• Benfica
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Jorge Jesus
• Rafa Silva
• Ruben Amorim
• Sergio Conceicao
• Darwin Nunez
• Barcelona
• Borussia Dortmund
• Liverpool

Benfica have returned to winning ways on the European stage with a historic 3-0 victory against Barcelona at the Estádio da Luz, tonight - their first against the Blaugrana outfit for 60 years.

An early goal from Darwin Nuñez put the pressure on a downbeat Barça, coached by ex-Benfica manager Ronald Koeman, before two further goals in the second half from Rafa Silva and the Uruguayan striker once more gave Jorge Jesus’ men their first UEFA Champions League win of the campaign.

Prior to the heroics in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, FC Porto, much like Sporting before them, fell to a humiliating 5-1 defeat in their first home game of the competition as Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool ran riot at the Estádio do Dragão.

Sporting could do no better, results-wise, although the defeat registered by the Lions was far more conservative this time around, with Donyell Malen marking the difference between the two sides in a 1-0 win for Borussia Dortmund. Here's how the 'Big Three' fared in Matchday 2 and the reaction by the respective coaches. 

The seventh round of Liga Bwin 2021/22 provided relief to two struggling teams in Tondela and Moreirense as the pair secured rare wins in the context of the campaign, overcoming Famalicão and Arouca respectively in a couple of closely fought encounters.

Newcomers Vizela and Estoril continued positive starts to the season, a couple of draws seeing the pair inch their way up the league table. Sporting and Porto kept up their early title pressure with narrow wins over Marítimo and Gil Vicente.

The aforementioned giant duo continue to trail pace-setters Benfica though as their 100% record remained intact thanks to a Roman Yaremchuk-inspired victory over Vitória Guimarães: the Ukrainian striker is in focus as our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.

• Benfica
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,

The weekend action kicked off early in Portugal in Jornada 7 of the Primeira Liga, as Sporting and Porto played on Friday night ahead of their Champions League commitments next week.

Sporting were first to take to the pitch, hosting Marítimo at Alvalade. Despite dominating the match from start to finish, the Lions could not find a way through until a dramatic penalty deep into stoppage time, converted by Pedro Porro, gave the champions a second successive 1-0 victory.

Porto also made heavy weather of earning all three points against Gil Vicente in Barcelos. Two brilliant strikes from Mehdi Taremi and Sérgio Oliveira, the former a 45-yard lob, the latter direct from an 89th-minute free kick, earned the Dragons all three points, with Samuel Lino equalising in between. 

The following night Benfica came away from a potentially tricky trip to Guimarães with a 3-1 victory in the bag, with Ukrainian striker Yaremchuk again among the goals. 

“Os Três Grandes” re-assumed their position in Primeira Liga’s top trident as Sporting ended Estoril’s unbeaten start to indirectly help Porto back into second place, Os Dragões thrashing Moreirense 5-0 but both giants continue to trail Benfica by four points as the Eagles kept up a 100% record by beating Boavista.

Braga closed the gap on the top four by defeating winless Tondela, while Belenenses SAD and Famalicão similarly still await maiden victories thanks to draws with Gil Vicente and Marítimo respectively.

One surprise package of the season has been Portimonense, who sprung to sixth after a star turn from Wilinton Aponzá, the little-known Colombian’s blistering performance is the docs of this edition of the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.