Portuguese Football in English
Promising young manager Luís Castro left Benfica under somewhat of a cloud at the end of last season, having been relieved of his duties with the club’s B team when he expected to continue.
Despite his achievements with Benfica’s youth sides, including an historic victory in the UEFA Youth League in 2022 and subsequent U20 Intercontinental Cup, Castro was dismissed after just one season in charge of Benfica B in Liga Portugal 2.
Portuguese midfielder Vitinha was in fine form for Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday evening, getting on the scoresheet and providing two assists in their 6-2 win at Montpellier, on a night which also saw Nuno Mendes score for the first time in almost 18 months.
The former Porto man strengthened his claims for a starting sport in Roberto Martínez’s Portugal side for the European Championships, producing yet another strong performance in what has been a fine season at the Parc des Princes.
Atletico Madrid 0-3 Barcelona
Once again João Félix came back to haunt parent club Atletico Madrid, scoring the opening goal as Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday evening.
Félix, who is on-loan at Barcelona from Atletico, produced the only goal when the sides met at Camp Nou in December. Having scored the first on Sunday, Félix has now scored 33% of his goals in La Liga this term against his long-term employers.
Holders Manchester City and local rivals Manchester United are on course to meet again in the FA Cup final, after both booked their place in the last four of the world’s oldest cup competition.
City progressed on Saturday after a double from Bernardo Silva gave them a 2-0 victory over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium. The following day at Old Trafford, United overcame Liverpool in a classic encounter, scoring a last-gasp winner in extra time to prevail 4-3.
Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal achieved a significant landmark on Friday by equalling the all-time world record for consecutive victories in football history.
Al Hilal came from behind to win 3-1 at Al Riyadh and claim their 27th straight win in all competitions. In doing so, Jesus’ men wrote their name into the Guinness World Records having macthed the record set by Welsh club New Saints FC in 2016.
