Portuguese Football in English
It’s that time of year again when no matter which club you support, a healthy dollop of optimism, usually misplaced, gets the better of us as we look forward to the new football season.
After all, every team starts on zero points so we all start joint top of the league!
PortuGOAL previews what may happen in the title race over the next nine months, raising the biggest question marks surrounding the title contenders in the newly named Liga Portugal Betclic.
Sporting Clube de Braga have been drawn against Serbian outfit Backa Topola in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
The Guerreiros will play the home leg first on 8 or 9 August before travelling to Serbia for the second leg on 15 August.
Arouca will face Norwegian opposition at the same qualifying stage in the Conference League.
The Portuguese top flight, the Primeira Liga, has always been home to extravagantly talented players. While many of them hail from Portugal, several of the best players in all positions have come to play football in Portugal from abroad.
PortuGOAL takes a look at some of the best foreign-born players currently playing in the Primeira Liga, covering outstanding footballers from the top teams in the Liga Portugal Betclick, Porto, Sporting, Benfica and Braga.
Former Portugal centre-back José Fonte has ended over a decade and a half playing abroad by signing for Sporting Clube de Braga on a one-year contract.
“The dream is to be Portuguese champions,” said the 39-year-old. “We all know it’s a tough ask, but I’m not afraid to say it.”
Weeks of negotiations ended today as Sporting signed Viktor Gyökeres from Coventry City for a club record transfer fee of €20 million plus a possible further €4 million in add-ons.
The 25-year-old Swedish striker has signed a 5-year contract, which has a €100 million release clause.
“Sporting is a historical club and when I learned they were interested in me it was an easy choice,” said Gyökeres.
