Portuguese League - Liga Portugal 2025/26

[Slow death]

Sporting missed their chance. If they had beaten Benfica, they would have been level with Porto, but they dropped two points in a match they were leading. Undoubtedly, this result benefited Porto the most. Benfica is still in the race, but if Porto wins its missing match, the points gap will be 8. That's a huge difference. I think this is Porto's year. When Porto beats Tondela, they will be 5 points ahead of Sporting. With a third of the league season gone, they have made almost no mistakes.

Yeah, winner of Benfica - Sporting game is Porto without any doubts. Draw is best possible result for them. And draw is fair result for tonight's game, none of teams didn't had big advantage on the pitch. Now Porto have perfect opportunity to extend their lead to 5 points. On paper game with Tondela looks easy

Honestly, how to think that Benfica's real (non-public) goal is to try to stay in second place.
The season was very poorly prepared, and now they are reaping the fruits of that poor preparation.

Even if they improve very significantly, in the second half of the season, they will hardly be able to really fight for first place.
Porto will have to drop a lot in form, which I'm not seeing happening either It may break a little, but not too much.

I agree with you, Benfica's management saw that the coach wasn't getting good results last season, but they still allowed him to make changes to the team for the new season and kept him in the job this season. It was a serious mistake, and only when the ship was sinking did they realize their error and fire the coach. But in my opinion, it was too late.

Even with Mourinho, when a squad is mediocre, the coach can't do much to make the team win titles. In the Champions League, the team had a disastrous performance, and I highly doubt they'll win the title; they have a greater chance of not finishing second. Now the focus is on next season, seeing which players can stay, which ones to sell, and which ones to sign for next season.

Actually, Benfica's squad is not much different from last season. In fact, at the beginning of the new season, Benfica also bought players. Benfica's spending on players at the start of last season reached over 100 million euros, which was the largest player expenditure in the Portuguese league. Compared to FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon, Benfica's spending on players is still far above those two teams. So, this is not a squad issue. Mourinho has been given a lot of money to choose players to strengthen the team where it is felt lacking. What Mourinho needs to realize is that he is no longer a top elite coach; the difference with Guardiola is already too great when looking at the teams Mourinho has coached after managing Real Madrid.

Mourinho hasn't made any signings since arriving at Benfica because he arrived after the transfer window had already closed. The entire current squad was assembled by the previous coach, and Mourinho simply has to make do with it. To make matters worse, I highly doubt Mourinho will be lucky enough to have the club's management allocate more money for new signings in the next transfer window. Unfortunately, Mourinho has had this bad luck in recent years; in most clubs he goes to, he always arrives when funds are limited. At AS Roma, he couldn't buy many good players, so he opted for loan deals. If Mourinho had sufficient funds, he would build a winning team.

[Pumared]

Sporting missed their chance. If they had beaten Benfica, they would have been level with Porto, but they dropped two points in a match they were leading. Undoubtedly, this result benefited Porto the most. Benfica is still in the race, but if Porto wins its missing match, the points gap will be 8. That's a huge difference. I think this is Porto's year. When Porto beats Tondela, they will be 5 points ahead of Sporting. With a third of the league season gone, they have made almost no mistakes.

Yeah, winner of Benfica - Sporting game is Porto without any doubts. Draw is best possible result for them. And draw is fair result for tonight's game, none of teams didn't had big advantage on the pitch. Now Porto have perfect opportunity to extend their lead to 5 points. On paper game with Tondela looks easy

Honestly, how to think that Benfica's real (non-public) goal is to try to stay in second place.
The season was very poorly prepared, and now they are reaping the fruits of that poor preparation.

Even if they improve very significantly, in the second half of the season, they will hardly be able to really fight for first place.
Porto will have to drop a lot in form, which I'm not seeing happening either It may break a little, but not too much.

I agree with you, Benfica's management saw that the coach wasn't getting good results last season, but they still allowed him to make changes to the team for the new season and kept him in the job this season. It was a serious mistake, and only when the ship was sinking did they realize their error and fire the coach. But in my opinion, it was too late.

Even with Mourinho, when a squad is mediocre, the coach can't do much to make the team win titles. In the Champions League, the team had a disastrous performance, and I highly doubt they'll win the title; they have a greater chance of not finishing second. Now the focus is on next season, seeing which players can stay, which ones to sell, and which ones to sign for next season.

Actually, Benfica's squad is not much different from last season. In fact, at the beginning of the new season, Benfica also bought players. Benfica's spending on players at the start of last season reached over 100 million euros, which was the largest player expenditure in the Portuguese league. Compared to FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon, Benfica's spending on players is still far above those two teams. So, this is not a squad issue. Mourinho has been given a lot of money to choose players to strengthen the team where it is felt lacking. What Mourinho needs to realize is that he is no longer a top elite coach; the difference with Guardiola is already too great when looking at the teams Mourinho has coached after managing Real Madrid.

