents, Forbs left for England at an early age and ascended Manchester City’s academy before making the move to Ajax in 2023. After one year in Amsterdam, Forbs joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he struggled to impose himself before making the move to Club Brugge. He has quickly emerged as one of the best players in Belgium thanks to his electrifying pace and sensational dribbling prowess, earning himself a maiden call-up to the Portuguese national team. And after bagging a brace and an assist in his last match vs. Barcelona, he’ll be looking to make it back-to-back Champions League matches with a goal contribution.
Sporting
Forbs will be facing off against a Sporting side that is teeming with Portuguese talent; Francisco Trincão and Pedro Gonçalves have stepped up and delivered in attack following the exit of sharpshooter Viktor Gyökeres, Rui Silva has impressed between the sticks, Gonçalo Inácio has cemented himself as a vital cog in defence, whilst João Simões has proven to be a revelation in the middle of the pitch. Even with veterans like Daniel Bragança and Nuno Santos missing out due to injury, Sporting manager Rui Borges can still count on a number of Portuguese players like Geovany Quenda, Eduardo Quaresma, Rodrigo Ribeiro, Ricardo Mangas and João Virgínia.
Bayern Munich
Out of the 23 players from Portugal’s title-winning 2016 Euro squad, only one player is still playing in the UEFA Champions League: Raphaël Guerreiro. After leading Portugal to victory, Guerreiro left France for the first time and joined Borussia Dortmund, where he emerged as one of the best left-backs in Germany before eventually making the move to Bayern Munich in 2023 on a free transfer. Having watched in despair as Bayer Leverkusen put an end to Bayern’s dynasty, Guerreiro helped the Bavarians return to the zenith of the Bundesliga last season thanks to his versatile, composed performances. And while he’s finding regular starts hard to come by, he nevertheless remains a valued performer under Vincent Kompany.
Tottenham Hotspur
Last but not least, João Palhinha is yet another Portuguese player who is looking to get his hands on the UEFA Champions League trophy. Having spearheaded Sporting to a long-awaited championship under Rúben Amorim, Palhinha established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in world football during his time at Fulham before making the move to Bayern Munich in 2024. After struggling for minutes in Germany, Palhinha has since thrived on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, where he is combining his tenacious tackling and physical brute force with a newfound prowess in the final third; he’s already grabbed as many goal contributions (7) in 19 appearances with Tottenham as he did in his 95 appearances with Sporting.
Paris Saint-Germain
Last but certainly not least, we cannot fail to mention the Portuguese contribution of the current holders of the trophy, PSG. You can make a valid argument that central midfielder Vitinha and left-back Nuno Mendes are the best players in the world in their respective positions, and Vitinha’s partner in crime in the centre of the pitch, João Neves, is not that far behind. Striker Gonçalo Ramos, a regular goal-getter despite largely being confined to a role off the bench, completes a magical quartet that not only helped the French club become European champions, but also potentially hold the key to Portugal’s World Cup aspirations next summer.
Rodrigo Mora gave a reminder of his world-class talent with a stupendous goal as Porto knocked out Sintrense
There were no surprises in the Portuguese Cup 4th-round matches played on Friday and Saturday as the favourites avoided upsets to progress to the last 16.
On Friday night Benfica beat Lisbon minnows Atlético CP in a historical fixture that has not been played for years given the fall of the club from the Alcântara neighbourhood of the Portuguese capital. Currently in third tier of the Portuguese pyramid, Atlético began impressively in a match played at the Restelo (Belenenses’ ground), creating the better chances in a goalless first half.
José Mourinho did not like what he saw and made four substitutions at the break. Benfica improved significantly and ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Richard Ríos and Vangelis Pavlidis.
Sporting coach Rui Borges rang the changes as the holders welcomed 4th-tier Marinhense to the Alvalade, but it was first-team stalwart Francisco Trincão who set the Lions on their way to a comfortable victory with two first-half goals. Striker Luis Suárez added his name to the scoresheet late on for a 3-0 victory.
Porto also had a home clash against 4th-tier opposition in the shape of Sintrense, and won by the same scoreline. Borja Sainz and Deniz Gül put the Dragons in control, but the moment of the night came in the 80th minute when Rodrigo Mora curled a stupendous 20-yard effort into the top corner with his weaker left foot.
Mora has struggled for minutes under Francesco Farioli, but the goal was a reminder of his undoubted talent and a throwback to his form last season when he scored a series of worldies to announce his arrival as one of Portugal’s most exciting emerging talents.
In arguably the tie of the round, FC Famalicão travelled south to Estoril and ran out 2-1 winners. An early strike by Tom van de Looi and a second goal from Pedro Bondo proved decisive for Fama. Alejandro Marqués scored late on to give Estoril hope but it proved only a consolation goal.
The only other all top-flight tie in this round will be played this evening, 23 November, with Braga hosting Nacional da Madeira.
The draw for the round of sixteen will take place on Tuesday 25 November.
Dodi Lukébakio has been an important part of José Mourinho’s Benfica team. (Photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
Benfica winger Dodi Lukébakio will be unavailable for the Eagles for at least three months after fracturing his left ankle in Belgium’s 7-0 victory over Liechtenstein on Tuesday evening.
The 28-year-old wide man, who has been a big hit since signing for the Lisbon giants at the end of the summer transfer window, came on as a second-half substitute for the Belgians in their final World Cup qualifier but had to be substituted himself 15 minutes later after a challenge left him with a broken ankle.
“Dodi Lukébakio has a fracture in his left ankle. He will be operated on and will start the recovery process,” stated Benfica in a press release.
Diogo Jota and Andy Robertson were close friends. (Photo: Andrew Powell/Getty Images)
The UEFA group stage of World Cup qualifying finished yesterday with an incredible match in Glasgow.
Needing to beat Denmark to qualify for their first World Cup in 28 years, Scotland came out on top 4-2 thanks to two stoppage-time strikes in an exhilarating seesaw game replete with magnificent goals.
It was an emotional night for the Scots, and in particular for captain Andy Robertson, who revealed after the match that he had been thinking about his former Liverpool teammate and great friend Diogo Jota throughout the day in the leadup to the game.
“Today I’ve been in bits,” Robertson told reporters, moments after the final whistle had blown on a historical night at Hampden Park.
“I know that given the age I’m at, this could be my last chance to go to a World Cup. I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today.
“We spoke so much together about the World Cup. He missed out on Qatar because of injury. I missed out because Scotland never went.
“We always discussed what it would be like going to this World Cup and I know he’ll be somewhere smiling over me tonight.
“I just couldn’t get him out of my head the whole day. I was in a bit of trouble in my room earlier. I hid it well from the boys and I’m just so glad it’s ended up this way.”
Robertson had eloquently expressed his admiration for Diogo Jota in a moving tribute to his Liverpool teammate in the immediate aftermath of the tragic car crash that claimed the lives of Jota and his brother André Silva in July.
Andy Robertson interview after Scotland 4-2 Denmark
'I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today' ❤️
Cristiano Bacci jumped at the chance to return to Portuguese football (Photo: www.cdtondela.pt)
International breaks are traditionally hazardous times for managers of struggling football teams, and so it proved for Ivo Vieira at Tondela. The experienced manager was sacked and replaced by Italian Cristiano Bacci, who returns to Portuguese football after spells at Boavista and Moreirense.
Madeira-born Vieira began his coaching career in promising fashion at both of the island’s two major clubs, Nacional and Marítimo, and went on to manage a host of clubs in Portugal (9 in total) as well as spells abroad in Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Turkey.
The 49-year-old took over at newly promoted Tondela this season, but has been let go after earning just two victories and six points in the first 11 games of the 2025/26 Primeira Liga season.
The team from central Portugal did not waste time in appointing his replacement. Bacci was managing Greek outfit Panserraikos when he got the call from the Portuguese club, and immediately rescinded his contract to return to a country he knows well.
“Tondela is a historical club,” said Bacci. “I played against them when they were in the second division, I know players who have been here and talked to me about the soul of the club and the city and that’s why I was extremely happy to receive and accept this offer.”
César Peixoto voted coach of the month; Striker Pablo wins forward of the month award; Andrew wins goalkeeper of the month
César Peixoto has done a superb job in guiding Gil Vicente to fourth place in the standings. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
It’s been a remarkable start to the season for Gil Vicente. The team are named after a 16th-century playwright known as “the father of Portuguese theatre” but there has not been much in way of drama associated with the football club in recent years.
Gil are usually too good to go down, although occasionally getting themselves embroiled in a relegation battle. And while a visit to the northern club is always a tough fixutre and it is not uncommon for the Big Three to drop points there, they are rarely strong enough to challenge for Europe.
Yet, with a third of the season played, Gil Vicente are sitting pretty in fourth place in the standings having won 7, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their 11 Primeira Liga matches.
In goalkeeper Andrew Ventura, defenders Marvin Elimbi and Ghislain Konan, midfielder Luís Esteves and striker Pablo Felipe, they have five players who arguably have been as good as any other player in Portugal in their respective positions in 2025/26.
Much of the credit must go to coach César Peixoto. The former Porto and Benfica player has shown glimpses of ability since becoming a coach, but he never stuck around long enough at any of the six clubs he previously managed to allow a definitive conclusion to be drawn as to his coaching prowess.
Colleagues acknowledge Peixoto
Back at the club where he ended his playing career, Peixoto has done a superb job in the opening chunk of the season, and was duly rewarded by winning the “best coach award” for the months of September and October, as voted for by the head coaches of the 18 Liga Portugal teams.
Peixoto earned 32.03% of the votes, beating FC Porto manager Francesco Farioli (26.8%) and Sporting’s Rui Borges (11.76%). Should the 45-year-old coach keep Gil performing at the same level until the end of the season, he will put himself in a strong position to take a step up to a more ambitious club.
Pablo voted best forward
But that was not where the awards ended for the Gilistas. Striker Pablo Felipe, known in the Portuguese football fraternity simply as Pablo, picked up the gong for the best forward in the league, also for the months of September and October.
Son of former Porto striker Pena, Pablo has hit the net 8 times in 11 games this season, which puts him second in the Primeira Liga top goal-scorers list, just one behind Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis.
Pablo earned 35.95% of the votes, ahead of Sporting’s Luis Suárez (16.99%) and Pavlidis (10.46%).
