ryanhtsheppard

[ryanhtsheppard]

SC BRAGA PUSHING FOR GREATNESS

At the current moment in time, there seems to be a shock and surprising season in the Primeira Liga.

Whilst Sporting Lisbon seem to be running away with the title, a former Premier League and Championship manager is having a successful season at a team that are considered to not be part of the Holy Trinity of Sporting Lisbon, SL Benfica and FC Porto.

Carlos Carvalhal, the ex Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea boss, has done a very good job at the Portuguese side, despite being knocked out of the Europa League to Italian side AS Roma.

While you may think that they're nowhere near the title, Braga are causing a shock of their own, as they are fighting current Champions FC Porto for 2nd place, and have more wins in the league this season than the latter.

And this is a squad that is accustomed to losing their best players to the Holy Trinity in Portugal, as was the case of their main striker Paulinho now being a part of Sporting's charge for the title.

It remains to be seen what happens, but Braga and Sporting are upsetting the odds this season.

[ryanhtsheppard]

HAS THE TITLE RACE ENDED ALREADY?

Is the Primeira Liga title race already over??

You might think so, after Sporting Lisbon continued their unbeaten run in the league after their 2-0 victory over surprise 5th placed side Pacos de Ferreira ensured that they moved 10 points clear of defending champions Porto.

It goes to show that Sporting Lisbon have one of the best academies in world football with the likes of Tiago Tomas, Joelson Fernandes and Nuno Mendes have all starred for Ruben Amorim's side, whilst the January signing of striker Paulinho from rivals SC Braga was a shrewd piece of business.

Not to mention the impact Pedro Goncalves has had on the side scoring 14 goals this season leading to claims that he is the new Bruno Fernandes. Once again, it is a Portuguese player having a big impact and Goncalves will certainly stake a claim to make the Portugal side for the European Championships this summer.

Meanwhile, Sergio Conceicao has to perform a miracle if he is to stop his defending champions from losing the title to a side who's last Primeira Liga title victory was in 2001. The likes of Jesus Corona, Pepe, Moussa Marega and summer signing Mehdi Taremi have to be on form if they are to stop Sporting from winning the league.

It would be an historic title win for Sporting, but is the title race over? Or will there a be a shock in the weeks to come?

[ryanhtsheppard]

SPORTING GO 8 POINTS CLEAR

Sporting Lisbon firmly cemented their place at the top of the Primeira Liga this week after they moved 8 points clear ahead of their nearest rivals FC Porto.

Star man Pedro Goncalves (pictured above and a former Wolves player), has been the star of the show for Ruben Amorim's table toppers, but it was a late Sebastian Coates double that ensured they beat Gil Vicente to continue their unbeaten strike, having won 15 games and only drawn 3.

Meanwhile FC Porto on the other hand fell further behind Sporting, as former Benfica talisman Nicolas Gaitan equalised for Carlos Carvalhal's SC Braga side in an entertaining 1-1 draw, with the defending champions struggling to produce the form that helped them win last year's Primeira Liga title, although the loss of two talismanic players in Alex Telles and captain Danilo Pereira to Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively has not helped their cause.

In the end, there is still a long way to go and never say never when it comes to title races, but Sporting Lisbon are firmly and unpredictably in the driving seat for the Liga NOS title, but anything can happen.

[ryanhtsheppard]

WELCOME BACK

After a long hiatus, the Primeira Liga blog has returned. For those that are new here, welcome to the blog where there is everything you need to know about one of football's most underrated leagues - the Portuguese Primeira Liga or Liga NOS as it is most commonly known.

One of the major shocks of this season so far is seeing Sporting Lisbon, managed by former Braga boss Ruben Amorim, sitting top of the table 4 points clear of Porto and currently unbeaten in the league. Former Wolves youngster Pedro Goncalves has been the star of that show, with current Champions Porto trying to keep up the pace.

Meanwhile, Benfica's troubled season continues, after not having the best of starts, being 9 points behind Sporting and having a number of players missing games due to testing positive for COVID-19. It's impossible to tell if they are going to turn it around, seeing as how good their rivals have been this season.

Meanwhile, in the relegation battle, SC Farense who have former Dundee United player Ryan Gauld on their books, will be trying to pick up form and results to see if they can avoid a straight relegation back to the second tier. Furthermore, Boavista are beginning to pick up form, with stand out players Alberth Elis and former Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes hoping to also stay in the Primeira Liga for next season.

On the whole, the next few weeks in the Primeira Liga will be interesting to watch... So stay tuned for next week's blog, to see if the table standings have changed...

