Sporting de Braga saw their hopes of a top-two Primeira Liga finish dashed after picking up a second consecutive defeat with a 2-0 loss at home to Belenenses. The Arsenalistas' defeat on Friday night came just hours before FC Porto’s comfortable 3-0 win away versus Tondela, opening up an eight-point-gap between first and third place.
Falling further behind were Sporting who, despite gaining ground on Braga in the race for a top-three finish, left Madeira disappointed with a 0-0 draw away to Marítimo, this Monday.
Benfica later brought Matchday 23 to a close with a 4-0 victory at home to 17th-placed Chaves, taking the Eagles seven points clear of third place and moving back to within a point of Porto. PortuGOAL has all the action from the top of the table.
Portugal’s two representatives in the Europa League had differing fortunes last night, with the first-leg results weighing heavily on the final outcome. Sporting crashed out of Europe for another season after a 1-1 draw in Spain against Villarreal resulted in a 2-1 aggregate defeat, while Benfica’s goalless draw against Galatasaray at the Estádio da Luz was enough to see the Eagles into the last 16 thanks to last week’s victory in Turkey.
The highlights from the 22nd round of this season’s Primeira Liga included Sporting keeping their Champions League hopes alive by beating 3rd place Braga, while Moreirense continued a superb campaign in overcoming Tondela.
Sporting have cut the gap between fourth and third place to four points after a 3-0 victory at Alvalade saw them down Sporting de Braga, on Sunday.
Hopes were high among fans of Portugal’s Big Three as European football returned this week. On Tuesday Porto fell to a narrow defeat in Italy, with Adrián López’s late goal improving the Dragons’ chances of getting past Roma in the return leg and making the quarter-finals of the Champions League.