Not half! I’m still getting used to us being the team scoring goals for fun out of Benfica, Porto and ourselves
Things are looking to come along nicely. Accomodation is cheap and so are the flights. Clubs websites are starting to put ticket sales up on the websites (not Famaliçao though, reckon that's asking too much for a club this size) so reckon I'll be fine. Think I'll have to go through those (à la Napoli if I understand this correctly) or pay directly at the gate. On the website, you can only pay if you're a socio and that ain't gonna happen. 2 weeks to go now. Looking forward to it.
Sporting really impressive tonight. Got that Campeões glow about them. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Just watched the Vitória vs Benfica highlights. Such a stupid tackle for the red card, what was he thinking? You'd be fuming if you were one of his teammates. We've been linked with Jota Silva recently, I'd love us to sign him in the summer. Quality player. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Looks like I'm going to see the wrong sides next week: Benfica could only draw and Porto lost both away from home while Sporting beat another Sporting 5-0. Looks like the title race is going to take place in Lisbon. Porto are 7 points behind both with 13 games to go and Sporting have a game in hand so the greens could put Porto 10 points behind.
Is the final day of the Portuguese season the same as other leagues where all the games are played on the same day? I'm going to be in Porto that weekend and want to go to Braga vs Porto. Flights are early on the Monday though so if it gets moved to Monday night we'll be ****ed Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Staggered unfortunately. But there’s not normally a game on the Monday night in the last round of fixtures. All take place Friday - Sunday with the large majority being played on the Saturday
Well that was alright. Started with Braga which enables me to jump right in, you can access Braga directly from Porto airport via bus (9€ which is more expensive than what I paid for Porto to Lisbon btw). I was welcomed to Portugal by rain and actually had to buy an umbrella but sky cleared as the kick-off vs Qarabag got nearer. The ground really isn't far from city centre but there's a hill (there's ALWAYS a hill in Portugal) however, this enables you to be on top of the stadium rather than at the usual bottom so you actually go down the steps to get to your seat (unless you're in the top row). Amazing ground, so unique in where it's been built and not a bad game as Qarabag went on to win 4-2 (Braga were a bit shit tbh). On the Friday was a short train ride to Famalicao. The station is on the top of a hill and you go down to go downtown. Getting a ticket for this was probably the hardest as I had to ask the locals who spoke zero English and my Portuguese is non-existant. However, some guy did tell me to try the Famalicao megastore (which is 2 square meters big) and there I could purchase a ticket. Just like Braga, only two stands but no mountains. Proper football even though the 2nd half was a bit shit. The hosts beat Rio Ave 2-1. Now onto the big 2. Porto were hosting Estrela Amadora (which is just west of Lisbon I later found out). Dragao is very impressive but doesn't seem to fill up that much against the lesser sides (or maybe because the locals know they won't win the title this season?). Anyway, Porto didn't look particularly inspired but they didn't need to be as Estrela's defending was rubbish. 2-0 to the Dragons. Estadio da Luz is something else though. You can feel the difference in following just by taken the tube to the ground. The stadium is bigger, the attractions/things to do around are more varied, to sum up it all feels like a step up from other Portuguese stadia. Benfica were hosting Vizela (2nd bottom before this week-end but bottom now) but the ground still filled up (56k went from a 65k all seater while in Porto only 30k bothered to turn up meaning that 20k seats were left empty, this goes to show the difference between the two clubs). One of the most eye-catching matchday experiences in Europe. Add some great touristy thingies like taking the boat on the Doura, going up to the Lisbon castle and walking in a park in Fama and this has been a very good couple of days backpacking Portugal north from south. I recommend it and will probably go back for a Sporting game.
Completely forgot this was this weekend! Glad you had a great time. Braga is a beautiful stadium, just a shame the team are shit! Would highly recommend going to a Sporting game in the future
Out of interest, were there any Qarabag fans at Braga? I’m going to presume there wasn’t given the distance.
Doubt I'd go back just for a Sporting game (no offence). Maybe do a Sporting + Boavista combo in order to get the grounds figures up! I posted a pic on instagram and there were 30-odd in the away end (you know that upper tier where nobody ever sits) but there were also a few sitting right next to me. All in all, I'd say there were about 50 Qarabag fans that were there but not sure if they all flew from Baku for this game. There were definitely 3 Frenchmen sitting next to me who knew the players. Great effort.
**** sake dropped points against Rio Ave. Still got a game in hand on Benfica but that could be a big result come the end of the season. Adan simply not good enough anymore. He was terrific when he first came in but age has caught up with him big time.
Benfica absolutely spanked by Porto tonight! We would be in such a good position if we hadn’t dropped those points last week, but win our game in hand and we go 4 points clear
Shaky start tonight. Struggling to see the potential in Israel, I know he’s only young but he looks as shaky as Patricio did when he started out but without the shot stopping ability. Think that will haunt us by the end of the season Great turnaround though and we have dominated since going behind. Nice hat trick from Gyo
Seems inevitable that Amorim will leave this summer now. Artur Jorge going to Botafogo, some Porto fans unhappy with Conceição (rumours that AVB will appoint Daniel Sousa if he wins the presidency) and Benfica fans unhappy with Schmidt. Big summer coming up in Portugal. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Sousa to Braga now, confirmed for the summer. Couldn't catch the semi final last night but judging from the highlights it looked like a great game. Probably going to miss the game on Saturday as well as I want to watch the Copa del Rey final which is on at the same time. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Missed it too unfortunately but a great result. If Amorim does leave then he has the potential to end his time with us in style
