• Benfica
• Sporting de Braga,
• Pizzi
• Taça da Liga
• Abel Ruiz
• Allianz Cup
• Vitor Tormena

Sp. Braga 2-1 Benfica

Sporting de Braga have eliminated Benfica to secure back-to-back Allianz League Cup final appearances, following Sporting into Saturday’s showdown with a 2-1 victory in Leiria, tonight.

The Arsenalistas took advantage of a weakened Benfica backline to take the lead midway through the first half through Abel Ruiz in the 27th minute, despite encouraging play from the Eagles.

Pizzi levelled things for Benfica from the penalty spot before the break but Braga were again on hand to peg the Lisbon outfit back, regaining advantage in the 58th minute and seeing out the semi-final with a 2-1 victory.

• FC Porto,
• Jovane Cabral
• Allianz Cup

Sporting 2-1 FC Porto

Sporting are through to the Allianz League Cup final after a late Jovane Cabral double turned an imminent elimination at the hands of FC Porto into a 2-1 victory, this Tuesday.

The two rivals endured a cagey affair until the 80th minute, where the Dragons edged ahead courtesy of a Moussa Marega strike past Antonio Adan.

Jovane, fresh from the bench, provided the Lions with a clutch moment just six minutes later with the equaliser before the forward’s 94th-minute finish, on the stroke of full time, turned the tie on its head.

Round 14 of the Liga NOS season was notable for it featuring the campaign’s first domestic “Clássico” between Porto and Benfica, the pair unable to be separated in a 1-1 draw at Estádio do Dragão, in doing so failing to capitalise on league leaders Sporting dropping points against Rio Ave.

Paços Ferreira continued their superb season with an impressive triumph over Braga, whilst there were vital victories for struggling sides Portimonense and Famalicão, overcoming Belenenses SAD and Santa Clara respectively.

Another team at the wrong end of the table to gain a significant boost was Tondela as they faced another struggler in Boavista. The star of the show was PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Salvador Agra, who was in top form to score twice in an impressive display.

For a country of little over 10 million people, Portugal has long punched above its weight in the world’s most popular sport when it comes to producing the finest players to grace the game. Eusébio, Paulo Futre, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo are just four footballers who enjoyed global acclaim spanning generations from the 1960s onwards.

A relatively new phenomenon, however, has seen Portuguese managers follow in the footsteps of the great players past and present to achieve incredible success both at home and abroad. In no particular order, here are five of the greatest Portuguese football managers over the past two decades.