Benfica 1-0 Borussia Dortmund

A memorable match in Lisbon saw Benfica escape with victory despite being outplayed for 90 minutes by an impressive Borussia Dortmund side.

Kostas Mitroglou's goal early in the second half, a succession of glaring misses by the normally lethal Aubameyang and a wondrous goalkeeping display by Benfica No.1 Ederson mean the Portuguese champions will travel to Germany in three weeks with a precious lead in the tie.

The Champions League returns tomorrow with a terrific match to look forward to in the Portuguese capital as Benfica host Borussia Dortmund.

When the draw was made most people made the powerful German outfit clear favourites, but Thomas Tuchel’s team have not been in the best of form recently and come into the game on the back of a defeat at the weekend.

PortuGOAL reached out to Borussia Dortmund expert Lars Pollmann from the excellent YellowWallPod to get the lowdown on the Bundesliga team.

As the threat to Benfica’s Liga NOS title hopes becomes clearer with each passing week, it’s with added attention that proceedings at the top of the table are followed before the UEFA Champions League interlude.

The 3-time champions welcomed Arouca to the Estádio da Luz, and even down to ten men, the Eagles were able to secure top spot for another week with a comprehensive 3-0 win, piling pressure onto rivals FC Porto.

The northern outfit reciprocated Benfica’s hunger for success, however, defeating high-flying Vitória de Guimarães 2-0 away from home to maintain the one-point-gap that led us into Gameweek 21.

Taça da Liga sensation Moreirense then hosted Sporting in Sunday’s main card, but the Lions were strong enough to fight their way into a 3-2 victory and do their bit in the hunt for the league’s top spots, keeping Sporting de Braga at bay. Here’s how the action at the top unfolded.

It was deep into stoppage time in an intensely fought Portuguese Clássico. A thumping header from Sporting centre-back Sebastian Coates sent the ball arrowing towards the bottom corner of Porto’s net, seemingly earning Sporting a share of the spoils.

Iker Casillas, however, was not convinced.

Showing astonishing reflexes and agility belying his 35 years, the Spaniard produced a cat-like dive and at full stretch palmed away the ball.

Moments later the final whistle blew and an uncharacteristically magnanimous Jorge Jesus made a point of going onto the pitch and congratulating Casillas. “I told Casillas it was he who had won the game,” the Sporting coach said to reporters afterwards. “He’s a great goalkeeper.” It's a view even those who were initially sceptical have come to share.