Will Sporting Lisbon stay unbeaten the whole season?? Or will Porto or Benfica be able to take away their so far dream campaign from them??

[ryanhtsheppard]

MATCHDAYS 1-3 RECAP PLUS EUROPEAN TROUBLE FOR BOTH SPORTING AND BENFICA

It's been an interesting start to the Portuguese Primeira Liga season, with shocks and surprises along the way.

During the first three match days, the surprising factor is that Santa Clara FC top the table after the first 3 games of the season with 7 points, whilst Porto sit 2nd, Benfica 3rd, with Sporting Lisbon surprisingly in 9th (having only played 1 game due to European commitments) and Braga in 10th having lost 2 of their 3 games played.

Benfica fans are gutted having lost two key players of their squad last season that have now joined the Premier League. Ruben Dias, an academy product of Benfica, joined Pep Guardiola's Manchester City for 68m with Nicolas Otamendi going the other way whilst their top scorer last season Carlos Vinicius, has joined Tottenham on loan. Cause for concern perhaps?

Or is it the fact that Benfica got knocked out of the Champions League qualifying by PAOK Thessaloniki meaning that Porto once again are the only Portuguese team to compete in the Champions League this season. Meanwhile Sporting Lisbon were dumped out of Europa League qualifying by Austrian side LASK Linz while Rio Ave were unfortunate to lose on penalties to Italian giants AC Milan.

But even though it is early on in the Portuguese season, no one would predict that Santa Clara would top the table after 3 games, but as it is with football - it can change so we shall have to see what happens and see how the table is shaping up after Matchday 6.

[ryanhtsheppard]

LIGA NOS PREVIEW - ONE WEEK TO GO

Only one more week to go then - Portuguese football is back..

It's not that long ago that FC Porto reclaimed the title from their rivals SL Benfica. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, football as well as other sports have been affected.

But once again, the excitement of the new season is dawning upon us.. And for the LIGA NOS, its no different.

Porto will look to defend their title that the deservedly won last season. Bringing in Rio Ave's top scorer from last season Mehdi Taremi strengthens their attack which already includes the likes of Moussa Marega, Francisco Soares and Luis Diaz.

Jorge Jesus will hope his 3rd spell back as Benfica will help The Eagles retain their title. In my opinion, they've done the best business in the transfer window bringing in the likes of Vertonghen, Waldschmidt and Everton as well as recently capturing the signing of Almeria striker Darwin Nunez who scored 16 goals last season. Benfica want revenge on Porto that's for sure.

Sporting Lisbon have also been busy. After finishing 4th last season behind Braga, they've brought in the likes of Pedro Goncalves, Antonio Adan and Zouhair Feddal in the hope that they can finally challenge Benfica and Porto. A friend of mine from university Carlos (who is a Sporting fan) wasn't keen on watching the new season until Sporting made some signings..

"Oh yeah I'm interested now, it's going to be a good season" was his response.

Don't rule out Braga either. Despite the signature of former Benfica star Nicolas Gaitan, the loss of rising star Francisco Trincao is huge for them considering he was their best player last season.

Meanwhile at the other end of the table, Portimonense who finished in the relegation zone but stayed up due to Vitoria Setubal's financial difficulties will be hoping that they can survive the drop this time round.

But nonetheless, the countdown is on for another cracking season.

[ryanhtsheppard]

THE NEW SEASON BEGINS 20TH SEPTEMBER

It's finally time to get prepared for the 2020-21 Liga NOS/Primeira Liga season as the first round of fixtures begin on the 20th of September.

Newly crowned Champions FC Porto begin their title defence against fellow title hopefuls SC Braga following their signing of former Benfica star Nicolas Gaitan.

Meanwhile, Jorge Jesus begins his next spell as SL Benfica boss with an away trip to FC Famalicao having made top notch signings such as Jan Vertonghen and Luca Waldschmidt in an attempt to take back their title from Porto.

Sporting Lisbon start off their campaign with a home game against Gil Vicente, hoping to put last seasons campaign behind them after finishing behind SC Braga, Benfica and Porto. However, with the likes of Antonio Adan and Pedro Goncalves arriving, they have a chance to put that disappointment behind them and kick on.

Whatever happens, it's sure to be an exciting Primeira Liga season.

[ryanhtsheppard]

PORTO BAG THEIR FIRST EVER ENGLISHMAN

Danny Loader becomes the latest Englishman to join the Primeira Liga, as he joined Portuguese Champions FC Porto yesterday.

Loader becomes the next English talent to join the Primeira Liga, following in the footsteps of Easah Suliman, Marcus Edwards and Angel Gomes after leaving Reading on a free in the summer.

