Portuguese SuperLiga (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Zé Tahir
- Start date
Porto could have done a lot more with their Chelsea money, no question. But I think at some level they were destined to disappoint this season. No matter how much money you spend on quality players in isolation, changing the squad introduces risk and a necessary time of adjustment for team play. With Porto losing the likes of many of their key leaders, it really is only the same team as last season's in name only -- as Porto coach Jose Couceiro put it. Just too much churn at too many positions.
This is one of the reasons why I think Mourinho deserves a lot of the credit for what's happening at Chelsea right now. We've seen a lot of teams that spend like drunken sailors on new talent, but fail to make sufficient productive use of that potential (see: Inter).
Lucky timing for Trapattoni, though. I know enough long-suffering Benfica fans, that I hope they do pull off the title. But Sporting, Braga, and even Boavista are still keeping everyone honest.
Here's a nice article I caught off Yahoo today:
Outsiders seek to break "Big Three" stranglehold
By Carlos Alberto Pontes
LISBON, March 24 (Reuters) - It is no surprise that Porto, Benfica and Sporting are battling for supremacy in the Portuguese league with eight rounds left to play.
The "Big Three" have traditionally dominated the game in Portugal and have between them won every title since 1946, bar one.
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What has livened up the game, and made this season the most competitive in the league's 67-year history, is the sight of outsiders Boavista and Braga keeping up with the big guns.
Part of the reason is that two of the Big Three have not been performing at their usual level.
While Benfica, coached by experienced Italian Giovanni Trapattoni and unbeaten in their last eight league matches, are on course to take the title that has eluded them since 1994, Porto and Sporting are slugging it out with Boavista and Braga six points behind.
There is more at stake than usual. Two Portuguese clubs will qualify automatically for the group stage of next season's Champions League as a result of Porto's triumph in the final last May, while the league's third-placed team will enter the competition in the third qualifying stage.
Porto, already on their third coach since the departure of Champions League winner Jose Mourinho to Chelsea in June, were knocked out of this year's Champions League by Inter Milan last week.
They became the first champions to fail to reach the quarter-finals in the following year, prompting current coach Jose Couceiro to declare: "The only thing this side have in common with last season's is their name."
FAN ACCUSATIONS
Porto endured a bad start to the league campaign, failing to win until their fourth match.
They came back to lead the table but have fallen away again largely because of their fragility at home where they have dropped 16 points, in strong contrast to least season when they were unbeaten.
Fans accuse charismatic chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa of wasting more than half the 80 million euros ($104 million) profit he earned from the Champions League last season and from transfers of top players on 17 new signings, mostly Brazilians, who have not so far proved to be worth the money.
Couceiro said that a 2-0 defeat by Sporting last Monday did not mean that their hopes of defending the league title were over.
"It has got more difficult for everybody, there are four teams six points behind the leaders. Now we must win our games and hope for the best in the clashes between the other five sides in the race, which we could benefit from," he said.
Sporting have also mixed good results with bad and the Porto win was their first in three games.
The Lisbon side have been producing some of the most attractive football with Brazilian striker Liedson, the league's top scorer with 21 goals, playing a key part.
Sporting manager Jose Peseiro, assistant to Carlos Queiros last season at Real Madrid, has concentrated on bringing on young talent from the club's academies -- Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is one of their products.
"We can still win the title. We have to be more consistent said Peseiro, whose team face a UEFA Cup quarter-final against Newcastle United next month.
FINANCIAL SAVINGS
Braga, who briefly led the table to inspire their fans to dream of a first title, have dropped back largely because of injuries and suspensions.
Coach Jesualdo Ferreira said after a 1-1 draw at Rio Ave that the top spot was not everything.
"The question of the title is not an obsession for us. We will try to win the next match but...for Braga's players it is not easy to stay at the summit for a long time because we are not used to being there," he said.
Boavista, the only team to interrupt the reign of the big three with their title win in 2001, have reduced their financial outgoings by more than half by selling many of the players who brought them that first title.
Even so, coach Jaime Pacheco has created a team who play tough, lively football and have qualified for the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup.
"My players are not yet part of the elite but they work very hard and we cannot ask for more," said Pacheco. "Our budgets are different."
On the chances of repeating their 2001 success he said: "This season we have a team that was formed only two years ago. We have almost nobody left from that time."
Benfica, meanwhile, are trying to maintain a steady course.
"The team are showing signs of being in good form at the moment. It's important now not to get too excited because the road is still long. We have to keep our feet firmly on the ground," Trapattoni said.
The season may yet end with the Big Three in the top places as usual but at least the campaign will have been a bit more interesting.
This is one of the reasons why I think Mourinho deserves a lot of the credit for what's happening at Chelsea right now. We've seen a lot of teams that spend like drunken sailors on new talent, but fail to make sufficient productive use of that potential (see: Inter).
