The Primeira Liga or the Liga NOS is Portugal’s most elite football division. It was founded in 1934 and it is home to some of Europe’s most well-known football clubs. It is also considered one of Europe’s most competitive leagues, alongside the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga, and Ligue 1, and recently ranked in 4th place in the UEFA country rankings, although it has now slipped down to sixth.

It is watched by thousands upon thousands of football fans, both in attendance in the stadiums and all over the world, helped by the Portuguese diaspora spread all over the globe, and it is a league known for producing a lot of quality games and some of the world’s best players. 

The turbulent start to the season for Sporting took another turn today as head coach Marcel Keizer was dismissed by the Lisbon club.

The Dutchman won the two domestic cups last season, but a poor run of results allied to drab performances have cost him his job.

Leonel Pontes, until now coach of the under-23 team, is promoted on an interim basis to take charge of the senior team. 

• Sporting,
• Raphinha
• Thierry Correia
• Jesé Rodríguez
• Yannick Bolasie
• Abdoulay Diaby

Never a dull moment at Alvalade. It was a hectic final day of the transfer window in the offices of Sporting Clube de Portugal as key players departed and three loan signings were made. 

Raphinha, Abdoulay Diaby, and promising youngster Thierry Correia all exited the club while Jesé Rodríguez, Fernando, and, most surprisingly of all, Yannick Bolasie arrived at the Estádio José Alvalade on loan deals. 

What transpired on a remarkable day will do little to convince critics of Frederico Varandas’ presidency, with the haphazard nature of the moves increasing doubts about whether he has what it takes to move the club forwards, all in the wake last weekend’s chaotic defeat to Rio Ave. 

The final round of Liga NOS before the international break saw penalty drama at Estádio José Alvalade as Sporting lost a close encounter with Rio Ave, Porto carried on from last week’s clássico win by beating Vitória Guimarães, while Benfica responded to the aforementioned high profile loss with an important victory over Braga.

However the standout result, and indeed the standout team this season so far, has to be Famalicão. The promoted side have recorded a superb start to the campaign, unbeaten after 4 matches and sitting top of the division. Coach João Pedro Sousa masterminded another triumph this weekend in a 3-2 success at Aves. He is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.