Brazilian goalkeeper Andrew Ventura (known in Portuguese football simply as Andrew), 24 years old, has long been regarded as one of the best stoppers in Portugal, and he too won the award for the best player in Portugal in his position for the months of September and October.
Gil are just two points behind 3rd-placed Benfica in the standings and Pablo, Andrew, Peixoto and company will be looking to keep pace with the front runners after the international break when they welcome struggling Tondela to the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.
Guilherme Müller, general director of the Benfica Campus, spoke exclusively to Flashscore. [Image: Flashcore / SL Benfica]
Guilherme Müller will complete one year as general director of Benfica Campus in November, having succeeded Pedro Mil-Homens in the role. In this exclusive interview with Flashscore at Benfica Campus in Seixal, he explained the club’s youth development model, the evolution of their facilities, and the present and future goals for Benfica’s youth teams.
Benfica Campus turned 19 in September. Naturally, since it was built, there have been major upgrades to improve the facilities for youth development. How much further can this infrastructure, which is the envy of many around the world, still grow?
“I think that, both through our relationship with the European Club Association and the fantastic opportunity we have with the Youth League and away matches, we get to know many academies and there’s always a great exchange, both when they visit us and when we visit clubs abroad.
“What I feel, both from my own visits and, above all, from the feedback we get from those who come here, is that this sports facility and Benfica’s youth development model are undoubtedly among the best in the world. I don’t think we’re behind anyone. This facility has evolved over time. From 2006 to the present, it has grown in different ways, but mainly in its own scale. It started with a few pitches, fewer teams, then increased the number of teams, and expanded the support services for players. So, right now, I have no doubt that we’re at the top level.
“What we’re noticing is that the pressure has increased. Benfica has continued to grow in terms of the number of teams, and in the not-too-distant future, we’ll have to consider the possibility of expanding this infrastructure, especially in terms of pitches.
“Let me give you an interesting comparison. We were at Chelsea for a Youth League match. In terms of working conditions, for people and for the facilities, for the players, I honestly think we’re better than Chelsea. In terms of methodology, we’re second to none. We have six grass pitches and, let’s say, two and a half artificial pitches. They have one artificial pitch and 31 grass pitches.”
That’s quite a difference.
“And their facilities are for fewer teams. They have, in total, fewer than we do. All their youth teams use that space.”
So, they don’t face the same challenges as Benfica when it comes to managing the pitches and planning.
“Not at all. Quite the opposite. Their first team has four pitches exclusively for their use. Their Under-21 team, which is equivalent to our B team, has two pitches for their exclusive use. This is a huge help, both for organising these more professional or transitional squads, but above all, we’re starting to feel it even in the younger age groups: the more access they have to natural grass, the better, because they start preparing earlier for where they’ll continue their careers.
“So, I think this is a world-class facility, no doubt about it, and I’m sure no one can say otherwise. There will come a time when we’ll have to think about expanding, especially the sports facilities.”
Could you also explain a bit about the internal organisation, especially the synergy between the different age groups, from the moment talent is identified? How does that process work? How important is the scouting network and its preparation? And what about all the branches that Benfica Campus has across the country?
“Benfica’s youth football is structured around four main areas. One is the youth football management, which handles scouting and contract management; another is the technical management, which deals with coaches and some sub-coordinations, including the initiation area, which is outside Benfica Campus. Within Benfica Campus, we have players from Under-14s up to the first team, but mainly from youth football up to the B team.
“The first team also uses our facilities, but is completely independent from youth football in terms of management. In Greater Lisbon, we have a major hub at the University City, with excellent and recently improved facilities, and Benfica also felt the need to expand to the rest of the country.
“Within Benfica Campus, no player can say they lack the conditions to perform their role or profession, whatever their age. I think the conditions are fantastic, with support services at every level. Besides the youth and technical management, we have an area we value highly: personal and social development management.
“And here, let me highlight an interesting number. All of Benfica’s youth development, including Benfica Campus, the big hub in Lisbon, and the other training centres across the country, involves about 600 children - kids, teenagers, and young adults - of whom 200 train at Benfica Campus, and 80 live here.
“This personal and social development management is extremely important, not only for supporting all youth development, but especially for those who live with us, because we have boys who, from the age of 12 or 13, leave their families to come live here, and we, at least in some areas, have to step in as their family, becoming their parents, grandparents, and siblings.”
And sometimes that’s not always easy…
“I think it’s more than just not being easy - it’s very hard. But there’s an encouraging fact: no one has ever gone back. In 19 years, we had one case, which is fairly well known, of a player who didn’t adapt at first, and so Benfica, together with his parents, decided it was best for him to return home, stay connected to Benfica, and at the end of that season, he came back to stay.”
And what are the criteria for kids to live here as boarders? Is it about geography, or even if they live close to family, is it about financial conditions? I imagine demand is huge and capacity is naturally limited.
“We have 80 places available. And, as you said, there have to be criteria when deciding who gets those 80 spots. That means sometimes, especially at a very young age, we have to make choices about which players can come and stay, and which can’t.
“Typically, what is our residence for? When these training centres were created, it was clear - and it probably hasn’t gotten any easier - that it’s hard to convince parents to let their children leave home so young, and also, for talent identified early, to keep them loyal to Benfica without a real connection.
“These training centres allow for a real link between the athlete and Benfica from an early age, so from six to 12, these boys are already playing in Benfica’s shirt, benefiting from Benfica’s methodology, being in contact with Benfica coaches, absorbing what we call the Benfica DNA, so that by 12, they’re much more in tune with this culture. From this group of about 200 players who finish their time at the training centres each year, it’s mainly from here that the 80 residents are chosen, and maybe a few more.”
So those academies outside Lisbon act as a filter for the best talents?
“They’re the first filter. They take in the youngest kids, so they don’t have to travel 100, 200, 300, or 400 kilometres to train or play at Benfica Campus. They can keep living at home, with their parents, and have a normal life, while still playing football and benefiting early from our methodology. It also lets us keep a closer eye on these players and follow their development more closely.”
Guilherme Müller, general director of Benfica Campus, in an interview with Flashscore. [Image: Flashscore / SL Benfica]
“80% will become professional players, 100% will become citizens”
And for a parent who trusts Benfica to look after their child, what can they expect in terms of education beyond football, which is so important for any young person’s growth? What does the club offer, not just to prepare players for the future, but also to prepare them as people with values and success in other areas, since not all will become professionals, even though the success rate is fantastic - eight out of 10 who come here become professional footballers.
“Yes, in fact, eight out of 10 who sign a professional contract - about 80 per cent, maybe a bit more - will continue their careers as professional footballers after leaving Benfica. I don’t know if there are many universities with that kind of employability rate.
“So, I think it’s a real reason for parents to believe their children could one day become footballers. Even if not necessarily in Benfica’s first team, that’s a very relevant point. I can’t forget that we’re a football club, but Benfica has a bigger role to play than just that. We can’t limit ourselves to just top-level training, competition, and playing conditions, which is our mission. We have to prepare them as footballers, as best we can, to make sure they can one day reach Benfica’s first team.
“That’s why there’s a significant investment in something that’s a bit outside their football development. Because while it’s true that about 80 per cent will become professional footballers, 100 per cent will become citizens and part of our society.”
And it’s important to prepare them for that too…
“The personal and social development management area is essential for that. We allocate significant resources to supporting their education. Benfica has partnerships with schools. The truth is, many of these kids live in a bit of a bubble. They live in a residence with only boys who share the same interests. So, basically, they only talk about football, live football, play football, train football, breathe football, and watch football.
“We feel it’s our duty to get them out of that bubble a bit and show them there’s more to life. To have friends who aren’t just football friends, to have girlfriends, to have other kinds of relationships that aren’t possible in such a closed environment. We have partnerships with several schools, but especially with one public school and one private school, where most of our kids go, not just to fulfil their schooling requirements, but also to develop these relationships.
“We recognise the importance of this department. Let’s not forget we’re talking about 80 boys, aged between 12 and 18. There’s constant support. We have rotating tutors who are always present in these kids’ lives, as well as coaches and other support staff.
“There’s a complementary social action that starts being instilled in the youngsters from the beginning: working with shelters, underprivileged families, and social responsibility institutions. There’s a lot of closeness. So, Benfica has to play this role in the community.”
It seems clear that every parent thinks they have a Messi, a Ronaldo, a Bernardo Silva at home. My question is: how do you manage the sometimes irrational expectations of a parent about their child, who may be influenced by them?
“We value the role of parents immensely. It’s very unlikely a youngster will become a footballer without the initial support of their guardian. It’s the guardian who, before he’s Bernardo Silva or Ruben Dias, takes him to training, picks him up, sits in the stands for two hours in the rain waiting for the game to end, and waits in the car for training to finish.
“Managing expectations, especially at a club like Benfica, is tough. Benfica has been able to bring youth players into its first team, which is most important, but even those who don’t make it to the first team often find another path that gives them financial security they might not find elsewhere. I understand that some parents can’t let go of this idea.
“Besides having a specific program called High Performance Parents to manage these expectations, there are a series of interactions over the years and seasons between parents, coaches, coordinators, and technical directors, always with this in mind. We also foster a close relationship with parents, knowing that once they entrust us with their boys, there has to be some separation.
“The truth is, times have changed, and we now have slightly different youngsters and slightly different parents. We have to adapt to that reality. What we’ve tried to do over time is to realise that dynamics are different from 10 or 20 years ago, and maybe even earlier.”
But do you think this is decreasing, that is, are parents more aware that their child probably won’t be a Ruben Dias or a Bernardo Silva, and might just be an average player, or maybe not even make it as a footballer?
“No.”
No?
“I don’t want to be unfair to many parents who are great examples, who let their kids have fun, play, learn, and develop in a completely normal and organic way. So I don’t want to be unfair to them, and there are many, but I recognise that, perhaps because of how society is evolving, there’s a significant number of parents who can’t manage this. That puts more responsibility on us, because we’ll always need youngsters to shape and turn into footballers.”
The hardware and software of youth development
And that’s why you trust the technical teams, who work with them every day…
“Above all, that’s what Benfica is about. We usually divide the key factors for Benfica’s youth development success into two big blocks: hardware and software. Hardware is these facilities, where we are now, the hub that required a major investment at University City, having six training centres across the country - all of which require a huge investment.