Mourinho hasn't made any signings since arriving at Benfica because he arrived after the transfer window had already closed. The entire current squad was assembled by the previous coach, and Mourinho simply has to make do with it. To make matters worse, I highly doubt Mourinho will be lucky enough to have the club's management allocate more money for new signings in the next transfer window. Unfortunately, Mourinho has had this bad luck in recent years; in most clubs he goes to, he always arrives when funds are limited. At AS Roma, he couldn't buy many good players, so he opted for loan deals. If Mourinho had sufficient funds, he would build a winning team.

And the worst part is that he's being held accountable for it. He needs to perform a miracle. If he doesn't, he'll be hated by the fans, but if he does, it will be his obligation. So it's a very complicated situation; just keeping Benfica at the top of the table with the team they have today is already surprising to me.

[joker_josue]

After the victory of Benfica and Porto for the European competitions, we return to the Portuguese championship.
How will the teams that were in the midweek games perform?



MATCH DAY 14:
^{13.12 15:30} Casa Pia vs Gil Vicente
^{13.12 15:30} CD Nacional vs Tondela
^{13.12 18:00} Rio Ave vs Vitória SC
^{13.12 20:30} Sporting CP vs AVS
^{14.12 15:30} Famalicão vs Estoril Praia
^{14.12 18:00} Moreirense vs SL Benfica
^{14.12 20:30} Arouca vs Alverca
^{15.12 18:45} Braga vs Santa Clara
^{15.12 20:45} Porto vs Amadora
_{Info: day.month. time (UTC)}

[MAAManda]

When looking at the goalscorer list, I was surprised to see "Luis Suarez" name who plays for Sporting, at first I thought it was the Uruguayan Luis Suarez that we all know. But when I look at the details, it turns out that's a football player from Colombia .

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

[Pumared]

After the victory of Benfica and Porto for the European competitions, we return to the Portuguese championship.
How will the teams that were in the midweek games perform?



MATCH DAY 14:
^{13.12 15:30} Casa Pia vs Gil Vicente
^{13.12 15:30} CD Nacional vs Tondela
^{13.12 18:00} Rio Ave vs Vitória SC
^{13.12 20:30} Sporting CP vs AVS
^{14.12 15:30} Famalicão vs Estoril Praia
^{14.12 18:00} Moreirense vs SL Benfica
^{14.12 20:30} Arouca vs Alverca
^{15.12 18:45} Braga vs Santa Clara
^{15.12 20:45} Porto vs Amadora
_{Info: day.month. time (UTC)}

My bets are these:

Gil Vicente wins

Nacional or draw, game with a high chance of a draw

Sporting wins, but the odds aren't worth it

Famalicão or draw, high chance of a draw but Famalicão has a slight advantage, pre-game betting is complicated for this match. But I'd go with the safe option.

Alverca or draw because Alverca scores and concedes a lot of goals as the away team

What do you think?

[joker_josue]

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

The season is not yet halfway through, so I still see a good possibility of reaching second place.
The first is that I think it's more difficult, because I'm not seeing Porto lose that many points.

What do you think?

I think your guesses are viable.
In addition, I believe that the big three win their games. Including Benfica with greater difficulty

[snipie]

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

The season is not yet halfway through, so I still see a good possibility of reaching second place.
The first is that I think it's more difficult, because I'm not seeing Porto lose that many points.

Benfica good victory was obvious thanks to the weaker team they faced, if ever that supposition was motivated by the result of the played game against Moreirense.
I think the first place will be for Porto this season, mainly driven by the solid defence line that they have. They received only three goals after 13 rounds. Sporting is close to Benfica except having more goals scored, yet switching position is possible. So these three teams will finish in top. In my opinion, 1st Porto then 60% Sporting will be second and 40% Benfica will be second.

[Pumared]

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

The season is not yet halfway through, so I still see a good possibility of reaching second place.
The first is that I think it's more difficult, because I'm not seeing Porto lose that many points.

What do you think?

I think your guesses are viable.
In addition, I believe that the big three win their games. Including Benfica with greater difficulty

Regarding my predictions, I only got two wrong: Arouca and Gil Vicente. I understand Arouca's prediction, as Alverca had a player sent off early in the game and didn't play very well for the rest of it. But I expected more than a draw from Gil Vicente. Both teams played well, but Gil Vicente lacked something to finish the game better.

[Silence Scream]

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

The season is not yet halfway through, so I still see a good possibility of reaching second place.
The first is that I think it's more difficult, because I'm not seeing Porto lose that many points.

