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Portuguese League: FC Porto-SC Braga (Match Report)

1st October 20226th November 2022 Adil_FCP1 Comment

FC Porto 4-1 SC Braga (Estádio do Dragão), 30 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x3x3): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Pepe, David Carmo, Wendell; Uribe, Eustáquio, Bruno Costa; Pepê, Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Zaidu, Grujic, Otávio, Galeno and Veron.

We’re back in business! After a series of bad results leading into the 2 week break, Porto really needed to win last night – it didn’t matter how, they just needed a win. And they got one. A convincing one at that. Porto weren’t as dominant as the final score may suggest, but they were the better team overall and deserved to win.

Portuguese League: GD Estoril Praia-FC Porto (Match Report)

18th September 20226th November 2022 Adil_FCPLeave a comment

GD Estoril Praia 1-1 FC Porto (Estádio António Coimbra da Mota), 17 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Fábio Cardoso, David Carmo, Zaidu; Uribe, Eustáquio, André Franco, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Grujic, Galeno, Veron, Loader and Toni Martinez.

The woes continue. Another horrible first-half resulted in Porto being down at half-time. It was only 1 goal, but could have been more. Lack of aggression, bad individual mistakes and some puzzling tactical decisions have resulted in Porto looking like a really ordinary team. However, the key issue is really roster construction. There is a gaping hole in midfield and this is not going to be resolved until, most likely, next season.

Champions League: FC Porto-Club Brugge (Key Takeaways)

15th September 202220th September 2022 Adil_FCP1 Comment

FC Porto 0-4 Clube Brugge KV (Estádio do Dragão), 13 September 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x2x3x1): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, David Carmo, Zaidu; Uribe, Eustáquio, Otávio, Pepê, Galeno; Evanilson

Also played: Wendell, Gabriel Veron, Gonçalo Borges, Danny Loader and Toni Martinez.

What an utter disaster. There is no other way to describe what happened on Tuesday night. The game against Rio Ave was bad and we’ve had other bad losses in the past, but I don’t remember seeing a Sérgio Conceição team play so disjointed for a long time – perhaps not since the 3-2 loss at home to Krasnodar in August 2019. But even then, we still managed to score twice and kind of get back into the game. In this one though, it went from bad to worse. Porto never looked like they could go on to win once they went 1-0 down.

Champions League: Atlético Madrid-FC Porto (Key Takeaways)

9th September 20222nd November 2022 Adil_FCP1 Comment

Club Atlético de Madrid 2-1 FC Porto (Civitas Metropolitano), 7 September 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Pepê, Pepe, David Carmo, Zaidu; Uribe, Eustáquio, Otávio, Galeno; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: João Mário, Bruno Costa, Gabriel Veron and Toni Martinez.

Crushing. That is the first word that comes mind when describing this game. An absolutely crushing loss, for a variety of reasons. We had a chance to take the three points – it was definitely possible and we seemed to be well on our way. But dumb mistakes, controversial refereeing decisions and bad in-game adjustments really cost us in the end. Losing Otávio just makes this loss feel even worse.

Portuguese League: Gil Vicente FC-FC Porto (Match Report)

4th September 20226th November 2022 Adil_FCPLeave a comment

Gil Vicente 0-2 FC Porto (Estádio Cidade de Barcelos), 3 September 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Pepê, Pepe, David Carmo, Wendell; Otávio, Uribe, Eustáquio, Galeno; Taremi, Toni Martinez

Also played: J Mário, Veron, Go Borges, D Loader, Evanilson.

After the horrible loss at Rio Ave, Porto needed to show something different. A different game plan, with different players and hopefully a different outcome. For the most part, last night we got exactly that. A very competent first-half effectively ended the game, with two goals before half-time. A good performance overall and a sign that there is a way forward for this team.

Summer transfer review: We got worse

2nd September 202218th September 2022 Adil_FCP4 Comments

The transfer window for Portuguese clubs closed last night, with Porto signing Samuel Portugal (a back-up goalkeeper) and without addressing the glaring Vitinha-shaped hole in midfield. In short, we got worse. Let’s take a look at Porto’s dealings in the transfer market in more detail.

Portuguese League: Rio Ave FC-FC Porto (Key Takeaways)

30th August 202231st August 2022 Adil_FCP1 Comment

Rio Ave FC 3-1 FC Porto (Estádio dos Arcos), 28 August 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x1x2x1x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Uribe, Bruno Costa, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: André Franco, Galeno, Veron, Danny Loader and Toni Martinez.

What a disaster. There is no other way to describe this match other than utter disaster. Porto came out flat, conceded 3 goals in a 20min span in the first-half, and dug too big of a hole to claw back from in the second-half. The warning signs were there from the beginning, and I had pointed these out several times (dating all the way back to the last friendly against Monaco, which you can read here), but the results up to now helped mask most of these issues. No more.

Champions League: Group Draw – Initial Thoughts

25th August 202230th August 2022 Adil_FCP5 Comments

The Champions League is nearly back! The draw of the group stage took place just a few hours ago. FC Porto were in a good position, on the basis that, as Portuguese League Champions, we were in Pot 1. This almost entirely ruled out the possibility of drawing 2 top tier teams. Porto drew old familiar foes Altético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Club Brugge.

The Prince of Persia – Mehdi Taremi’s 100 games

23rd August 202230th August 2022 Adil_FCPLeave a comment

The match against Sporting last Saturday marked Mehdi Taremi’s 100th appearance for FC Porto. He has scored 53 goals and made 37 assists, which is an absolutely sublime statistical record. He has become one of Porto’s most important players and has proven to be one of the best players in Portuguese football. This post will share a bit about his history, and discuss the impact he has had on the club, on and off the pitch.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-Sporting CP (Match Report)

21st August 20226th November 2022 Adil_FCP1 Comment

FC Porto 3-0 Sporting CP (Estádio do Dragão), 20 August 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x1x2x1x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Uribe, Bruno Costa, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: Wendell, Eustáquio, Galeno, Veron and Toni Martinez.

The first ‘Clássico’ of the season ended with a categoric Porto win, as the Portuguese champions beat Sporting 3-0 last night. Porto are now 5 points clear off Sporting in first place, which is an important advantage so early in the season. I have to admit though, the final score is very flattering, because Sporting were the better team for large portions of the game. Porto capitalised on Sporting’s mistakes and should have scored a fourth game (Veron’s goal should have stood), but these mostly resulted from poor defending rather than great attacking play.