Lucky timing for Trapattoni, though. I know enough long-suffering Benfica fans, that I hope they do pull off the title. But Sporting, Braga, and even Boavista are still keeping everyone honest.
Here's a nice article I caught off Yahoo today:
Outsiders seek to break "Big Three" stranglehold
By Carlos Alberto Pontes
LISBON, March 24 (Reuters) - It is no surprise that Porto, Benfica and Sporting are battling for supremacy in the Portuguese league with eight rounds left to play.
The "Big Three" have traditionally dominated the game in Portugal and have between them won every title since 1946, bar one.
ADVERTISEMENT
What has livened up the game, and made this season the most competitive in the league's 67-year history, is the sight of outsiders Boavista and Braga keeping up with the big guns.
Part of the reason is that two of the Big Three have not been performing at their usual level.
While Benfica, coached by experienced Italian Giovanni Trapattoni and unbeaten in their last eight league matches, are on course to take the title that has eluded them since 1994, Porto and Sporting are slugging it out with Boavista and Braga six points behind.
There is more at stake than usual. Two Portuguese clubs will qualify automatically for the group stage of next season's Champions League as a result of Porto's triumph in the final last May, while the league's third-placed team will enter the competition in the third qualifying stage.
Porto, already on their third coach since the departure of Champions League winner Jose Mourinho to Chelsea in June, were knocked out of this year's Champions League by Inter Milan last week.
They became the first champions to fail to reach the quarter-finals in the following year, prompting current coach Jose Couceiro to declare: "The only thing this side have in common with last season's is their name."
FAN ACCUSATIONS
Porto endured a bad start to the league campaign, failing to win until their fourth match.
They came back to lead the table but have fallen away again largely because of their fragility at home where they have dropped 16 points, in strong contrast to least season when they were unbeaten.
Fans accuse charismatic chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa of wasting more than half the 80 million euros ($104 million) profit he earned from the Champions League last season and from transfers of top players on 17 new signings, mostly Brazilians, who have not so far proved to be worth the money.
Couceiro said that a 2-0 defeat by Sporting last Monday did not mean that their hopes of defending the league title were over.
"It has got more difficult for everybody, there are four teams six points behind the leaders. Now we must win our games and hope for the best in the clashes between the other five sides in the race, which we could benefit from," he said.
Sporting have also mixed good results with bad and the Porto win was their first in three games.
The Lisbon side have been producing some of the most attractive football with Brazilian striker Liedson, the league's top scorer with 21 goals, playing a key part.
Sporting manager Jose Peseiro, assistant to Carlos Queiros last season at Real Madrid, has concentrated on bringing on young talent from the club's academies -- Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is one of their products.
"We can still win the title. We have to be more consistent said Peseiro, whose team face a UEFA Cup quarter-final against Newcastle United next month.
FINANCIAL SAVINGS
Braga, who briefly led the table to inspire their fans to dream of a first title, have dropped back largely because of injuries and suspensions.
Coach Jesualdo Ferreira said after a 1-1 draw at Rio Ave that the top spot was not everything.
"The question of the title is not an obsession for us. We will try to win the next match but...for Braga's players it is not easy to stay at the summit for a long time because we are not used to being there," he said.
Boavista, the only team to interrupt the reign of the big three with their title win in 2001, have reduced their financial outgoings by more than half by selling many of the players who brought them that first title.
Even so, coach Jaime Pacheco has created a team who play tough, lively football and have qualified for the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup.
"My players are not yet part of the elite but they work very hard and we cannot ask for more," said Pacheco. "Our budgets are different."
On the chances of repeating their 2001 success he said: "This season we have a team that was formed only two years ago. We have almost nobody left from that time."
Benfica, meanwhile, are trying to maintain a steady course.
"The team are showing signs of being in good form at the moment. It's important now not to get too excited because the road is still long. We have to keep our feet firmly on the ground," Trapattoni said.
The season may yet end with the Big Three in the top places as usual but at least the campaign will have been a bit more interesting.
OK, exhuming this thread. While not as close as the Juve-Milan race going on in Serie A, the Superliga race is even higher on drama given the limited number of CL spots open, the number of teams involved in the title race (realistically, 5), and the closeness between them.
FC Porto fell to Boavista 1-0 in the Porto derby this weekend. Porto's attack has sucked massively the past few weeks... they seem like a team in a tailspin. Meanwhile, leaders Benfica lost 1-0 away to Rio Ave in a late goal thriller -- keeping Rio's undefeated home streak alive. And Sporting survived a scare from cellar-dweller Beira Mar with a late goal, 1-0 win.
1. Benfica - 54 pts
2. Sporting - 51 pts
3. Braga, FC Porto & Boavista - 48 pts (Braga with a game in hand)
6 matches left. It's still anyone's title.
