Porto, yet again, have won the Portuguese league title. Their names were written on the sashes as early as January this year but they finally clinched the title with a nervy 1-0 home win over Nacional on Sunday. We’ll review the game and talk about what Porto had that the other teams didn’t.
One thing they definitely have is a great manager and this is something Benfica are currently desperate for. With Quique playing a waiting game to see if he can find a reasonable deal to leave the encarnados quietly, after Benfica’s 2-2 home draw with lowly Trofense, his position at the club is clearly untenable and it’s only a matter of time before he heads back to Spain. We discuss his failures and also look at Rui Costa’s poor first season as Director of Football.
Sporting however, will be relatively happy with their season, their place in the Champions League qualifying stages assured. Liedson was their saviour once again at the weekend, scoring both goals that helped them beat Vitória de Setúbal 2-1.
The scrap against relegation is intriguing: Belenenses look doomed after losing 0-5 at home to Braga tonight (played after the podcast was recorded). However, Rio Ave had an impressive 0-1 victory away to Guimarães, putting some space between themselves and the drop zone. Even safer are Paços de Ferriera, who won 2-1 at home to Maritimo, whose relatively new manager Carlos Carvalhal may be on borrowed time already.
In part 2 we focus on the Liga Vitalis. The big game at the weekend was between the top two teams, Olhanense and Santa Clara. Olhanense won 1-0 and look almost certain to be promoted. Both teams could’ve been leapfrogged by União de Leiria, who were playing relegation-threatened Oliveirense. However, they lost, meaning Oliveirense jumped out of the relegation zone, leaving Boavista bottom, staring into the abyss.
We’ll be back next week with more news from the relegation battles in the two leagues. Please let us know your thoughts about the podcast by leaving a message on the site.
Thanks for listening,
Steve and Phil.
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