Millions of people throughout Portugal and many more around the globe will be glued to their TVs, radios and Internet connections on Sunday evening as FC Porto host Benfica in a classic of Portuguese football.
“Nobody wins championships in the first third of the season.” These words were uttered by Benfica coach Jorge Jesus a day before he sends his side out at the Estadio do Dragao to face runaway leaders FC Porto.
Although mathematically correct, logic surely argues against Jesus’ statement. Should Porto beat their bitterest of rivals they will have a ten-point lead at the top of the Liga ZON Sagres table after 10 games of the Portuguese league season. More significantly, they would have dropped only two points in those ten games. So it is highly unlikely that they would allow such a healthy advantage to slip in the remaining 20 games.
The Benfica coach’s words were probably uttered more in the hope of relieving some of the pressure on his players rather than his actual convictions. Having won the league in such swashbuckling fashion in 2009/10, deep down, the Benfica players must know that victory - or at the very least avoiding defeat - is a must to get back in the title race.
Porto have been in awesome form all season. 15 wins and 2 draws from 17 games tells its own story. In no game have the Dragons failed to find the net this season, and also in no game has at least one of their front three of Hulk, Falcao and Silvestre failed to score.
Joao Moutinho, bought from the other of Portugal’s major clubs, Sporting, in the summer has been in superb form all season, as has his midfield colleague Fernando Belluschi. The creative Argentine is playing his best football since arriving in Portugal two years ago.
With a defence well marshalled by the centre-back partnership of Maicon and Rolando and captain and goalkeeper Helton also putting in a string of impressive displays, it is currently difficult to find a weakness in Andre Villas-Boas’ team.
Benfica started the defence of their championship crown with a damaging three defeats in their first four matches, but have since picked up well in domestic play. A run of five straight victories in the league has catapulted the Eagles up to second in the table. However, performances during that run have not been overly convincing, and it has also been punctuated by some poor results in the Champions League.
On the other hand, if one disregards the last fifteen minutes of the midweek win versus Lyon, Benfica at last produced a performance to rival last season’s exhilarating displays on their triumphant march to the title. Four well-worked and expertly executed goals destroyed the French side, and if they reproduce that level of performance they will have a chance of getting a result at the Dragao.
Both teams have important absentees. Porto cannot count on the services of midfield anchorman Fernando. Guarin or Souza will step in. Good players as they are, the consistency of the ubiquitous Fernando, aptly nicknamed the octopus as his legs invariably get to the ball whenever it nears the vicinity of Porto’s box, may prove significant.
Benfica continue to make do without their biggest goal threat, Oscar Cardozo. The Paraguayan scored a staggering 38 goals in all competitions last season, and formed a lethal partnership with skilful forward Saviola. Alan Kardec will continue to deputise up front alongside the diminutive Argentine.
Andre Villas-Boas, FC Porto coach: “We’re confident and we have a unique opportunity that rarely happens after 10 matches to create a significant gap between ourselves and Benfica. As incredible as it seems we could be 10 points ahead of the national champions, but we still have to play the game. We’ve already dropped two points, which was hard to take, and we don’t want to drop more.”
Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach: “We’ve been evolving well in all aspects in recent games, especially from the defensive point of view. Five straight victories gives us confidence that we can arrive at the Dragao and show ourselves to be a team with the quality and capacity to win.”
Although mathematically correct, logic surely argues against Jesus’ statement. Should Porto beat their bitterest of rivals they will have a ten-point lead at the top of the Liga ZON Sagres table after 10 games of the Portuguese league season. More significantly, they would have dropped only two points in those ten games. So it is highly unlikely that they would allow such a healthy advantage to slip in the remaining 20 games.
The Benfica coach’s words were probably uttered more in the hope of relieving some of the pressure on his players rather than his actual convictions. Having won the league in such swashbuckling fashion in 2009/10, deep down, the Benfica players must know that victory - or at the very least avoiding defeat - is a must to get back in the title race.
Form guide
Porto have been in awesome form all season. 15 wins and 2 draws from 17 games tells its own story. In no game have the Dragons failed to find the net this season, and also in no game has at least one of their front three of Hulk, Falcao and Silvestre failed to score.
Joao Moutinho, bought from the other of Portugal’s major clubs, Sporting, in the summer has been in superb form all season, as has his midfield colleague Fernando Belluschi. The creative Argentine is playing his best football since arriving in Portugal two years ago.
With a defence well marshalled by the centre-back partnership of Maicon and Rolando and captain and goalkeeper Helton also putting in a string of impressive displays, it is currently difficult to find a weakness in Andre Villas-Boas’ team.
Benfica started the defence of their championship crown with a damaging three defeats in their first four matches, but have since picked up well in domestic play. A run of five straight victories in the league has catapulted the Eagles up to second in the table. However, performances during that run have not been overly convincing, and it has also been punctuated by some poor results in the Champions League.
On the other hand, if one disregards the last fifteen minutes of the midweek win versus Lyon, Benfica at last produced a performance to rival last season’s exhilarating displays on their triumphant march to the title. Four well-worked and expertly executed goals destroyed the French side, and if they reproduce that level of performance they will have a chance of getting a result at the Dragao.
Injury news
Both teams have important absentees. Porto cannot count on the services of midfield anchorman Fernando. Guarin or Souza will step in. Good players as they are, the consistency of the ubiquitous Fernando, aptly nicknamed the octopus as his legs invariably get to the ball whenever it nears the vicinity of Porto’s box, may prove significant.
Benfica continue to make do without their biggest goal threat, Oscar Cardozo. The Paraguayan scored a staggering 38 goals in all competitions last season, and formed a lethal partnership with skilful forward Saviola. Alan Kardec will continue to deputise up front alongside the diminutive Argentine.
Quote… unquote
Andre Villas-Boas, FC Porto coach: “We’re confident and we have a unique opportunity that rarely happens after 10 matches to create a significant gap between ourselves and Benfica. As incredible as it seems we could be 10 points ahead of the national champions, but we still have to play the game. We’ve already dropped two points, which was hard to take, and we don’t want to drop more.”
Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach: “We’ve been evolving well in all aspects in recent games, especially from the defensive point of view. Five straight victories gives us confidence that we can arrive at the Dragao and show ourselves to be a team with the quality and capacity to win.”