“The other is software: people and culture. Competent human resources, aligned with our principles, values, and methodology. And giving these people the ability to interact with parents to explain what they can and can’t, should and shouldn’t do.”
There’s a lot of talk about the 'Benfica DNA'. Can you explain what that is, and what are the most important components of it?
“I think it’s a combination of factors. First, Benfica has its long-term development program called 'Formar à Benfica'. Formar à Benfica is a platform we provide to our coaches, whether they’re at Benfica Campus, EUL, the training centres, or our academies abroad. It’s a project that aims to keep developing, and this platform is available to coaches in those places.
“It’s a very detailed platform on how Benfica sees youth development in every aspect: player profiles, what’s expected by position, what’s expected tactically from the team, and the game model.
“In all these areas, we invite our coaches to follow a model, naturally with some flexibility to add their own ideas, but based on a core model we believe will shape a certain type of player.”
Guilherme Müller, general director of Benfica Campus, in an interview with Flashscore. [Image: Flashscore / SL Benfica]
“The mission is to develop players for the first team”
So, the coach has the freedom to think and create based on the team’s dynamics, within the model Benfica promotes?
“Benfica’s youth football has a very clear mission: to develop players as well as possible so they can one day reach the first team. That’s our mission.
“If we can win competitions along the way, great, but we have to do everything we can to make sure our boys are as ready as possible to reach the first team. So that when the first team coach, staff, or general director needs a player for a certain position, they can look at the youth system and see players as close as possible to the first team standard. That’s our goal.”
And that doesn’t change every time there’s a new head coach, right?
“No, not at all. That’s the point. Just as it can’t change when the first team coach changes. The club has a model, a profile it believes in. It believes in a player and in Benfica’s values. The player as an example of values on and off the pitch, but also in the four usual performance dimensions.
“Regardless of the coaches’ quality or experience, it can’t depend on the profile of a particular coach who might be at the club for a while and then leave. What we try to do is, regardless of who it is, at any level, have a model we recommend and suggest.
“You asked if it’s a rigid or flexible model. I’d say it’s somewhere in between. It’s not the most rigid, but it’s not the most flexible either. Because if it’s too flexible, it ends up…”
Losing its identity…
“What we want is for the first team coach, when looking at these youngsters, to recognise the characteristics that are typically expected and that the fans expect. It wouldn’t be the same if the game model the player spent five, 10, 15 years playing was different, if the instructions given were different, if the positioning on the pitch was different, if the way to behave on the pitch was different. So, what we want is real uniformity in how we prepare our players.”
We know borders are open in Europe today. There are humanitarian crises everywhere. Portugal receives refugees. I know Benfica has a partnership with the Portuguese Council for Refugees. What does that involve, and could it be a recruitment niche if there’s quality?
“I’d split the answer into two perspectives: social and sporting. The partnership you mentioned is social. As I said about others, this complementarity created by the personal and social development management, we try to instil in our youngsters this sense of social responsibility, that there’s more to life than just football. There’s more to life than the privileged residence at Benfica Campus. There are other, much tougher realities.”
And the Benfica community usually support these causes?
“Especially through the Foundation. But we, having our own youngsters here, can also play that role. So, there’s a social path. You asked if, from a sporting perspective, this could be interesting for us. I’d say there isn’t a specific project for that purpose.”
Aerial image of the Benfica Campus in Seixal [Image: SL Benfica]
“The gold mine is in Portugal”
But it could happen in isolated cases…
“It has happened, even without a specific project for those cases. We still believe the gold mine is in Portugal. We really like Portuguese talent, and it’s in young Portuguese players that we want to keep investing. We do look at the international market, but our main focus is the national market, because that’s where we believe the talent is.
“Internationally, especially in countries with humanitarian crises and specifically in Ukraine, Benfica had a football school there. When the war started, we had to close it. What we did then was allow young people who might come to Portugal, due to the wave of Ukrainian immigration, to enrol in our schools at no cost. And there were some cases where families came to Portugal and their children joined our football schools.
“Also, FIFA at the time created an exception to the rule that doesn’t allow young players to move at a very young age - European youngsters up to 16, and outside Europe only from 18. There was a Ukrainian youngster who benefited from this exception and is now in our competitive teams, and despite the huge hardship his family went through, he found a kind of refuge here to keep developing his career.”
In recent years, there’s been another reality: identifying talent that can finish its development in Portugal. Is Benfica also alert to this?
“Without downplaying the importance, and it’s easy to see - just look at our youth teams and see how important Portuguese players are. With rare exceptions, almost all our players are Portuguese. What we notice is that young foreign players who try to join our academy, with rare exceptions, struggle. Maybe because our athletes, over so many years, have been exposed to such a clear and defined DNA injection.”
They can’t absorb it anymore…
“It’s harder for a player with very different characteristics to fit in easily. There’s a market we pay special attention to, and where we’ve had some success: the market of Portuguese descendants. So, Portuguese citizens who emigrated, especially in Europe, whose children like football and have talent, we try to look at them more closely.
“We find it’s easier for these youngsters to adapt than for a foreign youngster who comes to Portugal at the right age. We might be talking about kids who’ve already spent 10 or 12 years at Benfica. It’s hard to integrate. There are exceptions, and it does happen, but I admit it’s not easy for a youngster.”
The Youth League in 2021/22 and the U20 Intercontinental Cup in 2022 are at the top of the youth team’s achievements, along with 78 more titles across various national and district competitions. Are you satisfied with these numbers, or is there potential to go much further?
“That’s a tough question, because I can never forget - professionally - what our real mission is. I admit some Benfica members might not agree with what I’m about to say, but our mission is to develop players for Benfica’s first team.
“If we can do that and win titles, great. It’s also part of the Benfica player DNA to cultivate a winning mentality. Of course. But we all have to be prepared, at some point, to put that second. Sporting results in favour of player development. And that can have a direct impact.”
Paulo Cintrão with Guilherme Müller, general director of Benfica. [Image: Flashscore / SL Benfica]
“We have to bring at least two players a year into the first team”
Would you trade a youth title for three players in Benfica’s first team?
“Of course. I have to say yes to that. That’s our mission. That’s what I work for every day, that’s what I was asked to do. Of course, I’m also delighted and celebrated every title we won last year. Besides the national championships, we also won the U23 Revelation Cup for the first time, which is a tough age group at Benfica, very demanding for both coach and player.
“We have to keep reminding ourselves of our mission, to make sure no one forgets that what we really have to do here is bring at least two players a year into the first team. That’s our mission.”
We’ve already talked about Benfica’s high standards. Is the transition to senior football the hardest phase? How do you work on that here? And again, how do you manage expectations, since not everyone will make it?
“It’s tough. At Benfica, the B team is part of the youth football structure, not the professional football structure. Still, we try to explain to the players that we have to shift a bit from a development mindset to a performance mindset.
“That is, a player who reaches Benfica B is supposed to be knocking on the first team’s door. So, they have to be ready for the first team’s demands. We have to make sure our players, especially in the U23s and B team, are comfortable with this pressure. Because, if all goes well, one day, sooner rather than later, they’ll be in a stadium with 70,000 people shouting, or in an away stadium with just as many.”
And sometimes there are surprises, because when Joao Neves was promoted to the first team, not many people in Portugal - not just Benfica fans - knew about his quality. And now he’s a European champion…
“That’s the point. The message we try to give our players is: every player who reaches the B team, we truly believe can have that opportunity. Some may be a bit more ready, others less so, but the message is: now it’s up to you. Every player in the B team or U23s has to push to knock on the first team’s door.
“I like to use this analogy: players have to go through three stages. They have to get their foot in the door - and a lot of that is up to them, because we provide all the conditions, but then they have to want to get their foot in the door, they have to want to come in and stay, and they have to earn their place at the table. They have to show the first team coach, and everyone, that they’re ready.
“Our job is also to recognise potential, regardless of current performance. But those who reach the B team, we see the potential for that to happen. Performance will depend on their ability to take that step forward, which sometimes depends on their physical attributes, tactical and technical ability, understanding of the game, but a lot depends on their desire.
“They have to be hungry, as our first team coach (Jose Mourinho) said, they have to want it. We have a strong psychology department that supports them and ensures they’re doing well and managing expectations. But part of it is innate.”
It’s a personal DNA, apart from the Benfica DNA, and together they can create an outstanding player…
“That’s when it comes together. Not everyone will make it, but those who do, I think, we can count on. Honestly, I think very few players who reach Benfica B after coming through the ranks can say: 'Benfica didn’t give me everything. Benfica didn’t give me all the tools to become a professional footballer and reach the first team.' Part of it is up to them. When the two come together, top players are born.”
Deep down, do you think it will be possible, now or in the future, to keep talent so that the first team is made up of 50 or 60 per cent academy players? Or do you think that’s only possible in the distant future? Because it’s getting harder to keep talent in Portugal.
“There are challenges at every stage. The transition to professional football is the big challenge. I feel Benfica has made significant progress in retaining talent. The path and career plan presented to players is very interesting. I feel that before 18, with their guardians, and after 18, with the players themselves, they feel Benfica clearly values their journey.
“Football today doesn’t have many secrets, does it? It’s hard to find a player no one has noticed. That doesn’t really happen anymore. There might be one or two who were less known, but it’s hard for someone to appear out of nowhere and suddenly become a star.
“Our job is to prepare as many players as possible. We set ourselves a target of two players a year. If it can be four, six, eight, 10, or even more. The more we invest in youth development, the more opportunities we give our kids, the more guarantees we’ll have.
“The truth is, there’s a lot of talent in Benfica’s youth system. I have no doubt that of those 80 per cent we talked about at the start, who will become professional players, many have what it takes to play at the top level.”
“A player who comes through Benfica’s academy carries a seal of quality”
Just look at the titles won, the clubs they play for, and the national teams…
“Exactly. There are two very interesting facts I’d like to share. Benfica was the European club with the most players at the last U17 European Championship. They were champions. Even if they hadn’t been, it would still be an honour for Benfica to have been the club with the most players in a national team. So, in the U17 European champions, the most represented club in Europe is Benfica. That says a lot about the talent in the academy.
