Portuguese Football in English
Portuguese forward Jota is off the mark with new club Rennes, after scoring a late equaliser to give his side a 1-1 draw at Brest in France on Saturday.
Jota was a late arrival at Rennes towards the end of the transfer window in an €8m deal from Saudi Arabians Al-Ittihad. Although yet to start for the Brittany outfit, this weekend saw the former Benfica man score his first goal in new colours in Ligue 1.
AC Milan 1-0 Udinese
AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca left Portuguese star Rafael Leão on the bench for the entirety of this weekend’s win over Udinese, during which his side survived playing most of the game with ten men to secure victory.
Milan were leading through Samuel Chukwueze’s early strike (13’) when midfielder Tijani Reijnders was handed a straight red card in the 29th minute for being adjudged to have tripped Sandi Lovric when the last man. The decision was hotly contested, but VAR confirmed the on-field call and Milan were forced to play close to 70 minutes with a numerical disadvantage.
Tiago Santos is unlikely to play again this season after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during training with Lille.
The Portuguese right-back, 22, was injured during a training session on Tuesday, with the club confirming the severity of the damage on Wednesday and confirming Santos will require surgery.
Lille right-back Tiago Santos has recently drawn comparisons with Brazil legend Dani Alves. It is therefore no surprise that Alves’ former club Barcelona are being linked with a move for the Portuguese.
Santos has been a revelation in Ligue 1 since joining Lille from Estoril last summer, leading to a first senior international call-up to Roberto Martínez’s Portugal squad for the matches against Croatia and Scotland in September.
One of the more positive early-season stories concerning Portuguese abroad has been the form of full-back Nuno Tavares at Lazio, where the former Benfica man has been drawing many admirers.
Tavares tops the Serie A assist charts having registered 5 in his last five appearances, with his rampaging forward runs from left-back a feature of the Rome club’s recent matches. So much so that he has been nicknamed ‘expresso’ by some in the Italian capital.
