• Benfica
• Primeira Liga,
• Sporting,
• FC Porto,
• Sporting de Braga,
• Pizzi
• Rio Ave
• Vitoria de Setubal
• Mehdi Taremi
• Ruben Amorim

FC Porto missed the chance to go three points clear at the top of the table after following up Benfica’s draw versus Vitória de Setúbal with a share of the spoils of their own, at home to Rio Ave.

The Eagles, who found themselves a goal down before equalising away from home, opened up an avenue for their rivals, Porto, to distance themselves at the top of the Liga NOS table after drawing 1-1.

Sérgio Conceição’s men wouldn’t take up the offer, however, as they succumbed to a 1-1 draw against Carlos Carvalhal’s Rio Ave to maintain a one-point advantage over second-placed Benfica.

Elsewhere, Sporting de Braga kicked off their post-Rúben Amorim era with a 3-1 victory at home to against Portimonense, meanwhile the man himself, now donning the Sporting crest, debuted with a 2-0 win over nine-man Desportivo das Aves. Here’s how the action unfolded.

• Sporting,
• Sporting de Braga,
• Frederico Varandas
• Ruben Amorim
• Jorge Silas

For the last 18 months, Sporting have felt little else other than turbulence and subsequent disenchantment as a result of the goings-on at the club.

From the 2017/18 debacle that birthed the famed invasion of Alcochete, the Lions’ training complex, the Lisbon outfit are yet to rid themselves of a state of instability, having sacked their second manager of the season in Jorge Silas and third in Frederico Varandas’ short, but somewhat agonising cycle as club president.

The current incumbent at the top of Sporting’s pyramid has moved quickly to try and spark any kind of optimism with the costly €10-million-appointment of Sporting de Braga boss Rúben Amorim, formerly the grand architect in a tight race between the two sides for a third-place finish. But what will the gamble do to a club whose tensions are already on a knife edge?

Sporting will have its fourth head coach of 2019/20 in the dugout at Alvalade on Sunday for the match against Aves after completing the appointment of Braga manager Rúben Amorim, who replaces the outgoing Silas.

The Lisbon club paid the buyout clause of €10 million to hire Amorim, along with his assistants Adélio Cândido and Carlos Fernandes. 

Braga have not wasted any time in naming his replacement, with Custódio Castro given the top job for the northerners. 

Another dramatic week of Primeira Liga action saw the leadership change hands courtesy of Benfica’s draw with Moreirense allowing Porto to overtake their rivals by a point. The latest episode of the Sporting soap opera saw them fall to defeat amid a typically controversial impending change in club management while Gil Vicente’s quietly impressive return to the top flight continued by beating Boavista.

The 2019/20 PortuGOAL Figure of the Week number 23 though is Paços de Ferreira manager Pepa. The manager has improved his side considerably of late and their latest triumph over fellow relegation battlers Aves gives the team strong hope of making their return to Liga NOS an ongoing one.