“But even those who leave, there’s a very interesting study by the International Centre for Sports Studies, which created an indicator called the 'Training Index'to define a player’s importance in a team. They analysed 50 leagues worldwide. The club with the most impactful players is Benfica. This is very important, because it shows that not only the European champions who are still here, but also the 80 per cent who leave Benfica’s academy, carry a seal of quality.”
In the last 10 years, Benfica has made over 600 million euros from player sales. That’s more than its main rivals combined. What does that mean?
“Now, after that study, I think we’re around 800 million…”
Which is a fantastic number…
“It’s very good, for several reasons. It shows that the return on investment in Benfica’s youth development is huge. There are few companies that, with the investment made in Benfica Campus over the last 19 years, achieve such profitability.
“We want our players to sit at the table with the others, with the seniors, and really take part. Here’s a very significant fact, which I fear sometimes isn’t clear to people, and I think we need to stress: on average, more than 20 per cent of the minutes played by Benfica’s first team each season are by academy players. So, the impact of Benfica’s youth system on the first team represents, annually - except for the Covid years - over 20 per cent of the total minutes played by the first team in a season. It’s hard to compare.
“It’s not very clear, but a study tried to identify - this naturally varies a lot from club to club - a kind of European average, which is about 15 per cent of academy players in first teams. So, there were seasons when Benfica almost doubled the average use of academy players, which goes against the idea that Benfica, despite being a very capable academy, only benefits others, even if it is financially profitable.”
That brings us back to the challenge of retaining talent, which is to keep talent a bit longer. Not forever, but a bit longer, right?
“Yes…”
Guilherme Müller, the director of Benfica Campus. [Image: Flashscore / SL Benfica]
Just look at players like Bernardo Silva, Goncalo Ramos, more recently Florentino, Ruben Dias, Joao Neves - so many players at top clubs in the so-called 'big five' leagues. That alone is clear proof of the quality produced here, with a seal recognised in Europe and worldwide.
“Yes, I still agree, when you say that’s the big challenge. To be fair, it’s not just at Benfica; it happens at all Portuguese clubs. But to be fair to the management of Portuguese clubs and to Benfica, which is what matters to me, I think we have to look at this phenomenon seriously. The way Portuguese football is set up, it’s hard for a club to survive without player sales. You could say the model is wrong and needs improvement. I agree with both. I hope and believe progress is being made.
“But the reality today is this: there's extraordinary income from player sales. That’s the club’s perspective, but we can’t forget the player’s perspective. I recognise that for a young player, there are salary limits at a club like Benfica that are hard to exceed, especially compared to other players. Because it’s not just about raising the bar for one. What about the others? We’re talking about a team with several important players. The player who earns X and could earn X plus 20, 30, 50, or 100 per cent, and who is offered a salary eight, 10, 12, 15, 20 times what he could expect here.”
But it’s very hard to compete with that…
“If we’re honest, it’s also hard for the player. Anyone, no matter how much they love their job, works to earn money to support their life. There are others, but few, who don’t need their job to live. But that’s the reality for a significant percentage of people. So, naturally, if the goal is to earn money from work, and you’re offered much more to do the same job, you’ll probably accept. Then there’s the sporting perspective.
“The truth is, right now, Benfica doesn’t have the same ambitions as other, much richer clubs. While it’s obvious that Real Madrid is a top contender to win the Champions League or Club World Cup, or anything else, that’s not the case for Benfica. Benfica has that ambition, and rightly so, given its history, but it’s not obvious that it’s the top favourite.
“For a young player who’s offered the chance not only to earn in one year what he’d make in 10 or 20, but also to have clear ambitions, to play for the biggest titles in the world, I think our challenge, as a youth academy, is to create more quality players so that one will finish his journey in year one, another we can keep for year two, another for year three.
“That’s our challenge: to prepare them even better so they get more opportunities to show they can follow this plan to the end.”
When we talk about development and progress, most people only think about the player, forgetting that there are many people involved in a player’s development who also need to be trained. How does Benfica work on that?
“That’s absolutely essential, especially considering there are hundreds of staff in various areas whose goal is to give our youngsters everything they need to succeed.
“Earlier I mentioned the four main areas we have here, but I’d say, indirectly, not directly in youth football, Benfica has a huge area it pays a lot of attention to, which is also centralized for youth football and other sports: HPD, the Health and Performance Department, which covers medical, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, and psychology, all supporting the athletes, as well as the usual support from coaches, assistant coaches, individual coaches, and the more technical, direct support staff.
“The question is especially interesting because of something that’s been happening lately. It’s not just our players’ quality that’s been recognised outside Benfica. So, the same challenges we have in retaining players, we also have with staff. Benfica has a clear and defined training plan for its staff, and so they’re also targeted by competitors with more financial power than Benfica, and that’s also been a reality in Benfica’s youth football recently”
“Fans can play an active role in player development”
With everything produced here and all the success, what is the role of Benfica’s fans?
“On a small change we tried this year, we talked about exactly that. Let me give an example. Our B team is, historically, a young team. This year, the average age of our B team is just over 19, and they play in Liga 2. On average, the age gap between our B team and our opponents in the first rounds of Liga 2 has been eight to 10 years. This will always be tough, but it’s less tough if they have support.
“We can give them all the tools for success, but there’s one thing we can’t give them. I can’t have one of these boys walk into Estadio da Luz and be left speechless: 'Wow, what is this? I’ve never experienced anything like this, I don’t even know what this is.' What I’d like is that, at least in home games and maybe away games, they start to feel that.
“For that, we depend on our fans, because at the end of the day, it’s that ability to feel the pressure Benfica brings, to understand the expectations, to feel the demands from Benfica fans. That will be one of the most important factors in determining these players’ success or failure.
“As a Benfica fan, I like the idea of trying to foster that, of getting to know the stars of the future earlier. Come and watch and support the teams at all levels. The fans can play an active role in player development.”
A stoppage-time goal by 18-year-old Renato Nhaga gave struggling Casa Pia a shock 2-2 draw at Benfica tonight, but all the talk after the match was about the officiating with Benfica president Rui Costa, coach José Mourinho and centre-back António Silva expressing their indignation with the decision to award Casa Pia a penalty. Já lá vamos, but first, how the match unfolded.
For the third time this season, Benfica conceded an equaliser in stoppage time to drop points in a home game they were expected to win. Although less than one third of the way through the season, six points dropped against Santa Clara, Rio Ave and Casa Pia at the Estádio da Luz could prove costly in terms of mounting a title challenge.
Superbly worked and executed opening goal
After an opening period of complete domination by the hosts, there was little hint of the drama to come. Enzo Barrenechea smashed a long-range effort against the post in the 10th minute and Benfica’s lively attacking play was rewarded with a superb goal soon afterwards.
Dedic crossed from the right, Vangelis Pavlidis controlled the ball with his chest and then cushion-headed it to Georgiy Sudakov, the Ukrainian showing his class with a wonderful first-time volley into the top corner of the net with his left foot.
After the whirlwind start, Benfica slowed down but continued to boss the match, Dodi Lukebakio missing a one-on-one shortly before half time. There was little change to the pattern of the match in the second half, and when Pavlidis scored from the penalty spot to double Benfica’s lead after Gaizka Larrazabal had handled in the six-yard box, it appeared game over.
Two minutes later, however, Casa Pia were also awarded a penalty after António Silva was penalised, also for handball. Anatoliy Trubin dived to his right to make a tremendous save from Cassiano’s spot kick, but from the rebound Tomás Araújo only succeeded to smashing his attempted clearance into the top corner of the net in spectacular fashion.
The home fans were celebrating in the 81st minute when substitute Leandro Barreiro bundled the ball into the net to apparently restore the Eagles’ two-goal lead, but the midfielder had strayed offside.
Nevertheless, with Casa Pia failing to muster anything resembling a dangerous attack virtually all night, the match seemed set to peter out into a routine home win.
But another crass mistake by a Benfica player changed that. Richard Ríos lost the ball carelessly in his own half and suddenly Casa Pia had a four versus three break. The cross was swung in, Trubin came out for it but only succeeded in diverting the ball into the path of teenage substitute Nhaga, who gratefully smashed it into the net. 91 minutes on the clock and incredibly the score was 2-2.
The visitors saw out the remaining minutes of stoppage time to get Gonçalo Brandão’s tenure as the new Casa Pia coach off to a highly positive start.
Post-match José Mourinho, in a surprisingly calm and composed manner given the circumstances, recognised his players were not exempt from blame for the result, but was cutting in his evaluation of the officiating.
“My thoughts? What happened is our fault. It was the referee’s fault. It was VAR’s fault. At 1-0 we relaxed; we have to kill the game. We have to be hungrier, even at 2-0 we have to keep playing to close out the game.
“But I feel there is a negativity running throughout the squad, that something bad may happen. We were coasting, and I admit we should have done more, but then the referee intervened to bring Casa Pia back into the game.
“The referee’s “mistake” and I’m being kind calling it a “mistake” is one thing. But the bigger “mistake” is VAR not correcting it. It was a clear example of what FIFA, UEFA, domestic leagues all over have informed us is not a penalty.
“Benfica must be shown more respect by all parties involved in Portuguese football.”
Although focusing his ire on the officials, Mourinho reiterated that his players have to do better. “When I talk about showing more respect to Benfica, I include our players. Some players don’t know what Benfica is yet.”
António Silva: “refereeing is ‘conditioned’”
The player at the centre of the contentious penalty went further and suggested that the refereeing in Portugal is “condicionada” which can be loosely translated as “biased” at best, or “fixed” at worse, alluding to tonight’s match and Sporting’s controversial 2-1 victory at Santa Clara yesterday.
“It’s our fault we drew the game; we could have done more,” said Silva in the flash interview. “This weekend made it clear what is going on in our football. The protocol says if the ball deflects off the body onto the arm it is not handball. I don’t understand how the referee awarded a penalty. I think this weekend it was completely clear that the refereeing is very condicionada.”
Rui Costa demands answers
Newly re-elected Benfica president Rui Costa added his weight to the indignation, summoning journalists for an impromptu declaration after Mourinho’s post-match press conference to express his fury.
“We never hide from our responsibilities, and Benfica should have done much more to win this game. We have to want it more; we have to want it much more,” he began.
“But Portuguese football is sick. It is inadmissible that a penalty is given that is clearly not a penalty. The law is crystal clear. If the ball deflects off the body onto the arm it is not a penalty. The penalty was given and the game was open again.
