THE What’s going on with FC Porto? That will be the question on the minds of most Porto fans after yet another defeat in the Champions League on Tuesday night. After the defeats against Manchester City and Real Betis, yesterday it was the turn of the blue and whites to be defeated by PSV (0-1) in the Estádio do Dragão, showing, once again, that the recipe applied in the Portuguese championship is not having any effect among the elite of European football.
Before this match, Farioli pointed out the importance of FC Porto being able to climb the “mountain” in hosting the Dutch team. Well, last night revealed that the Portuguese national champion does not, at this moment, have the necessary stamina to carry out major European climbs.
Guus Til’s goal, in the 57th minute, would end up being symptomatic and even arrived later than expected, as there was a feeling, right in the first half, that PSV were on top of the game.
It was only after the goal conceded that FC Porto managed to react, but the best opportunities to tie the game resulted from individual errors and not so much from the skill of the Porto players.
If the defeat against Manchester City can be ‘excused’ with the power of the English team, the same cannot be applied to PSV, an opponent that is at the same level as FC Porto. And much less from Real Betis, who hadn’t won in the Champions League since November 2005 (!).
Nine points have already escaped, but there are still 15 more up for grabs. And FC Porto has the potential to do more and better in this Champions League. Even so, the next opponent will not be easy – Napoli visits Dragão on November 4th.
Until then, let’s look at the protagonists of last night.
The figure
The figure of the night could only be Guus Til, the scorer of the only goal at Dragão. But this distinction is not limited to just that. The PSV player was, effectively, one of the best units on the field and proved to be a real puzzle for FC Porto’s defense.
The surprise
FC Porto was, in collective terms, below the desired performance, but still Pablo Rosario managed to emerge as one of the most enlightened players. The Dominican midfielder has already left Alan Varela (a lot) behind in the pecking order, but continues to impress with his wide range of action. Yesterday, he made several important cuts in defense and even tried his luck in attack, coming close to scoring at the start of the second half.
The disillusionment
Victor Froholdt was on the field, but his talent seems to have remained outside the pitch. The Danish player was unrecognizable, failing to make an impact either attacking or defending. This also explains FC Porto’s dismal performance. The best FC Porto needs the best Froholdt and that didn’t happen yesterday. One of the Nordic’s worst performances with the blue and white jersey…
The coaches
Francesco Farioli
The idea of betting on Samu and Pietusewski at first would, in theory, be a good move, but it quickly became clear that the duo would not be able to withstand the physical nature that PSV was bringing to the match. Farioli tried to take too many risks by starting the two players in the eleven and ended up losing a possible joker that he could have played in the second half, when the opponent’s physical breakdown occurred. Farioli definitely has to stop looking at the Champions League games as if they were just another round of the championship.
Peter Bosz
Bosz is in his fourth season as PSV’s coach and the Dutch team therefore has well-oiled dynamics, despite things not going exactly well in the championship. Even so, the performance at Dragão was top-notch and showed that the football quality of the Netherlands owes nothing to Portugal, contrary to what some claim. This PSV has personality and in the first half they put FC Porto on the ropes.
The referee
Daniel Siebert signed a smooth arbitration. The best compliment you can pay to a referee is that you almost felt for him. That’s what happened yesterday with the German.