FC Porto fell to Boavista 1-0 in the Porto derby this weekend. Porto's attack has sucked massively the past few weeks... they seem like a team in a tailspin. Meanwhile, leaders Benfica lost 1-0 away to Rio Ave in a late goal thriller -- keeping Rio's undefeated home streak alive. And Sporting survived a scare from cellar-dweller Beira Mar with a late goal, 1-0 win.
1. Benfica - 54 pts
2. Sporting - 51 pts
3. Braga, FC Porto & Boavista - 48 pts (Braga with a game in hand)
6 matches left. It's still anyone's title.
The weekend programme witnessed a record for the fewest goals scored; just nine times the ball hit the back of the net in the nine games. Even so, some very significant results have reignited the race for the Superliga Championship and Champions League places.
Benfica’s trip to Rio Ave, the only team unbeaten at home all season, was always going to be a difficult hurdle to overcome in their quest to win the championship, and so it proved.
Despite creating the best chances throughout the match, the leaders failed to find the back of the net and were made to pay when Miguelito (pictured) scored a late winner for Rio Ave.
Sporting took advantage of Benfica’s slip to cut the gap to just three points, as they beat Beira-Mar 1-0 at Alvalade. Sporting rode their luck as they struggled to breakdown Beira-Mar’s defensive strategy and Inacio’s side even had a goal erroneously ruled out in the first half. But Liedson pounced five minutes from time to the jubilation of the home fans.
Braga moved into joint second with a 1-0 win at Estoril. João Tomás scored his eleventh goal of the season to continue the northerners’ sensational season. After the match coach Jesualdo Ferreira declared that his side had reset their goal for the season. After initially targeting a European place, Braga will now fight to win the title.
Boavista's historic double
Boavista completed their first ever double over Porto, beating the champions 1-0 for the second time this season. As a result Porto slip down to fifth place - an unthinkable prospect at the start of the season.
Both Porto and Boavista, while not completely giving up their Superliga title aspirations, will also be looking anxiously behind them to make sure they are not displaced from fifth spot, which guarantees European football next season.
Guimarães continued their excellent run of form with a 1-0 win at Leiria to move to within four points of Porto. Marco Ferreira scored the all important goal on 70 minutes.
Marítimo won the Madeira derby 2-1, thanks to goals from Fernando and Ferreira, sandwiching an Adriano strike.
Penafiel virtually ensured survival with a 1-0 win against Moreirense, while Setúbal-Gil Vicente and Belenenses-Coimbra ended goalless.
Benfica’s trip to Rio Ave, the only team unbeaten at home all season, was always going to be a difficult hurdle to overcome in their quest to win the championship, and so it proved.
Despite creating the best chances throughout the match, the leaders failed to find the back of the net and were made to pay when Miguelito (pictured) scored a late winner for Rio Ave.
Sporting took advantage of Benfica’s slip to cut the gap to just three points, as they beat Beira-Mar 1-0 at Alvalade. Sporting rode their luck as they struggled to breakdown Beira-Mar’s defensive strategy and Inacio’s side even had a goal erroneously ruled out in the first half. But Liedson pounced five minutes from time to the jubilation of the home fans.
Braga moved into joint second with a 1-0 win at Estoril. João Tomás scored his eleventh goal of the season to continue the northerners’ sensational season. After the match coach Jesualdo Ferreira declared that his side had reset their goal for the season. After initially targeting a European place, Braga will now fight to win the title.
Boavista's historic double
Boavista completed their first ever double over Porto, beating the champions 1-0 for the second time this season. As a result Porto slip down to fifth place - an unthinkable prospect at the start of the season.
Both Porto and Boavista, while not completely giving up their Superliga title aspirations, will also be looking anxiously behind them to make sure they are not displaced from fifth spot, which guarantees European football next season.
Guimarães continued their excellent run of form with a 1-0 win at Leiria to move to within four points of Porto. Marco Ferreira scored the all important goal on 70 minutes.
Marítimo won the Madeira derby 2-1, thanks to goals from Fernando and Ferreira, sandwiching an Adriano strike.
Penafiel virtually ensured survival with a 1-0 win against Moreirense, while Setúbal-Gil Vicente and Belenenses-Coimbra ended goalless.
u r kidding right? Portuguese Superleague isn't as developed as the eredivisie or the french ligue 1? ye right..guess it was luck porto won the 03/04 CL against monaco (in case one doesn't know,they play in the french ligue 1) and since Ajax,PSV,Feyenoord,Lyon,Marseille,PSG and Monaco are eternal candidates and always reach the finals,my virtual bet here on Juventus was a pure waste of v money 
If u wish to see highlights,results,standings and the goals of the portuguese league go to www.futebol.sapo.pt