“What has happened this weekend is too much. One team gets a corner which was not a corner and the team get two extra points. Another has a penalty against them wrongly awarded and two points are lost. Enough! This is enough!
“The referee can make a mistake. But VAR cannot fail to correct it. We will request an urgent meeting with the Portuguese football authorities.”
Porto beat Famalicão 1-0 at Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho to retain their three point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga.
Samu Aghehowa smashed the ball straight into Lazar Carević’s face early on before Rodrigo Mora and Francisco Moura both went close.
The Dragons continued to dominate but were fortunate not to fall behind in the 29th minute. Yassir Zabiri hit the post, the ball bouncing back into play, off Diogo Costa and rolling narrowly wide.
That was as close as the hosts came to finding the net, Porto scoring the decisive goal in the 36th minute. Rodrigo Mora did well to spin and release Moura, the full-back’s cross converted by Victor Froholdt.
Francesco Farioli’s side continued to show their class in the second half, William Gomes going close and Samu’s shot cleared off the line by Pedro Bondo.
Samu and Alberto Costa tested Carević and Borja Sainz saw his shot blocked by Léo Realpe, but the job was done and the hosts ended the contest without a shot on target.
As expected, Rui Costa won the second round of Benfica’s presidential election and will guide the fortunes of Portugal’s biggest football club for the 2025-2029 mandate.
Costa had won the initial election a fortnight ago in which six candidates ran for president, but he did not earn an outright majority, necessitating a second ballot involving the two candidates who had acquired the most votes.
The final result of Saturday’s election was unequivocal: 65.89% of the voters chose Rui Costa, which was almost double the 34.11% who voted for João Noronha Lopes.
A total of 93,081 Benfica members cast their vote, which established a new world record for a presidential election of a football club.
“My first words go to the Benfiquistas – what immense pride!” said Costa in his victory speech.
“Congratulations for this notable democratic vitality and the extraordinary turnout. Only Benfica could make history like this. What magnitude, soul and participation! Benfica have no equal.
“From the north to south of Portugal, in the islands and those spread all over the world, the members expressed their wishes clearly and unequivocally. I thank the confidence placed in me and accept the responsibility to continue to work for more victories, more trophies and for Benfica.”
Third-place Benfica host Casa Pia later on Sunday evening looking for a win to keep on the coattails of Porto and Sporting at the top of the Liga Portugal table.
An intensely contested encounter in São Miguel tonight ended in dramatic fashion as captain Morten Hjulmand scored in stoppage time for a Sporting team that had been reduced to ten men to snatch a 2-1 win against Santa Clara.
The home players were furious given that the winning goal came from a corner erroneously awarded by the referee, with Adriano and Sydney Lima losing their heads and both getting sent off before the final whistle was blown.
Santa Clara had taken the lead early on through Vinícius, with Pedro Gonçalves equalising in the first half. Sporting huffed and puffed on a difficult surface as the rain-soaked pitch cut up badly during the match, and when Maxi Araújo was sent off at the end of normal time it seemed a draw was the most the reigning champions would get. However, the late drama sees the Lions return from the Azores with three points in the bag.
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Dream start for hosts
The home team got off to a dream start when Wendel pounced on a mistake by Sporting centre-back Diomande and crossed beautifully for Vinícius Lopes to finish superbly on the run and give Santa Clara the lead after just five minutes.
Sporting responded well to the setback and spent the rest of the half applying heavy pressure on the Santa Clara defence. Luis Suárez, Pedro Gonçalves and Geny Catamo all peppered Gabriel Batista’s goals with shots, but to no avail.
Pote equaliser
Although the Lions were hogging possession and probing incessantly, it was proving difficult to create clear chances on a heavy pitch that had absorbed a lot of rain in the preceding hours.
Sporting’s pressure paid off in the 32nd minute when Catamo swung over a cross that Pote headed out of the reach of Batista and into the net.
The comeback was almost complete shortly afterwards when Luis Suárez’s cross-shot was brilliantly saved by a diving Batista, although the referee failed to spot the goalkeeper’s touch and awarded a goal kick. It would not be the first mistake of that nature by the officials.
One-way traffic
Sporting’s domination of the match only accentuated in the second half, with coach Rui Borges bolstering the attacking firepower by sending on Greek striker Fotis Ioannidis to play alongside Suárez at the break, taking off midfielder João Simões.
It was one-way traffic with Quenda, Suárez and Ioannidis coming close to scoring, but Santa Clara held firm.
With stoppage time approaching, Vasco Matos rolled the dice by freshening up his attack with the introduction of forwards Brenner Lucas and João Costa, replacing the hard-working and exhausted Vinícius and Serginho.
Brenner causes chaos
Brenner made an immediate impact. Another mistake by Diomande let in the speedy forward, but he pulled his shot wide. Moments later, another defensive blunder by the Lisbon outfit saw Brenner race clean through on goal, with Maxi Araújo bringing him down as he was about to pull the trigger. Red card for the Uruguayan and a free kick on the edge of the box.
As the match moved into stoppage time, Sydney Lima smashed the free kick over the bar.
Although down to ten men, Sporting were not done as an attacking force, but seemingly missed the chance to create a chance when Quenda shinned an attempted cross out of play, only for the officials to award a corner instead of a goal kick.
Hjulmand bullet header
Quenda himself took it, at last producing a good delivery with Hjulmand timing his jump to perfection and thumping an unstoppable header into the net. Santa Clara’s players harangued the referee incessantly, protesting that the corner should not have been awarded, with Adriano shown a red card for his troubles.
Moment later Lima launched himself recklessly into the body of substitute Matheus Reis and was shown a second yellow card to leave it ten against nine for the final seconds.
Sporting held on for the victory and draw level with leaders Porto on 28 points at the top of the table, albeit having played a game more. The Dragons will try and pull away again tomorrow when they play Famalicão away.
Estoril scored four goals for the second successive week to beat Arouca 4-3 in a thriller at the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota to jump up to 8th place in the standings ahead of the rest of the weekend games.
Both sides are known for playing proactive attacking football with little regard for defensive duties. Arouca are yet to keep a clean sheet this season in 12 matches in all competitions, with Estoril only managing a shut-out once in the same number of games. So goals were guaranteed, right? Correct, and then some.
May the (goal-scoring) action begin
Taichi Fukui got the ball rolling, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Gonçalo Costa to fire home from the top of the box. Estoril hit straight back, Fukui going from hero to zero as he deflected a Jordan Holsgrove cross into his own net. Ten minutes gone. 1-1.
Arouca regained the lead through a fabulous strike by Naïs Djouahra, who got on the end of a corner to smash a first-time volley into the net. Estoril were level shortly before half time, Kévin Boma rising well to powerfully head home a Holsgrove corner.
Estoril thought they had snatched a half-time lead when Begraoui tapped in from close range but the striker was offside.
Brilliant Holsgrove puts Estoril ahead
Man-of-the-match Holsgrove was having a storming match and it was the Scot who gave the hosts the lead early in the second half with another fine goal. Picking up the ball inside the box on the right, Holsgrove danced past a couple of defenders and curled a low shot into the far corner.
Estoril almost went two goals clear soon afterwards as Yanis Begraoui smashed a shot against the post, with Arouca defender Tiago Esgaio then deflecting the rebound onto the opposite post.
The seesaw nature of the match was in evidence again when Arouca hit back in the 74th minute. Djouahra’s cross seemed inoffensive but Boma completely fluffed what should have been a routine clearance and the ball skidded into the corner of the net.
Inspired substitution wins it for Estoril
Ian Cathro made a curious substitution, bringing on Rafik Guitane for Peixinho, who himself had only entered in the second half.
It proved an inspired move as Guitane displayed his superb control and dribbling skills to set up captain João Carvalho to poke in the winner and trigger wild celebrations among the Estoril fans and coaching staff.
The league phases of UEFA’s European competitions have reached their respective halfway stages, with Portugal’s sides having played four games each. Sporting have made the greatest impression on the continent’s main competition. Benfica, on the other hand, have had endured a torrid time in continental play.
The reigning Liga Portugal champions are representing the Iberian nation alongside Benfica in this year’s Champions League, with Porto and Braga participating in the Europa League. Both northern teams, despite disappointing results this week, are in good shape to make progress in the Europa League.
The opening fixtures in UEFA’s two leading competitions have given fans a strong idea of which teams will progress to the latter stages and which teams need to improve their form immediately to avoid early elimination.
Sporting have made the biggest Portuguese UCL impact
Sporting’s opening fixtures of the UCL have seen them continue their strong form in Europe after last season’s run to the knockout stages.
The Lions have achieved an impressive seven points from the first four matches of the 2025/26 league phase and are now odds-on favourites to secure a path to the playoff round in a bet on Champions League football this season at -3300. The Champions League betting tips suggest they could even make a push for a top-eight finish, which would allow them to bypass the initial knockout round.
The 21-time league champions recorded a straight-forward victory against debutants Kairat Almaty to kickstart their strong 25/26 European form and have since built on that with a respectable home victory against Marseille as well as a strong point away to Juventus.
The recent loss away to Napoli was disappointing, although even then it was a night in which Sporting created good chances and simply didn’t take them, which bodes well for their hopes of long-term progress.
A consecutive run to the knockout stages would represent a successful campaign for Sporting, although reaching the round of 16 for the first time in the new format will be their real aim. It would be a shock if they do not survive longer in the competition than their city rivals, Benfica.
Benfica need a remarkable turnaround to avoid elimination
Benfica have endured a contrasting experience to Sporting in the opening four matches of the UCL. There have been no positives to take from their run of four straight defeats to Qarabag, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen.
With the new format not allowing teams to drop down into the Europa League, Benfica will need a remarkable change of form to progress to the knockout stages. The team’s issues have revolved around their tendency to concede goals in abundance and their complete failure to find the net away from home, having conceded eight across the four fixtures, and netted just twice - both at the Estádio da Luz.
José Mourinho will need to turn yet another of his teams into a defensive force and get last year’s seven-goal UCL man Vangelis Pavlidis back to his best in the competition if Benfica are to have any chance of still qualifying for the knockouts.
Wins against Ajax and Napoli will be vital to set up a potential comeback story ahead of the final two matchdays in 2026. From there, a victory either away against Juventus or at home to Real Madrid will likely be required.
