Portuguese Football in English
Last weekend’s action threw up very few surprises in the Primeira Liga, the biggest of which was Farense’s 5-0 humiliation of Chaves who were 4-0 down inside 25 minutes, and did little to improve the situation in the second half.
After Jornada 4 we head into the first international break of the season, so teams will be striving to either keep up their positive momentum or looking forward to an opportunity to refresh and work with the players on the training ground where improvement is needed.
FC Porto have signed Iván Jaime from Famalicão on a 5-year contract for a fee of around 10 million euros.
It is the second new arrival this week after the Dragons brought in Mexican right-back Jorge Sanchéz on loan from Ajax.
Spanish right-back Iván Fresneda has signed for Sporting for a fee of €9 million plus €3m add-ons. The highly-rated 18-year-old has signed a contract until 2028, which has an €80m release clause.
Despite his young age, Fresneda was a regular for Valladolid in La Liga last season and then shone for Spain at the Euro U19 championship, and his displays reportedly piqued the interest of Barcelona and Chelsea.
One accusation levelled at Portuguese football is its predictability with the same few teams vying for silverware year after year. Drop down a division, however, and it’s a whole different world.
Liga Portugal 2, currently named the Liga Portugal SABSEG, is a fiercely competitive and unpredictable league, which is arguably more exciting to follow than the top flight.
As such, PortuGOAL is starting a new section dedicated to the country’s second tier.
José Almeida will be bringing us weekly updates on what promises to be a thrilling promotion race. By way of introduction, José outlines the main contenders for a place among the big boys next season.
Braga booked their place in the 2023/24 Champions League after beating Panathinaikos 1-0 in Athens for a 3-1 aggregate win.
In a mature display, despite the frenetic atmosphere created by the passionate Greek fans, Artur Jorge’s team largely controlled Panathinaikos, although goalkeeper Matheus was called on to make two outstanding saves.
But the Portuguese team also created danger throughout and Bruma’s late goal sealed the deal.
Braga join Benfica and Porto as the Primeira Liga again have three representatives in the greatest club competition in world football.
