Portuguese Football in English
André Almeida scored a brilliant free-kick to open the scoring in Valencia’s 3-0 win over Real Betis on Thursday night, after which the Portuguese admitting it was the first time he had converted a set-piece in his career.
Almeida, who arrived at the Mestalla from V. Guimarães in a €7.5m deal during the summer, has enjoyed a promising start in Spanish football, having now scored twice for his new team adding to two assists since arriving in La Liga.
On what was mostly the penultimate round of league matches before the World Cup break, several Portugal squad hopefuls were on target this weekend across Europe. Leading the way is Gonçalo Guedes, who scored his first goal of the season for Wolverhampton Wanderers just days before Fernando Santos names his 26-man party.
Elsewhere, João Félix again proved a point despite his substitute status at Atletico Madrid with a brilliantly-taken equaliser in La Liga, while Beto was back on the goals trail in Italy with Udinese. Ruben Neves scored from the spot for Wolves as José Fonte grabbed a record-setting goal for Lille, while Rony Lopes continues to build momentum in Ligue 1 with Troyes and Danilo was the matchwinner for Paris Saint-Germain.
Winding back to those heady days of the summer transfer market, the optimism and positivity beginning to re-emerge at Wolverhampton Wanderers following the shock club record signing of Sporting CP star Matheus Nunes feels like a distant memory.
It was a sensational coup. A player widely anticipated to be heading to one of the best clubs on the continent, a star lauded by Pep Guardiola as one of the very best in the world; at that time, he was widely considered unattainable for the West Midlands club, and when they signed him, the feeling was that Wolves were getting themselves firmly back on track to climb up the table and rub shoulders with the best.
Abel Ferreira has added to his glittering medal collection in South America by guiding Palmeiras to the 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro title.
Palmeiras clinched the championship on Wednesday night by opening up a 13-point lead over Internacional and celebrating the occasion in style with a 4-0 home victory over Fortaleza.
The final matchday of the Champions League group phase proved fruitful for goals among Portugal’s foreign contingent, with a particular contribution from some of the younger exports plying their trade abroad in Europe’s premier club competition.
Full-back Nuno Mendes came off the bench to score a superb winner for Paris Saint-Germain away at Juventus, which would have won the French champions top spot in Group H had it not been for Benfica’s heroics. There was also a well-taken first Ajax goal for Francisco Conceição, while Andre Silva’s strike helped RB Leipzig to victory and former Benfica forward Jota scored a stunning free-kick for Celtic at the Bernabeu.