Ultimately, Portuguese clubs do not consistently set Europe alight in the Champions League, but underdog runs are far from unheard of in the competition. Sporting at least look certain to extend the nation’s hopes into the knockout rounds of 2026 following their early form, and from there, a favourable draw could set up a memorable run for the reigning league champions.
Braga lost their 100% record in the Europa League in an electric match at the Quarry on Thursday night. Leading 1-0 at the end of the first half after a dominant display, the hosts conceded either side of the break and never recovered control of the match, ending up on the wrong side of the scoreline in a seven-goal thriller.
With the excellent Rodrigo Zalazar and Gabri Martínez in sparkling form, Braga looked a class above their opponents in the opening 45 minutes and were good value for the lead they grabbed in the 30th minute. It was no surprise that Zalazar was the scorer, the Uruguayan smashing in a shot from a central position from the top of the box.
Turning point
In first-half stoppage time the Belgians won two corners, with the Braga bench complaining that the second one should not have been taken as the one minute of added time allotted by the referee had passed. Daan Heymans duly headed in the cross and it proved the turning point of the match.
A poor pass by Gorby upon the restart was pounced on by Genk, Sor smashing the ball into the net off the bar. Things went from bad to worse for the home team when Oh Hyun-gyu scored after more questionable defending from Braga to make it 3-1 to Genk.
Zalazar briefly gave Braga renewed hope of salvaging something from the match when he headed in Ricardo Horta’s cross, but one minute later Yaimar Medina restored Genk’s two-goal buffer.
But the scoring had not finished, and when substitute Fran Navarro scored after a scramble in the box, Braga had five minutes plus stoppage time to try and find an equaliser. Lagerbielke came close with a header that sailed narrowly over the bar but it wasn’t to be.
“We lacked freshness” - Vicens
The Warriors remain well-placed in the Europa League at the halfway stage after three wins in their first three games, and next travel to Glasgow to take on Rangers.
“In terms of effort I cannot fault the players, but we have to correct some aspects,” said Braga coach Carlos Vicens post-match. “We lacked freshness and precision, which our opponents had.”
Porto’s road woes continued in the Europa League where they were held to a 1-1 draw at Utrecht.
The Dutch side had lost to nil in their previous three games in the competition and were thoroughly outplayed in the opening 44 minutes. They finished the first half strong and took the lead in the 48th minute when Miguel Rodríguez’s shot was deflected past Diogo Costa.
The game turned sharply in Porto’s favour in the 65th minute when Borja Sainz equalised and Utrecht goalkeeper Vasilios Barkas was sent off for headbutting Gabri Veiga.
The Dragons couldn't take advantage against the depleted hosts, a frustrating evening for Francisco Farioli and his side who remain well placed to advance to the knockout rounds.
Utrecht 1-1 Porto
Porto had a great opportunity early on when Stephen Eustáquio executed a beautiful pass to Gabri Veiga who dragged his left footed effort narrowly wide. Borja Sainz then got past Vasilios Barkas but was too close to the byline to make it count.
Deniz Gül shot straight at the shot stopper before Pepê and Dominik Prpić were booked for protesting too vigorously. The chances kept coming for the Dragons, Pepê providing an opportunity for Eustáquio who was closed down by Souffian El Karouani.
Utrecht fashioned their first shot in the 45th minute, Prpić fortunate not to deflect El Karouani’s effort into his own net. The Dutch side ended the first half strong, a stark contrast from the opening 44 minutes of action.
Ron Jans had plenty of positivity to discuss at the break and brought on Yoann Cathline for Derry Murkin. The hosts began the second half as they ended the first and made it count three minutes after the restart.
Gül conceded a free kick that was well worked by the home side, El Karouani finding Miguel Rodríguez who got into the box and saw his shot deflect off Prpić and sneak past Diogo Costa.
Francisco Farioli brought on William Gomes for Pepê before Barkas spilling the ball and went close to conceding a penalty on Pablo Rosario. Siebe Horemans headed another El Karouani free kick over the bar, Jans bringing on Davy van den Berg and Sébastien Haller for Gjivai Zechiël and Dani de Wit.
The game took a dramatic turn in the 65th minute when Porto equalised and went a man up.
Veiga stole the ball and released Gül who saw his shot saved by Barkas, Borja Sainz perfectly positioned to convert the rebound. Veiga pushed Vasilios Barkas twice in an attempt to retrieve the ball, the goalkeeper reacting with a soft headbutt right in front of Scottish referee John Beaton who showed no hesitation in producing a red card.
Farioli immediately introduced Alberto Costa and Victor Froholdt for Martim Fernandes and Eustáquio, Jans sacrificing David Min for Michael Brouwer.
El Karouani was presented with another free kick that Costa tipped over the bar but the Dragons would soon get on top. Veiga tested Brouwer and fired a free kick over the bar before Fariolo eventually introduced Samu for Gül.
Sainz, Veiga and Prpić were unable to beat Brouwer before the substitute goalkeeper produced a fine save to deny Sainz, the Dragons failing to make their numerical advantage count and settling for a point.
Despite creating a hatful of clearcut chances, Benfica’s nightmare campaign in this season’s Champions League continued as a goal by Patrik Schick gave Bayer Leverkusen victory in Lisbon tonight.
The Eagles have zero points from four games and are only not bottom of the 36-team league because Ajax – curiously Benfica’s next opponents – have a worse goal difference than the Portuguese club. Two proud European clubs a long way from past glories.
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Former Benfica favourite Alex Grimaldo returned to the Estádio da Luz tonight. Here the Bayer Leverkusen left-back tussles for the ball with Richard Ríos. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
Benfica came into the match looking to relaunch their hopes in Europe this season, buoyed by a positive performance and 3-0 win versus Vitória in Guimarães on Saturday.
Festival of missed chances
And truth be told, the Eagles largely bossed the first hour of the match, doing everything apart the most important task in football – putting the ball in the net.
In the 11th minute Dodi Lukebakio was played in behind the German defence, the Belgian winger bearing down on goal and dinking the ball over Mark Flekken, only to see it bounce off the top of the bar and out of play.
Richard Ríos, Leandro Barreiro and Lukebakio all tested Flekken as Benfica peppered the Bayer goal.
Bar rescues Bayer again
The chances kept coming for the hosts, with Barreiro heading narrowly wide before captain Nico Otamendi rose high to head goalwards from a corner, but Benfica were out of luck as the ball hit the bar once again.
The visitors had a golden chance of their own to grab the lead against the run of play when Maza slipped a ball through to Ernest Poku who was clean through on goal, but the young Dutch forward could not keep his composure and snatched at the chance, shanking the ball wide.
Back came Benfica with Sudakov playing a brilliant defence-splitting pass to set Lukebakio on his way again, the Belgian was denied by Flekken. From the rebound Aursnes fed Pavlidis but Badé got back in the nick of time to deny the Greek striker a tap-in.
More missed chances
The half-time whistle went with Benfica fans wondering how their team had not scored, and upon the restart the opportunities kept coming.
A confusing passage of play after a corner resulted in the ball falling at the feet of Pavlidis just six yards from goal, the normally lethal Greek striker opting to try and round Flekken instead of shooting and the alert goalkeeper quickly ran out and thwarted him with his feet.
Pavlidis then swivelled and shot from the edge of the box but the ball drifted wide of the post.
In the 55th minute Benfica had a loud penalty shout ignored by the officials as former Vitória centre-back Tapsoba appeared to knock down Barreiro with a flailing arm in the box.
Schick stuns Benfica
Bayer coach Kasper Hjulmand was first to ring the changes, bringing on Patrik Schick and Malik Tillman shortly before the hour mark and he would be rewarded for his proactivity.
The returning Alex Grimaldo passed to Schick, whose shot was repelled by Trubin, but Samuel Dahl failed to deal with the loose ball, only succeeding in heading it towards Schick who in turn headed it into the net.
The goal knocked the stuffing out of Benfica and visibly lifted the Germans, who had themselves not won in the competition this season before tonight.
The chances dried up at both ends of the pitch in a stop-start final chunk of the match, with Bayer taking every opportunity to waste time, but even with six minutes of stoppage time awarded by the referee Benfica could not muster an equaliser.
“Happy with performance; frustrated with result” – Mourinho
“I’m frustrated with the result, but very happy with the team’s performance,” said Mourinho post-match. “The team played very well with and without the ball.”
“The key was in all the chances we created and didn’t take. The display was good and complete – the only thing missing were the goals. I said to the players that if we play like that but score the chances we missed, we’ll win nine out of ten games.”
Sporting had never won in Italy but after twenty minutes it looked like the curse may be about to be broken. Maxi Araújo put the Portuguese champions into the lead with a superb team goal and Francisco Trincão was unlucky to see his shot crash off the underside of the bar and out.
But Juventus came back strongly, forcing Sporting to retreat further and further towards their own box, the super aggressive Dusan Vlahovic leading the charge for the Italians, and it was little surprise when the Serbian netted the equaliser.
Sporting disappeared as an attacking force but defended stoutly, goalkeeper Rui Silva and captain Morten Hjulmand outstanding, and they return from Turin with a precious point.
Sporting quick out of the blocks
Under new coach Luciano Spalletti Juventus were in desperate need of points after two draws and a defeat in their opening three Champions League games, but it was the visitors who started the better.
Sporting applied constant pressure all over the pitch, the hard-running Fotis Ioannidis up front leading by example, and the Lions showed commendable composure when Juventus tried to rob the ball high up the pitch, hogging possession for lengthy periods with their sure passing.
Sporting take lead following brilliant move
The opening goal was a prime example as a brilliant move saw Sporting string 10 passes together, most of which were first-time, to progress the ball from their own half to the edge of the Juventus box. Trincão invited Maxi Araújo to try his luck with a lovely lay-off and the Uruguayan duly rifled a low angled shot in off the post.
The home supporters were almost stunned by a second Sporting goal, another slick move giving Trincão a shooting chance inside the box. His right-foot effort beat Juventus goalkeeper Di Gregorio but crashed back into play off the underside of the crossbar.
Vlahovic takes centre stage
No quarter was being given by either team as the game turned more physical, with Ousmane Diomande and Vlahovic especially playing out a tremendous battle.
