The penultimate weekend of the 2017/18 Liga NOS saw Porto end their 5-year wait for a title, a 0-0 draw in the Lisbon derby between Sporting and Benfica handing the Dragões the championship before they even kicked a ball. The battle to avoid relegation is extremely tight, while 5th place has now been wrapped up by Rio Ave after their Monday night draw at Paços Ferreira.

Chaves narrowly missed out on the position despite putting in one of the performances of the weekend in a 4-1 hammering of Marítimo, who were rivals for a top 5 finish.

Man of the match was winger Matheus Pereira, chipping in with two goals and an assist in an electric display. The on-loan Sporting star is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.

• Sergio Conceicao
• Porto

FC Porto were crowned champions of Portugal on Saturday evening after the Lisbon derby ended in a draw. Immediately after the final whistle had blown at Alvalade, the party started 300km to the north, and will continue long into the night on Porto’s Avenida dos Aliados.

The celebrations will be especially effusive this year after four seasons without winning Portuguese football’s biggest prize, or indeed any silverware, in stark contrast to the previous three decades of almost unbroken hegemony by the Blue and Whites. How did Porto bounce back?

PortuGOAL elaborates on the one huge reason, and three others that help explain why Porto are back at the top of the tree in Portugal.

• Benfica
• Primeira Liga,
• Sporting,

Sporting 0-0 Benfica

Sporting were able to hold Benfica to a favourable 0-0 draw at the Estádio José Alvalade in the final Clássico of the season, subsequently crowning FC Porto as the new Liga NOS champions, prior to this Sunday's clash at home to Feirense.

In a game coined as pivotal to the race for second place, rewarded with UEFA Champions League qualification, a draw in the Lisbon Derby sees the two Portuguese giants prolong their tussle for continental football through to the last fixture of the season.

Both Sporting and Benfica currently share second place on 78 points, a scenario that benefits the Lions on head-to-head results, following a 1-1 draw at the Estádio da Luz back in January of this year.

There was plenty of drama in Week 32 of Liga NOS as Porto left it late to all but seal their first league title since 2013 with a win over Marítimo, while Sporting moved into a strong position to seal Champions League qualification by beating Portimonense.

None of this would have been possible though without what was undoubtedly the story of the weekend, Tondela securing the upset of the season with a stunning 3-2 win away at defending champions Benfica.

One of their biggest heroes of the day has been a regular saviour for the Auriverdes over the past two years or so, goalkeeper Cláudio Ramos, who is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.