Looked at tickets for Portugal v Serbia recently, most expensive 15 Euro! i'm paying £40 for NI v Belarus the day before!
With Bruno Lage and with only 2 training sessions Benfica already has a better relationship with the ball, a lot of players seeking space and giving offensive coverage. Defensively the team is still a nightmare, a lot of work to do.
Looks like with Sporting losing to 10 men Tondela & if Porto win later on giving them a 6 point cushion a 3 team battle for 2nd. On a different note, Ruben Neves, 'take a bow son' , cracking goal against Liverpool.
I have couple of mates who do a long weekend in Barcelona every year to get some Spring Sunshine & take a game in & they said that Barca games are priced on who the opposition are but 15 Euro was the amount also mentioned.
So just to make sure of things Porto sign Pepe , their defence is strong enough but will that see the departure of ( name escapes me Militao or something like that ) who half of Europe are looking at. Sporting are interested in signing 18 year old Rafael Camacho Liverpool Right Back according to Talksport.
Porto will be acused and will a pay a big fine to Benfica for breaking into and publishing Benfica's private correspondence including contracts or private conversations between emplyoees. They should be relegated for corruption and industrial espionage but I'll take it.
All eyes on Jose Alvalade at 3.30 today though highlights on Sky Channel 422 at 9.00 tonight for me. Saw a bit of Benfica beating 10 man Santa Clara last night, they were in cruise control although SC's Number 11 El Salvador winger looked good. Dost a doubt to play tonight, will be a big miss, notoriously low scoring games between these 2 , I hope I'm wrong but think Porto will win 1-0 & therefore unless an absolute collapse are / will be all but Champions in name.
Porto drops 2 points, good stuff wasn't a good game, I think both teams were more concerned in their defensive shape and only in the last minutes we saw some attacking football. I hope Sporting's president has patience with Keizer, he brought great ideas for the team, the squad just lacks a lot of depth. Benfica improved defensively! finally. A better and quicker reaction after losing the ball and finally we started to defend better on the flanks creating numerical superiority around the ball, only in the last minutes with that Salvadorian winger Santa Clara created a few attacking movements, this was due to Pizzi being brought over to the left side and he only helps to defend with his eyes. Gedson entered to the left and ended the circus. Great attacking movements with a lot of first touch plays, a better relationship with the ball and a better occupation of the central area of the pitch.
Didn't bother with highlights after keeping eye on stats & pretty much knowing it would be a very close game as said before kick off. The winner, Portuguese football, at least there's still a Championship to be Won or Lost.
It all depends if Benfica can survive this hellish January calendar, if so, then we have a championship!
Do u guys think Braga can achieve something this year? I mean, I've never seen a club outside the Top-3 playing this good in the past few years (not a especialist, though)... hope they keep the good performance
They could win a Portuguese Cup or the League Cup. In Liga NOS they can aim for the second place. Braga is yet to pull what Boavista did in 2001 by winning the league.
I asked a Porto fan from work who's the best football team to watch in Portugal & he said Braga . I watched the game against Benfica where the lost 6-2 & thought they were naive. There's a Japanese guy who plays for Portimonese ( I think the teams called ) Nakajima, great player, Militao Porto CB, Gedson Benfica attacking midfielder, Bost Sporting, Striker, some good players.
It would be a big slap for the 3 big teams, they have been very careless about their quality and that can be seen in european competitions where we cannot be as competitive as we were
It's not impossible. Luck at Leicester City in Premiership few seasons ago, would be good for Portuguese football rather than let's face it, the BIG 2 really, Sporting there or there abouts but mostly falter when the going gets tough.