Juventus ramped up the pressure, Vlahovic denied an equaliser when Rui Silva produced a miraculous reflex save to keep out the Serb’s powerful close-range header. An action-packed encounter continued to deliver, Vlahovic bringing another sharp stop out of Silva who had to dive to push his shot away for a corner.
The Old Lady were getting plenty of joy attacking Sporting’s right side of defence, Vagiannidis and Quenda unable to shut down the threat, and it was no surprise when the equaliser appeared precisely from that area. To be fair, it was another excellent piece of attacking football as Thuram and Vlahovic combined cleverly to get behind the Sporting defence, the striker finishing from close range to make it 1-1.
Francisco Conceição goes close
Juventus almost completed the turnaround soon afterwards. The right side of Sporting’s defence was again breached with ease and only a timely Gonçalo Inácio deflection stopped his international teammate Francisco Conceição from scoring after good work by Kenan Yildiz.
While the first half had been a half of two halves, with Sporting in the ascendancy before Juventus took over, the second half was largely one-way traffic. Sporting were struggling to keep up physically with Juventus who poured forward, although things improved for the Portuguese team after Rui Borges made a triple substitution, Geny Catamo, Eduardo Quaresma and Luis Suárez coming on for Quenda, Vagiannidis and Ioannidis.
Captain fantastic
Despite Juventus continuing on the front foot, the Italians were failing to create chances, with Sporting doing a good job at slowing the game down when they had the chance, captain Morten Hjulmand regaining his best form at the best possible time with a magnificent display.
The effort the visitors had made to hold back the tide clearly resulted in mental exhaustion in the closing minutes of the match, with a series of careless giveaways threatening to undo all Sporting’s hard work.
In stoppage time it needed an alert Rui Silva to push over Jonathan David’s header and Filip Kostic saw his shot deflected narrowly wide.
Sporting in contention to make progress
Several Sporting players collapsed to the ground upon the referee blowing the final whistle, and the hard-earned point could prove crucial. Sporting have 7 points from their first 4 Champions League games, and welcome Club Brugge to Lisbon next, before playing Real Madrid and PSG in successive matchdays.
(Photo: Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
Juventus: Michele Di Gregorio, Teun Koopmeiners, Pierre Kalulu, Federico Gatti, Weston McKennie, Khéphren Thuram (Filip Kostic, 72’), Manuel Locatelli (Fabio Miretti, 83’), Andrea Cambiaso, Francisco Conceição (Edon Zhegrova, 72’), Dusan Vlahovic (Vasilije Adzic, 83’), Kenan Yildiz (Jonathan David, 87’)
How quickly things change in football. Last season João Pereira was in the running for coach of the season as he led the modest Casa Pia to their highest ever points total in the top flight (45) and a 9th-place finish.
This season things have been very different. A 5-3 defeat at home to Estrela da Amadora on Saturday proved the final straw for the Casa Pia board. With just two wins in the opening 10 games of the Liga Portugal campaign, Pereira has been sacked.
“Casa Pia Atlético Clube and João Pereira, through mutual agreement, are in negotiations to terminate the contract of the head coach and his assistants Fernando Costa and César Lacerda,” read a club statement last night.
“The club recognises and is grateful for all the professionalism and dedication shown during this period of collaboration, highlighting the contribution made for the development and success of the sporting project. Casa Pia Atlético Clube wishes them the best of personal and professional success in the future.”
It is difficult to come to any conclusion other than Pereira and his assistants being the victims of their own success. Casa Pia played some tremendous football last season, leading to record transfer fee revenue through the sales of Telasco Segovia, Beni Mukendi and Nuno Moreira.
Casa Pia today announced that a multidisciplinary 6-man team will take charge of the first team, comprising coaches Alexandre Santana, Gonçalo Brandão, Tiago Dias, João Santos and João Aguiar and analyst Miguel Valentim. The Gansos make the short trip to the Estádio da Luz to play Benfica on Sunday.
Porto regained their three-point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga after an entertaining 2-1 win against Braga.
Borja Sainz came off the bench to score yet another late winner for Porto, this time against Braga
Victor Froholdt saw his goal ruled out in the 33rd minute but Porto were rewarded on the stroke of half-time, Samu Aghehowa’s long-range strike taking a fortunate deflection off Rodrigo Mora that wrong footed Lukas Hornicek.
Braga had been battling hard at Estádio do Dragão and got their reward in the 51st minute, Rodrigo Zalazar drilling Ricardo Horta’s corner across the face of goal where Víctor Gómez headed the ball into the net.
Fran Navarro missed a great chance to put the visitors ahead and Deniz Gül went close for Porto, but it was the Dragons who scored the decisive goal in the 79th minute. Borja Sainz took advantage of a poor piece of defending by Gómez and beat Lukas Hornicek, Francisco Farioli’s side closing it out to earn their ninth win in ten Liga matches.
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Alan Varela fired a fierce strike straight at Lukas Hornicek but Braga soon proved they had come to Porto to play, frustrating the hosts with high energy pressing. Francisco Moura remonstrated with referee Fábio Veríssimo and found himself booked.
Victor Froholdt volleyed into the roof of the net in the 33rd minute following a corner, Veríssimo ruling that Jan Bednarek had jumped into Hornicek in an attempt to win the ball. The majority of those inside Estádio do Dragão were irate including Francisco Farioli who earned himself a yellow card.
Two pinball goals
The game became a scrappy affair and tempers continued to boil over. Porto took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Samu Aghehowa tried his luck from distance and hit the jackpot, his wayward shot deflecting off Rodrigo Mora, wrongfooting Hornicek and rolling into the net.
The lead didn’t last long with Braga equalising six minutes after the restart. Ricardo Horta’s deep corner found Rodrigo Zalazar who drilled the ball across the face of goal, Víctor Gómez perfectly placed to head the ball into the net.
Farioli brought Martim Fernandes and Gabri Veiga on for Francisco Moura and Rodrigo Mora, Carlos Vicens soon introducing João Moutinho and Fran Navarro for Florian Grillitsch and Pau Victor.
Zalazar tested Diogo Costa after a poor pass from Alan Varela, Farioli wasting little time in replacing Pepê and Samu with Borja Sainz and Deniz Gül.
Navarro misses his chance, Sainz makes no mistake
Navarro fired over the bar from a great position following a fine pass from Horta, the home crowd growing increasingly nervous with time running out. Farioli used his final substitution in the 73rd minute when he brought on Pablo Rosário for William Gomes.
Gül went close as it appeared certain there would be another goal at the Dragão. It came in the 79th when Gabri Veiga played a teasing pass that Gómez should have cleared, his indecisiveness and hesitation allowing Sainz to steal the ball, race into the box and beat Hornicek.
Vicens introduced Gabri Martínez and Diego Rodrigues in the closing stages but there was no way back for Braga, Porto holding on for another hard-fought victory to regain their three-point lead at the top of the table.
It’s taken a while, and a tough schedule upon his arrival did not help, but José Mourinho’s Benfica put in the arguably their best performance, and certainly their best 45 minutes, since the Special One’s return to the Portuguese capital tonight.
The away fixture at Vitória is one of the most difficult fixtures outside the Big Three for any team in Portugal, as exemplified in a hard-fought first half without chances of note at either end of the pitch.
Samuel Dahl celebrates scoring his first goal for Benfica in Guimarães tonight
Mourinho took off Georgiy Sudakov and Gianluca Prestianni at the break, replaced by Leandro Barreiro and Andreas Schjelderup and the Eagles came out a transformed team.
Lukebakio on fire
The irrepressible Dodi Lukebakio was proving a thorn in Vitória’s side, the Belgian swinging over two delicious crosses in quick succession. The first was headed towards goal by Barreiro, drawing a superb reaction save out of Juan Castillo with Pavlidis shooting wide from the rebound. Moments later another laser-guided cross by Lukebakio was headed marginally wide by Richard Ríos.
Lukebakio brought another sharp save out of Castillo from a direct free-kick, and from the resulting corner Benfica took the lead.
The Belgian winger produced another perfect delivery, and centre-back Tomás Araújo rose high to head in from close range with Vitória’s marking non-existent.
Blanco sees red
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts in the 56th minute when Fábio Blanco was shown a straight red card for an over-zealous challenge on Barreiro.
Vitória’s best player, Samu Silva, tried to shake his team into action, shooting powerfully over the bar from long distance, but Benfica were in no mood to relinquish their grip on the match.
Another slick move cut through the home team’s defence, the ball arriving at the feet of Samuel Dahl who fired an unstoppable angled shot into the net off the underside of the bar. It was the Swede’s first goal for the club.
Benfica’s attacking momentum was too much for Vitória to handle, Castillo again saving well from Barreiro and the excellent Enzo Barrenechea then forcing the overworked goalkeeper into another stop.
Rego scores
The icing was put on the cake in the 87th minute when 20-year-old academy product João Rego also scored his first goal for the club, following up on a Barrenechea shot that Castillo had parried.
“Some may say the result was helped by us playing against ten men, but no, when it was eleven against eleven we completely bossed the game in the first 15 minutes of the second half,” said a delighted Mourinho in the flash interview post-match. “We could have scored two, three, or four goals before we scored our first”
Having won their last three game by a combined score of 11-0, Benfica will look to make it four in the row against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night at the Estádio da Luz to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Sporting made it five straight victories in all competitions thanks to second-half goals from Fotis Ioannidis and Pedro Gonçalves on a rainswept night in Lisbon.
The two teams had met on Tuesday night in the Taça da Liga quarters-finals but a very different game was expected to the 5-1 thrashing administered by the Lions on that occasion, not least because almost two entirely different teams had been selected. Sporting literally had a completely different XI, while just five Alverca players got a second successive start.
The visitors were first to threaten, Nabil Touaizi’s dangerous cross well cut out by Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva. Play immediately switched to other end of the pitch, Luis Suárez playing a neat give-and-go with Pedro Gonçalves but dragging his shot wide.
Fresneda limps off
Sporting coach Rui Borges was forced into a change in the 15th minute as right-back Iván Fresneda failed to shake off a knock and was replaced by Georgios Vagiannidis.
The rest of the half was one-way traffic with Sporting going close multiple times. João Simões will be annoyed not to have scored with two headers that the young midfielder put wide when in a prime position to score on both occasions.
