• Ruben Amorim
• Pedro Porro
• Pedro Goncalves
• Borussia Dortmund
• Liverpool
• Emre Can
• Mohamed Salah

Sporting have made it into the round of Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League after defeating ten-man Borussia Dortmund 3-1 at the Alvalade.

The Lions cruised into half-time with a two-goal lead, courtesy of a Pedro Gonçalves double before a straight red card from Emre Can set the hosts on their way through for the first time in 13 years, defeating the Germans 3-1 in Lisbon.

FC Porto will have to wait to find out their fate, however, as a 2-0 defeat left the Dragons stuck on five points in second place, with an AC Milan win against Atlético Madrid leaving qualification from Group B on a knife edge for the three sides trailing first-placed Liverpool.

Barcelona 0-0 Benfica

Benfica put in a fine performance to earn a goalless draw against Barcelona in a match played under torrential rain in Catalonia yesterday.

Despite the lack of goals there was no lack of excitement. Each team had a goal ruled out on marginal decisions, both goalkeepers made fine saves, and Benfica substitute Haris Seferovic missed a glaring opportunity in the final seconds to seal a historic win for the Eagles. 

Benfica go into the final match in Group E against Dynamo Kiev in Lisbon with their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League very much alive, although they need a little bit of help from Bayern Munich. 

The last two winners of the Primeira Liga title won the competition by five points but this season could well see the race go right down to the final day.

After Sporting shattered years of duopoly between Benfica and FC Porto by winning the league last season, it looks like a three-horse race once again for the Portuguese crown, and with just one point separating Portugal’s “Big Three” after 11 games. Everything points to this season being one to remember. 

With the final international break of 2021 coming up this weekend it meant Portugal’s Liga Bwin action took a breather once more but only after an exhilarating eleventh round of matches. Boavista and Famalicao set the tone on Friday night, playing out a thrilling 5-2 victory for the latter as they registered only their second win of the campaign.

Tondela vs Marítimo also brought goals aplenty, a 4-2 win for the home side enough to see them move into the top half of the table. 

Elsewhere the title race continues to remain as tight as ever. Defending champions Sporting overcame Paços Ferreira, while the superb Luis Díaz inspired Porto in defeating struggling Santa Clara. 

Benfica kept in touch with their great rivals though with a thrashing of a previously in-form Braga side. Brazilian winger Éverton was the star of the show, and is in focus as our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.