Sporting 1-1 Benfica

It had been, until the last 10 minutes, a game to forget for anyone watching the Lisbon derby. Jefferson looked to have deservedly won the match for Sporting with a clever finish just three minutes from time after Artur could only parry João Mario's shot.

However defender Jardel came to the rescue for the Eagles with their first chance of note in the entire game to give Jorge Jesus' team a hugely important point in their title challenge.

Sporting host city rivals Benfica on Sunday knowing a victory is the only result that will keep alive what club president Bruno de Carvalho stated is one of the club's chief aims this season - to win the 2014/15 Portuguese Primeira Liga. Going into the match on the back of six straight Liga wins, the Lions will be confident. 

Not that reigning champions Benfica, sitting pretty at the top of the table with a six-point lead over second-placed Porto and seven points ahead of their near neighbours, are in bad shape themselves.

The Eagles have dropped only 8 points all season and victory at the Alvalade would not only all but end Sporting's chances of claiming top spot in May; it would be a huge step towards clinching a second successive title for the first time in 30 years. PortuGOAL previews Sunday's eagerly awaited derby. 

League leaders or not, it remains a contentious point that much of Benfica’s talent has found its way out of the club. While there was a resignation amongst Benfiquistas that the team’s stars could not shine much longer exclusively in Benfica red, the extent of the departures has been distressing for many.

Granted, the concerns with financial matters did appear to force the hand of the club into a selling spree, and just the sales alone of Andre Gomes, Rodrigo, Markovic, Garay, Cardozo, Oblak and Enzo brought in over €100m to help the balance sheet.

Where the club is starting to get some criticism is regarding their handling of Portuguese talent, particularly that produced by their academy.

Winter transfer window activity in Portugal

Vitória Guimarães' flying winger Hernâni signed for Porto on the last day of the January transfer window for a reported €4 million fee. It was the highest fee paid by a Portuguese club in a relatively quiet window.

The two biggest pieces of business were carried out by Benfica. The long-announced sale of Enzo Pérez to Valencia went through, and Bernardo Silva's loan to Monaco was made a permanent move, two deals which earned Eagles a cool €40.75 million.