Geny Catamo came even closer, his curling effort beating the diving André Gomes but hitting the base of the post.
Luis Suárez had an effort cleared off the line and Sporting will have gone into the interval wondering how the game was still goalless.
The Colombian striker was celebrating soon after the break though, rifling into the roof of the net from close range after Gonçalo Inácio had flicked on a corner, but after a long VAR check it was ruled out for offside.
Ioannidis heads home
On the hour mark Borges sent on Geovany Quenda and Ioannidis, and the Greek centre-forward soon made his mark, heading a Pedro Gonçalves corner powerfully into the net to finally break Alverca’s resistance.
Alverca almost hit straight back when the impressive Nabil Touaizi went on a terrific run deep into the Sporting box, and was only stopped by a superbly timed tackle by Ousmane Diomande.
Pote thunderbolt
In the 74th minute the game was put to bed as Pote provided the moment of the match. Collecting the ball 25 yards from goal, Gonçalves shifted the ball quickly to his right and unleased a rocket of a shot that arrowed into the top corner past the despairing dive of André Gomes.
Next up for Sporting is a trip to Turin to take on Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Alverca will be keen on snapping out of a three-match losing run when they host Rio Ave next weekend.
After three draws, one loss and an extended break for international football, Famalicão got back to winning ways against Vitória SC in the ninth round of Liga Portugal fixtures.
Colombian goalkeeper Juan Castillo tried to resist Fama’s pressure, making eight saves, however Mathias De Amorim broke the deadline in the latter stages of the first-half.
To cap off an extremely dominant display, Sorriso put the cherry on the cake for Famalicão after Gil Dias’ impressive demonstration of anticipation, composure and vision.
Only Óscar Aranda (9) scored more goals than Sorriso (8) last season for Famalicão.
In the absence (long-term injury) of his wide-attacking partner, the 24-year-old Brazilian forward will be hoping that this inaugural 2025/26 league goal opens the floodgates.
Famalicão currently sit comfortably in fifth, keeping seven clean sheets so far this season. In their pursuit of European football, the latest PortuGOAL Figure of the Week will certainly be their source of inspiration in attack. Kevin Fernandes reports.
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Marcos Vinicios Lopes Moura was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, where he would start his footballing journey with ABC.
ABC is in the Guinness Book of Records for having won ten consecutive state championships from 1932 to 1941. Their glorious history contrasts to a modest present.
Marcos Vinicios continued close to home after three years with the Campeão das Multidões, continuing his development with Série A’s Juventude, where he truly transformed into Sorriso.
Sorriso means smile in English, a nickname bestowed upon Marcos for one simple reason - the lack of a frown on his face.
In three years, Sorriso climbed from U-17 to Série A football – making 50 appearances in his first season of senior football for Juve and simultaneously capturing the attention of the Red Bull project in Bragantino.
His most successful campaign in Brazilian football was undoubtedly his second season for RB Bragantino, scoring five Copa Sudamericana goals and helping the Braga Boys to Copa Libertadores qualification.
Despite this relative success, Sorriso was loaned out to Famalicão for his first experience outside of Brazil – a loan spell eventually made permanent for 1.5 million euros.
To put this in perspective, Famalicão have only ever spent more on Manuel Ugarte, in 2021.
Sorriso is close to entering his prime years as a 24-year-old winger with almost 200 matches of senior football under his belt, so Idan Ofer (stakeholder in Famalicão and Atlético Madrid) will be looking for reasons to smile.
Sorriso is your typical modern winger – proficient at attacking space in behind while also loving to drive at defenders with the ball at his feet.
The left-footer shows variation in his finishing, not showing bias to near-post or far-post shots – not only interested in creating, but demonstrating composure in front of goal, despite this current phase of lesser production.
According to ZeroZero, Sorriso is top 5 in Liga Portugal for crosses completed, fouls drawn and duels – demonstrating the range in his overall play and contribution to Famalicão’s cohesive dynamic along with fellow selfless attackers Simon Elisor and the highly rated Gustavo Sá.
Famalicão will certainly be looking to PortuGOAL’s latest Figure of the Week to keep the smiles on the faces of one of the surprise packages of the season.
Braga and Benfica set up a Taça da Liga (Portuguese League Cup) semi-final date against each other in January after overcoming Santa Clara and Tondela respectively on Wednesday night.
The Warriors thrashed the Azoreans 5-0 at the Quarry, while in Lisbon José Mourinho’s men beat Tondela 3-0.
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Braga 5-0 Santa Clara
An indifferent start to his tenure at Braga had rumours swirling that Carlos Vicens was on borrowed time as the head coach of the northern club, with president António Salvador notoriously short of patience with failing managers.
But boosted by their excellent European campaign (Braga currently sit top of the Europa League table after three straight victories), the team has begun to click, winning five and drawing one of their last six matches, with the draw coming away at champions Sporting.
The latest victory was a surprisingly easy clinical dispatching of Santa Clara. Five different scorers found the net – Pau Victor, Leonardo Lelo, Fran Navarro, Diego Rodrigues and Gabriel Moscardo – as Braga proved far too strong for the normally competitive islanders.
Benfica 3-0 Tondela
Benfica followed up their 5-0 thrashing of Arouca on Saturday with another ultimately straightforward win.
Tondela are struggling to find their feet after returning to the top flight this season, but they battled well at the Estádio da Luz, and it needed a VAR-awarded penalty for the Eagles to grab a first-half lead, with captain Nicolás Otamendi converting the spot kick.
Two late goals from the impressive Dodi Lukebakio and the irrepressible Vangelis Pavlidis put the icing on the cake.
The Greek striker has now scored 11 goals in his last 11 matches for Benfica.
Salvador Blopa and Geovany Quenda are front-page news in today’s edition of Portuguese sports paper O Jogo
For decades Sporting Clube de Portugal’s ability to produce some of the best talents in the world, let alone in the country, was the sole source of pride for the Lisbon giants, given the team’s chronic lack of competitiveness.
Two league triumphs in 38 years tells its own story. That changed upon the appointment of a coaching genius named Ruben Amorim. Under the current Manchester United manager, Sporting usurped Porto and Benfica to become Portugal’s best team.
Throughout the lean years, Sporting fans would take solace by pointing at their remarkable Alcochete Academy. The Lisbon outfit are one of only two clubs in world football to have produced two Ballon d’Or winners, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo. At Euro 2016 when Portugal won their maiden major trophy, 10 of the 14 players used in the final against France had come through Sporting’s youth ranks.
Last night, fans at a rainy José Alvalade stadium were treated to another demonstration of the academy’s rude health.
Against FC Alverca in the quarter-finals of the Portuguese League Cup, coach Rui Borges gave no fewer than six youth players their debuts. One of them, Salvador Blopa, scored a fine brace as the hosts ran out 5-1 winners. Eighteen-year-old Blopa was their first youth player to scored two goals on his debut for the senior team since club legend Fernando Peyroteo way back in 1938.
Two of the other goals were scored by fellow academy graduate Geovany Quenda, also 18, one of Portugal’s hottest prospects who has already been sold to Chelsea for €50 million and is playing his final season on loan before switching from the Portuguese capital to London.
These are heady times for Sporting fans. The current two-time champions (three league triumphs in the last five years) appear to have cracked the code enabling them to combine the construction of a winning team with the continued integration of the youth talents coming out of Alcochete.
Porto maintained their three point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga after a hard fought 2-1 victory against Moreirense.
Alanzinho’s deflected strike gave the hosts an early lead at Estádio Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas, Samu equalising from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time.
Rodrigo Mora came off the bench in the second half and saw his effort deflected off the post, but the teenager would play a role in the winning goal which came in the 88th minute. His corner was deflected to the back post, Deniz Gül perfectly positioned to head the ball into the net.
It was a vital victory for Francesco Farioli’s side which came at a difficult venue, Moreirense winning their opening four home games this season.
Moreirense 1-2 Porto
Chances were hard to come by in Moreira de Cónegos where the hosts took the lead in the 18th minute. Jan Bednarek failed to clear on two occasions, Alanzinho seeing his shot deflected off the centre back which gave Diogo Costa no chance.
Porto bounced back with Gabri Veiga scoring from an offside position, Alberto Costa’s cross then picking out Jan Bednarek who saw his header saved by André Ferreira.
Yan Lincoln pulled Victor Froholdt’s jersey from the resulting corner which eventually resulted in a penalty in added time, Samu stepping up and smashing the ball into the bottom corner.
Borja Sainz picked up a booking seconds before half-time and didn’t emerge after the break, the winger replaced by William Gomes.
Francesco Farioli’s side piled on the pressure after the restart, Samu’s shot saved before Rodrigo Mora replaced Veiga. Pepê’s effort was deflected over the bar as the onslaught continued, Gomes curling the ball wide.
Pepê made way for Deniz Gül as the excitement ramped up a notch, Mora’s shot deflected off the post and Diogo Travassos going a whisker wide at the other end.
Porto eventually broke through in the 88th minute when Mora’s corner was deflected to the back post by Jakub Kiwior, Gül getting in front of Álvaro Martínez and heading the ball into the net.
After five matches in the Europa League both Porto and Braga are in an automatic qualification position for the round of sixteen after tonight’s results completed a highly positive week for Portuguese clubs in Europe.
The draw for both the round of sixteen and the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup has been made.
But that was not where the awards ended for the Gilistas. Striker 
Porto beat Famalicão 1-0 at Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho to retain their three point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga.
The league phases of UEFA’s European competitions have reached their respective halfway stages, with Portugal’s sides having played four games each. Sporting have made the greatest impression on the continent’s main competition. Benfica, on the other hand, have had endured a torrid time in continental play.
Porto’s road woes continued in the Europa League where they were held to a 1-1 draw at Utrecht.
Gül conceded a free kick that was well worked by the home side, El Karouani finding Miguel Rodríguez who got into the box and saw his shot deflect off Prpić and sneak past Diogo Costa.
How quickly things change in football. Last season João Pereira was in the running for coach of the season as he led the modest Casa Pia to their highest ever points total in the top flight (45) and a 9th-place finish.
Porto maintained their three point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga after a hard fought 2-1 victory against Moreirense.
Yan Lincoln pulled Victor Froholdt’s jersey from the resulting corner which eventually resulted in a penalty in added time, Samu stepping up and smashing the ball into the bottom corner.