THE Champion FC Porto has yet another difficult test for its isolated leadership of the championship on Sunday, when it faces the local team Vitória in Guimarães, in the 11th round of the 1st Football League.
The team led by Italian Francesco Farioli managed to become the second ‘blue and white’ to start the championship with 10 victories in the last round, being just three away from equaling the feat achieved in 1939/40, when they achieved 13 consecutive victories, and now, in Guimarães, they can reach their 11th.
In addition to their immaculate campaign in Portugal, the ‘dragons’ arrive in their ‘cradle city’ motivated by their first triumph in the league stage of the Champions League, when they received and thrashed, on Wednesday, the Italian side of Naples by 4-1, in a match on the fourth round of the competition, which relaunched Porto’s bid to qualify for the play-offs.
Ahead, Vitória de Guimarães is playing a championship far from its goals at the start of the season, occupying 13th place, with nine points, but the team from Guimarães has come from two matches without losing, beating Marítimo 5-0 in the ninth round, and drawing 0-0 in the always difficult Minho derby with Gil Vicente, in Barcelos, in the 10th.
The round does not appear to bring any ease for Benfica, second placed, five points behind the leader, who play at home to Estrela da Amadora, one of the sensational teams at the start of the competition, when they went six rounds without losing and imposed a 2-2 draw against Sporting, but are showing signs of decline, having registered four consecutive defeats in the last rounds.
Forbidden to give up points, after having drawn at home in the beginning against Académico de Viseu and having lost at Dragão to FC Porto, Benfica appears in Amadora in a cycle of three consecutive victories and with the extra motivation of making a good start in the Europa League.
With the debut of new coach Paulo Fonseca, who replaced Rui Borges this week, Sporting is trying to maintain the winning streak, after the former coach had also beaten Casa Pia in the last round of the trip to Rio Maior, while interim Tiago Fernandes put the ‘lions’ back on the path to victory in the Champions League, by beating Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk in London.
Saturday’s reception to Moreirense does not appear to be easy, but the ‘canons’, located in the middle of the table, tend to pose more difficulties to the ‘big ones’ when they play as hosts, thus constituting a good opportunity for Paulo Fonseca to start his journey at Sporting with a triumph.
Highlights in the round are the clashes between Santa Clara-Gil Vicente and Famalicão-Arouca, games between teams making good starts in the championship, while Sporting de Braga, in Vila do Conde against Rio Ave, and Académico de Viseu, in Madeira against Nacional, will try to stay close to the European zone, against teams fighting to escape the last places.
The round also includes Estoril Praia-Marítimo, in a game in which the ‘Canarinhos’, last, with just two points, are forced to win to avoid seeing the teams ahead stand out even more, while the islanders, after a start with two victories, have now gone eight games without winning and are coming off three consecutive defeats.
11th round program:
– Friday, 06 Nov:
Famalicão – Arouca, 20:45
– Saturday, 07 Nov:
National – Academic of Viseu, 15:30
Alverca – Casa Pia, 18:00
Sporting – Moreirense, 20:30
– Sunday, 08 Nov:
Estoril Praia – Marítimo, 15:30
Santa Clara – Gil Vicente, 15:30
Vitória de Guimarães – FC Porto, 18:00
Estrela da Amadora – Benfica, 20:30
Rio Ave – Sporting de Braga, 20:30
