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Portuguese League: Sporting CP-FC Porto (Key Takeaways)

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Sporting CP 1-2 FC Porto (Estádio José Alvalade), 12 February 2023 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, João Mário, Pepe, Marcano, Zaidu; Grujic, Uribe, André Franco, Galeno; Pepê, Taremi

Also played: David Carmo, Manafá, Eustáquio and Toni Martinez.

Huge win! This match was not always easy on the eye and had some stretches of bad football. But it was extremely intense from start to finish. Porto were the better team and deserved to win. We had three clear cut chances and scored twice. Sporting had a bunch of half chances and only managed a goal at the end. The score reflects what happened on the pitch – Sporting were a formidable opponent, but Porto were better.

Portuguese League: FC Porto-Paços de Ferreira (Match Report)

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FC Porto 4-0 FC Paços de Ferreira (Estádio do Dragão), 5 November 2022 – match report below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Rodrigo Conceição, Fábio Cardoso, Marcano, Wendell; Uribe, Eustáquio, Otávio, Pepê; Taremi, Evanilson

Also played: João Mário, Grujic, Galeno, Gonçalo Borges and Toni Martinez.

The ‘demons’ of post-Champions League draws in the Portuguese League were very much present when this game started. I think even more so after the early goal, given what had happened last weekend. But this time Porto were very solid and never let up. Outside of one chance early in the first-half, Paços de Ferreira never looked like they could score. A very competent performance against an opponent we should be beating with relative ease.

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

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FC Porto 2-1 Atlético de Madrid (Estádio do Dragão), 1 November 2022 – key takeaways below

Line-up (4x4x2): Diogo Costa, Pepê, Fábio Cardoso, Marcano, Zaidu; Grujic, Eustáquio, Otávio, Galeno; Evanilson, Taremi

Also played: Rodrigo Conceição, Wendell, Bernardo Folha, Gonçalo Borges and Toni Martinez.

Revenge complete! After Atlético knocked us out of the Champions League last season and beat us (undeservedly) on the 97th minute of the opening match of the group stage, we had a very large score to settle. Not only did we win, but we also knocked them out of European competitions altogether and finished in first place in group B. Couldn’t have scripted it any better.

Portuguese League: Preview of FC Porto-SL Benfica

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The most anticipated match still to play in 2022 is taking place on Friday night, as Porto host League-leaders Benfica. After a flying start, Porto stuttered over the month of September, dropping 5 points and allowing Benfica to create a 3 point lead. That makes this match even more important, because I don’t think either team will drop points until the break for the World Cup.

After 9 League games plus at least another 5 in other competitions, I feel like we have a pretty decent idea of what to expect from both teams. In this post I’ve written a preview of what I think we’ll see in this match – highlighting the backdrop of both teams and some of the main tactical considerations on both sides.

Champions League: FC Porto-Bayer Leverkusen (Key Takeaways)

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FC Porto 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (Estádio do Dragão), 4 October 2022 – key takeaways below

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

Also played: Zaidu, Grujic, Otávio, Galeno and Toni Martinez.

We had two back to back ‘finals’ still quite early in the season and have managed to win both of them. After the big (albeit flattering) win against Braga on the weekend, Leverkusen came to town for matchday 3 of the Champions League. After two losses in the first two games, this was a ‘must win’. Porto played like their Champions League lives depended on it in the second-half and came away victorious. It was a difficult, but deserved win.

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

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.