Crunch time for Portugal’s Big Three

From Wednesday 6 March to Thursday 13 March, Sporting, Porto and Benfica play a series of matches that could prove decisive for the success or otherwise of their seasons, and which could also be absolutely pivotal for the future careers of the three current coaches of Portugal’s three major clubs.

Rúben Amorim’s Sporting face a tough schedule but he is arguably the coach who has the most to gain. Benfica’s Roger Schmidt has on paper the easiest fixtures but desperately needs to avoid any slipups to prevent further weakening his fragile position. Porto’s Sérgio Conceição will be eyeing a huge Champions League scalp in the shape of Arsenal, where a triumph will likely have far-reaching consequences ahead of the club’s upcoming presidential elections. 

• Benfica
• FC Porto,
• Galeno
• Sergio Conceicao

Porto produced another great performance at Estádio do Dragão where they thrashed Benfica 5-0 in a dominant performance.

Galeno opened the scoring in the 20th minute and extended the lead on the stroke of half-time, both goals originating from Francisco Conceição’s left foot.

The Eagles struggled after the break and found themselves 3-0 down in the 55th minute when Wendell’s deflected strike gave Anatoliy Trubin no chance.

Benfica’s problems were compounded six minutes later when Nicolás Otamendi received a second yellow card, Roger Schmidt and his side passengers for the rest of the contest.

Porto didn’t let their rivals off the hook, Pepê Aquino slamming the ball past Trubin in the 75th minute and Jorge Sánchez’s cross converted by Danny Namaso on the cusp of full-time.

The result sees Sporting Clube de Portugal stay one point clear of Benfica with a game in hand, Porto seven points further back with ten games to play.

After going 2-0 up in 30 minutes through goals by Daniel Bragança and Viktor Gyökeres Sporting seemed set for a straightforward win at home to Farense in Lisbon this afternoon. But, just like in the reverse fixture in the Algarve earlier this season, José Mota’s team rallied and goals from Mohamed Belloumi and Zé Luís made it 2-2.

Pote quickly restored Sporting’s lead, but the Lions were unable to find another goal to kill off the matlch and faced an anxious final few minutes.

Urged on by a big crowd at Alvalade, Sporting held on and the three points take them into first place in the standings above Lisbon rivals Benfica, who play at Porto later this evening. 

Ever since Jornada 7 ended with Benfica taking a narrow 1-0 win at home against eternal rivals Porto, we’ve been looking forward to the return fixture. Five months later and that moment has arrived, as Benfica make the journey up north to face Porto in the Portuguese Clássico, the biggest game in the Portuguese football calendar in recent years.

That game saw Benfica overtake Porto in the standings, but with only two points separating the sides. Now, with 23 games played, Benfica have extended the gap over Porto to 9 points and are very much in the title race, whereas Porto’s season has been disappointing, and this game could be the last opportunity for the Dragons to give themselves any hope of a top two finish come the end of the season.

PortuGOAL previews Sunday’s big game, and the rest of the Primeira Liga action this weekend.