It was déjà vu for Sporting against Marseille in a forgettable Champions League night for the home supporters at the José Alvalade stadium. Just like in France one week ago, Sporting were a man down and two goals down early in the match.

Ricardo Esgaio picked up two yellow cards in quick succession and was sent off, the second leading to Marseille’s opener from the penalty spot, converted by Mattéo Guendouzi.

Alexis Sánchez soon doubled the French side’s lead and a second red card for Pedro Gonçalves in the second half completed a nightmare evening for the Lions. 

Porto’s revival continued after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League. Diogo Costa assisted Galeno for the opener in the 6th minute before saving Kerem Demirbay’s spot kick.

The Dragons were awarded two penalties in the second half after VAR spotted fouls inside the 18-yard box.

Mehdi Taremi stepped up both times and made the German club pay the price, Porto in charge of their destiny with two matches remaining in Group B.

Benfica’s unbeaten start to the season was extended to 17 matches after a deserved 1-1 draw against PSG. They went into the break 1-0 down after António Silva conceded a penalty that Kylian Mbappé converted.

The Eagles continued to match it with the French champions after the break and deservedly equalised in the 62nd minute. Marco Verratti foolishly fouled Rafa with another penalty awarded, João Mário finishing with style.

Neymar and Mbappé continued to probe for openings but Benfica’s defence held firm, Roger Schmidt’s side in prime position to progress to the Champions League knockout rounds.

PortuGOAL’s Matthew Marshall reports from Parc des Princes.

Another weekend of Primeira Liga football was a notable one with some surprising results dotted around the action. Basement club Marítimo finally picked up their first point of the campaign, whilst the previously impressive Braga continued their mini slump in form with an unexpected home loss to promoted Chaves.

Porto and Sporting took advantage of the latter result to strengthen their title credentials, whilst there were significant victories for Vizela, Estoril and Arouca.

On the subject of the race for the championship itself there is one side looking an early favourite to claim the honours come May, Benfica. The Eagles look reborn under new manager Roger Schmidt and they have soared to the summit after an unbeaten start. Schmidt has got the best out of their supremely talented young striker Gonçalo Ramos, our PortuGOAL Figure of the Week was excellent once more in helping his team defeat Rio Ave.