August is perhaps the hardest month for football teams. Squads are still being tweaked, players have not reached peak fitness, yet the majority of fans expect their club to hit the ground running.
We’ve seen a mixed bag so far with some teams continuing their form from the end of last season mainly due to keeping the majority of their squad together and others struggling with the number of new faces at the club.
Barney Carter-Phillips has the PortuGOAL preview of the third round of matches in the Primeira Liga.
Braga took a step towards the Europa League group stage after a 2-1 win against Rapid Vienna in the play-off first leg.
Vitória continued their impeccable start to the season with a convincing win over Zrinjski Mostar to take a giant step towards becoming the first Portuguese team to qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
Southampton have acquired Sporting Clube de Portugal midfielder Mateus Fernandes for €15 million.
David Neres has completed his anticipated move to Serie A outfit Napoli after Benfica accepted a €28-million deal, including add-ons, to sell the out-of-favour star.