Sporting’s hopes of a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the round of 16 in the Champions League went up in smoke in a 2-1 defeat in Leipzig this evening.

The German side, who had not earned a single point until tonight, took the lead through Benjamin Sesko and had another goal ruled out for offside in a dominant first half.

Sporting looked a different team when Viktor Gyökeres, Daniel Bragança and Hidemasa Morita came off the bench ten minutes into the second half, and equalised through the inevitable Gyökeres.

But poor defending allowed Poulsen to quickly restore Leipzig’s lead and there was no way back for Sporting. 

An incredible night of Champions League football ended in bitter disappointment for Benfica as Barcelona came from 4-2 down to win 5-4 at the Estádio da Luz.

Benfica looked in control at half time thanks to a Vangelis Pavlidis hat-trick, countered by a Lewandowski penalty, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. The Eagles’ sparkling performance in the opening 45 minutes was fuelled by an out-of-this-world display by left-back Álvaro Carreras.

Barça came out strongly in the second half but Benfica held out until a crass mistake by Anatoliy Trubin allowed Raphinha to make it 3-2, but soon afterwards a Ronaldo Araújo own goal restored Benfica’s two-goal cushion. By this point the heavens had opened, an almighty storm providing a suitable backdrop to the tempestade on the pitch. 

Barcelona were again given hope when a Carreras foul committed against Yamal allowed Lewandowski to score his second penalty of the night and the Spaniards were celebrating wildly when Eric Garcia headed in the equaliser in the 86th minute, making it 4-4.

There was still time for plenty more drama as substitute Ángel Di María missed when clean through. In the final seconds of stoppage time Leandro Barreiro went down in the box but amid loud shouts for a penalty Barça broke up field and Raphinha finished brilliantly to give the visitors a remarkable 5-4 victory, the furious protests from Benfica’s players and coaching staff ignored by the referee. 

José Ricardo Leite & Tom Kundert report on an epic night in the Portuguese capital. 

Following on from João Pereira, Vítor Bruno is the latest victim of Gil Vicente – the club that gets managers of the Três Grandes sacked. The iconic cockerel of Barcelos bested Futebol Clube do Porto by three goals to one in an incredibly entertaining spectacle for the neutral.

From red cards for Nico González and Samu Aghehowa, to a scenario dignified for the soap operas: Gonçalo Borges’ equalizer being ruled out by VAR, due to Otávio’s foul at the opposite end of the pitch, which resulted in a penalty. This intense encounter went from 2-2 to 3-1 in a blink of the eye.

Gil Vicente made it seven straight matches unbeaten, with Félix Correia at the forefront of all attacking efforts. The penalty dispatcher has scored in three consecutive matches, meriting his nomination as the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week. 

“I feel I am part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said FC Porto coach Vítor Bruno in the post-match press conference after last night’s 3-1 defeat at Gil Vicente, the Dragons’ third consecutive loss.

Porto’s president André Villas-Boas and the board evidently felt differently. The entire squad and coaching staff were summoned to the stadium at midnight where Bruno’s dismissal was communicated.