Benfica and Porto beaten, Sporting close gap

The Primeira Liga title race took a couple of unexpected twists this weekend. On Sunday evening Porto lost 1-0 away to Marítimo, apparently all but throwing away their chances of catching Benfica at the top of the table. 

But one day later the leaders and reigning champions missed the chance to build a formidable 9-point buffer at the top of the table as Jorge Jesus's men also went down by the same 1-0 scoreline at Paços de Ferreira. 

The big winners were Sporting, whose single-goal win at home to Académica gives the Lions hope of re-joining the title race. Are we in for a three-horse race? 

Surely, this wasn’t in the script.

After all, wasn’t it a horrible summer for the Águias? Mere weeks after celebrating the first ever Portuguese domestic treble in history, the raid which had been feared for over 12 months before that finally took its full effect.

The likes of Carlos Martins and Urreta ended their contracts with little fanfare and tears. Some players had understandably served their time and were eager to continue their adventures with higher paychecks (Garay, Cardozo). Some left for massive fees indicative of the promise of their potential (Andre Gomes, Rodrigo, Markovic). Some left in circumstances laced with some regret (Siqueira, Oblak).

The loan of Benfica playmaker Bernardo Silva to French club Monaco has been made permanent in exchange for €15.75 million entering the Lisbon club's coffers. 

Portugal U21 international Bernardo has played an increasingly significant role at the club from the principality, who are managed by Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim. Just this past weekend he was named in the Ligue1 "Team of the Week" by L'Equipe after scoring the winner in Monaco's 1-0 victory over Nantes. 

That Valencia coach Nuno Espírito Santo is proving to be a roaring success is a surprise to many, but not to anyone at Rio Ave. So says former Porto winger Ukra, who commented that he was certain Nuno and his "phenomenal coaching team" - who were at Rio Ave from 2012 to 2014 - would enjoy big success if given the tools. 

Speaking to PortuGOAL after Rio Ave's 4-2 defeat at Sporting, Ukra said he expects Rio Ave to be challenging strongly for a second successive Europa League qualification, especially as the team will be fresher than in the first half of the season when its commitments in Europe meant the Vilacondenses played more matches than any other team in Portugal.