Portuguese Football in English
Analysis of Benfica & Sporting's opponents
The Europa League takes centre stage on Thursday and both major Lisbon clubs will be hoping to take a step towards the last 16 of the competition.
In-form Benfica are in Turkey to take on Galatasaray while Sporting host Villarreal at Alvalade. PortuGOAL spoke to the man behind the excellent Turkish Football website and associated twitter account Emre Sarigul and Spanish football guru David Cartlidge for the inside track on Gala and Villarreal.
Week 21 of Liga NOS saw a number of closely fought encounters as the likes of Rio Ave, Aves and Boavista continued recent revivals with narrow victories, while leaders Porto again dropped points in their bid to retain the title.
Of course the outstanding memory of this round of matches will always be Benfica’s annihilation of Nacional at Estádio da Luz, cutting Porto’s lead at the top to 1 point after a remarkable 10-0 win. It’s difficult to identify a single individual from that stunning team display as Benfica fired on all cylinders throughout, including 8 different players getting on the scoresheet.
As a result, for the purposes of this feature, this edition of Figure of the Week switches to the green half of Lisbon as Bruno Fernandes put another indelible mark on a superb personal campaign in his side’s 3-1 win at Feirense.
European football is back this week as the two UEFA competitions enter the knockout phase with three Portuguese clubs involved. Lisbon duo Benfica and Sporting are in Europa League action later in the week, but first up it’s Portugal’s sole surviving representative in the Champions League FC Porto, who take to the field on Tuesday evening.
The Dragons are in the Italian capital to play Roma in the last 16 of the world’s greatest club competition. What can Sérgio Conceição’s men expect? PortuGOAL enlisted the help of Italian football and Roma expert John Solano for the lowdown on the Serie A club.
FC Porto have seen their lead at the top of the Primeira Liga cut down to just one point after their 1-1 draw away to Moreirense was followed up by an eye-popping 10-0 Benfica victory over Nacional da Madeira.
The Dragons were made to sweat for a point on Friday night, requiring a 92nd-minute equaliser from Héctor Herrera to come away from Moreira de Conégos with a 1-1 draw.
Benfica seized the opportunity on Sunday night to close in on the title holders, and how, as they demolished Nacional at the Estádio da Luz with ten goals - a result not seen domestically for 55 years.
Elsewhere, there were also victories for third and fourth-placed Sporting de Braga and Sporting, who defeated Chaves and Feirense, respectively. As always, PortuGOAL brings you all the goals at the top.
Dropped points for the leaders Porto and a pulsating Lisbon derby were just two of the noteworthy stories from Jornada 20 of Liga NOS, while Braga and Moreirense continued to impress with victories away from home.
This edition of PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week though focuses on a veteran of the division who inspired a beleaguered Boavista to a vital 2-0 win over Feirense, 34 year old Mateus the star of the show at Estádio do Bessa.