Benfica good victory was obvious thanks to the weaker team they faced, if ever that supposition was motivated by the result of the played game against Moreirense.
I think the first place will be for Porto this season, mainly driven by the solid defence line that they have. They received only three goals after 13 rounds. Sporting is close to Benfica except having more goals scored, yet switching position is possible. So these three teams will finish in top. In my opinion, 1st Porto then 60% Sporting will be second and 40% Benfica will be second.

Porto have become a formidable team this year. They've won 12 out of 13 matches, with only one draw, and are now aiming for their 13th win. If they win this game, they'll extend their lead over Sporting Lisbon back to five points. I expect a comfortable victory against their weaker opponents. I think they'll score a few goals. Their record of only conceding three goals so far is fantastic; they probably have a unique statistic in Europe.

[joker_josue]

It seems that this round went well for the three main teams. All of them won with many goals.

Here are the results of the last round:
MATCH DAY 14 - RESULTS:
Casa Pia 1-1 Gil Vicente
Rio Ave 0-1 Vitória SC
Sporting CP 6-0 AVS
Famalicão 4-0 Estoril Praia
Moreirense 0-4 SL Benfica
Arouca 1-0 Alverca
CD Nacional 3-1 Tondela
Braga 1-0 Santa Clara
Porto 3-1 Amadora

[Jossque]

Braga did not slip up at home against Santa Clara, securing all three points with a single goal. There were not many chances in the match, and frankly, it was a dull encounter. With this victory, Braga managed to increase their points tally to 25. They are in fifth place behind Gil Vicente, but it should be noted that they are level on points with their rivals.
Porto continues to win. Porto added another victory to their tally by beating Estrela 3-1 at home. Porto, who didn't give their opponents many chances in the match, secured the three points with three goals. We can say that Porto is the big favourite to win the championship this season. The points gap with their closest rival, Sporting, is five. There are three matches left until the end of the first half of the season. As long as they maintain this points gap, they will gain a significant psychological advantage.

[rdluffy]

It seems that this round went well for the three main teams. All of them won with many goals.
...

An interesting fact: even with Gyokeres' departure, Sporting remains the team that scores the most goals in the league
With Luis Suárez having scored 11 goals and Pedro Gonçalves 9, instead of having only one top scorer, this time Sporting has this division between the two players

What do you think guys?
Did you think the team would score fewer goals due to Gyokeres' departure?

I did, I thought Sporting wouldn't be able to score as many goals, but I was surprised
Sporting paid €25 million for the player, so it's a good thing that Luis Suárez has lived up to expectations 

[MK-74]

It seems that this round went well for the three main teams. All of them won with many goals.
...

An interesting fact: even with Gyokeres' departure, Sporting remains the team that scores the most goals in the league
With Luis Suárez having scored 11 goals and Pedro Gonçalves 9, instead of having only one top scorer, this time Sporting has this division between the two players

What do you think guys?
Did you think the team would score fewer goals due to Gyokeres' departure?

I did, I thought Sporting wouldn't be able to score as many goals, but I was surprised
Sporting paid €25 million for the player, so it's a good thing that Luis Suárez has lived up to expectations 

They made the right decision by selling Gyökeres and now he is staying at Arsenal as a substitute player.
Gyökeres did good things at Sporting Lisbon, but he achieved that thanks to the players supporting him. Since Lisbon is one of the strongest teams in the league, they can produce goals easily.
Gyökeres moved to a tougher league and still hasn’t been able to prove himself there.
In short, Lisbon can score plenty of goals even without Gyökeres.

[LTU_btc]

Braga did not slip up at home against Santa Clara, securing all three points with a single goal. There were not many chances in the match, and frankly, it was a dull encounter. With this victory, Braga managed to increase their points tally to 25. They are in fifth place behind Gil Vicente, but it should be noted that they are level on points with their rivals.
Porto continues to win. Porto added another victory to their tally by beating Estrela 3-1 at home. Porto, who didn't give their opponents many chances in the match, secured the three points with three goals. We can say that Porto is the big favourite to win the championship this season. The points gap with their closest rival, Sporting, is five. There are three matches left until the end of the first half of the season. As long as they maintain this points gap, they will gain a significant psychological advantage.

You know what - yesterday I decided to watch Portuguese games and I missed MU - Bournemouth 4:4. Braga - Santa Clara indeed was very boring game without much action. At least Braga didn't burned my bet.
Estrela made surprise with their goal that made score 1:1, but their joy lasted just few minutes and Porto solved all questions without much problem.

An interesting fact: even with Gyokeres' departure, Sporting remains the team that scores the most goals in the league
With Luis Suárez having scored 11 goals and Pedro Gonçalves 9, instead of having only one top scorer, this time Sporting has this division between the two players

What do you think guys?
Did you think the team would score fewer goals due to Gyokeres' departure?

I did, I thought Sporting wouldn't be able to score as many goals, but I was surprised
Sporting paid €25 million for the player, so it's a good thing that Luis Suárez has lived up to expectations 

I wasn't thinking that Sporting will score significantly fewer goals without Gyokeres. I just thought that they won't have one signle player who will score so many, other players will haveto step up. I just wasn't sure what to expectfrom Suarez.

[ILuckyGuyI]

An interesting fact: even with Gyokeres' departure, Sporting remains the team that scores the most goals in the league
With Luis Suárez having scored 11 goals and Pedro Gonçalves 9, instead of having only one top scorer, this time Sporting has this division between the two players

What do you think guys?
Did you think the team would score fewer goals due to Gyokeres' departure?

I did, I thought Sporting wouldn't be able to score as many goals, but I was surprised
Sporting paid €25 million for the player, so it's a good thing that Luis Suárez has lived up to expectations 

I had also the same thought.    Luis Suárez was a 2nd league scorer before coming here. That's why I didn't keep my expectations high from him. But he isn't much worse than Gyökeres' Sporting performances for now.

That's a great deal for Sporting as a result. Selling Gyökeres for €65m and buying him for only €25m. A good level of profit! Now Gyökeres is in a miserable condition at Arsenal. It doesn't look like he is a good choice for big leagues like the PL.

[joker_josue]

I did, I thought Sporting wouldn't be able to score as many goals, but I was surprised
Sporting paid €25 million for the player, so it's a good thing that Luis Suárez has lived up to expectations 

This is only clear proof that when you know how to make good player acquisitions, a team is never dependent on just one player.

That's a great deal for Sporting as a result. Selling Gyökeres for €65m and buying him for only €25m. A good level of profit! Now Gyökeres is in a miserable condition at Arsenal. It doesn't look like he is a good choice for big leagues like the PL.

I think Gyokeress' problem was not that he went to the PL, it was the club that chose him.

It was clear that he would not be a starter at Arsenal, he is not a typical player for the team's style of play.
It can be useful at times or in training, but not on a regular basis.

He should have gone to Man United, because Amorim would know how to assemble the team to get the best out of him.
 

[Pumared]

Braga did not slip up at home against Santa Clara, securing all three points with a single goal. There were not many chances in the match, and frankly, it was a dull encounter. With this victory, Braga managed to increase their points tally to 25. They are in fifth place behind Gil Vicente, but it should be noted that they are level on points with their rivals.
Porto continues to win. Porto added another victory to their tally by beating Estrela 3-1 at home. Porto, who didn't give their opponents many chances in the match, secured the three points with three goals. We can say that Porto is the big favourite to win the championship this season. The points gap with their closest rival, Sporting, is five. There are three matches left until the end of the first half of the season. As long as they maintain this points gap, they will gain a significant psychological advantage.

Yes, a big highlight for Braga in this round, they managed to win, by a small margin but a victory is always a victory. I hope they can maintain their consistency against big teams and that their tactics improve. But for the others, there were no surprises, it was expected that all the favorites would win, we followed the script.

[JiiBs]

BTW, Benfica hasn't had a good performance so far, in contrast to last season, this season Porto has played better. With the way things are going, do any of you think Benfica can at least finish in second place this season?

The season is not yet halfway through, so I still see a good possibility of reaching second place.
The first is that I think it's more difficult, because I'm not seeing Porto lose that many points.

What do you think?

I think your guesses are viable.
In addition, I believe that the big three win their games. Including Benfica with greater difficulty

Benfica has have too many difficult performances than I would say for Porto and Sporting CP.  it’s not in their fixtures, nope, nothing about that but, how these guys perform on the pitch. When you have a firm manger like Jose Mourinho, players tend to play to instructions and not have much room to be creative on the pitch and as such, with Mourinho not all that in for much offense and rather prefers not to conceive, the objectivism for Benfica is often about draws. Points from that wouldn’t take them nowhere.

[joker_josue]

During this week the Portuguese Cup matches took place, with the main teams winning.

Now we have another weekend with games for the championship:
MATCH DAY 15:
^{19.12 20:15} Estoril Praia vs Braga
^{20.12 18:00} Gil Vicente vs Rio Ave
^{20.12 20:30} Amadora vs Moreirense
^{21.12 15:30} AVS vs CD Nacional
^{21.12 18:00} Tondela vs Casa Pia
^{21.12 20:30} Santa Clara vs Arouca
^{22.12 18:45} Alverca vs Porto
^{22.12 20:45} SL Benfica vs Famalicão
^{23.12 20:45} Vitória SC vs Sporting CP
_{Info: day.month. time (UTC)}

[LGD2Business]

Porto has signed Thiago Silva. I wonder what they'll do with a 42-year-old defender. He's very slow, and for the past 2 years he's been playing in a weaker league outside Europe.
Porto's defense is very solid. This season they've only conceded 4 goals in 14 games. Farioli won't want to disrupt that defense. I don't think Silva will get much playing time, but we'll see.