He turned down Sporting Lisbon to join Porto and he in fact becomes the first ever Englishman to play for FC Porto in the club's history.

Loader will link up with the Porto B side as he is only 19 years of age, but Porto have got a gem of a player, considering he was linked with a £1.5m move to Chelsea and Manchester United a couple of seasons ago.

However, Loader has created history at Porto and I personally hope that he will get a chance to shine at the club as I have a feeling he could be a huge success at the Portuguese champions, considering how highly rated he was as a 17-year-old by the top clubs in England.

[ryanhtsheppard]

THE JORGE JESUS REVOLUTION BEGINS

Jorge Jesus seems like a man on a mission at SL Benfica.

After sealing a return to his former club where his Benfica side containing the likes of Gaitan, Garay, Eduardo Salvio and Jonas dominated the Primeira Liga, he returns to the side who struggled last season and sacked Bruno Lage after losing their title and the Taca de Portuguesa to closest rivals FC Porto.

Now, Jesus is back in charge as he hopes to help Benfica return to their reign of dominance and has wasted no time in bringing in fresh faces as he looks to revamp the side that finished behind Porto - in fact 3 signings were made yesterday.

Jan Vertonghen, Luca Waldschmidt and Everton Soares were the 3 new arrivals and whilst former Tottenham defender Vertonghen is the most recognisable, Waldschmidt and Everton are also two excellent signings by the Portuguese side.

Waldschmidt joins from SC Freiburg where he scored 13 goals last season and joins fellow compatriot Julian Weigl who joined last January from Borussia Dortmund. The 23 year old striker joins on a 4-year-contract and will wear the number 10 shirt.

Brazilian Everton joins from Cruzeiro for an undisclosed fee and was a target last summer for Arsenal, Tottenham and ironically Everton in the Premier League, but it's an absolute steal for the Portuguese giants.

And last but not least, Jan Vertonghen joins Benfica on a three-year deal after leaving Tottenham as a free agent at the end of the season. The Belgian centre back will be the perfect partner for Ruben Dias at the back, and is seen as a excellent option at the back for them.

It remains to be seen what Porto and Sporting Lisbon do in the transfer market but its clear to see - Benfica have started off superbly.

[ryanhtsheppard]

THE RETURN OF 'EL ZURDO' TO THE PRIMEIRA LIGA.

Think back to the likes of 2012 and 2013. Every single day in the newspapers - 'Manchester United target Nicolas Gaitan' - it was one of the more likely transfers to happen, which never did.

Gaitan was a vital part of Benfica's success back then, along with a few more familiar faces such as Ezequiel Garay, Eduardo Salvio and Axel Witsel. The Primeira Liga had a few great players joining that time, including Gaitan.

However it is 2020 now and a 32 year old Gaitan has returned to the Primeira Liga after signing for SC Braga, a move seen to replace Barcelona bound Francisco Trincao.

Braga are gaining a player who showed flashes of brilliance during his time at Benfica, who almost became a Manchester United player and rejected a move to Zenit to join the likes of Garay and Hulk.

Since leaving Benfica, he's played for Atletico Madrid, Dalian Yifang in China, Chicago Fire in the MLS and most recently LOSC Lille where he was last season.

The move back to Portugal is a chance for Gaitan to showcase why he is still a top player at the age of 32, even though the Manchester United links have ceased, and it will be interesting to see how Braga will do this season against the other big teams: Champions Porto, Sporting and Gaitan's former club Benfica.

Can El Zurdo (the left hander) help Braga challenge this season??

[ryanhtsheppard]

ANGEL GOMES - FROM MANCHESTER TO LILLE (VIA BOAVISTA)

Another young exciting English youngster is heading out to Europe to earn some game time in the hope to have a similar degree of success like Jadon Sancho and Chuba Akpom. But it isn't who you think it is.

Angel Gomes was one of the highest rated youngsters in the Manchester United academy. As an attacking midfielder and captain of the England U-19 national football team, he was expected to take the leap into the United side just as Mason Greenwood has this season.

Instead however, after failing to agree a new deal with the Old Trafford hierarchy, he was released as there was talk of him linking up with the La Masia academy at Barcelona.

But it's turned out differently, as this week Gomes signed a five-year contract with Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille, before he was immediately shipped out on loan to Primeira Liga side Boavista for the 2020-21 season.

How has one of England's most highly rated youngsters ended up at Boavista when he was highly regarded at United? Its a mystery. No one knows why he turned down a new deal at United whereas other youngsters such as Tahith Chong signed new deals.

Nonetheless, Gomes will join fellow Englishman and current Vitoria de Guimaraes player Marcus Edwards in the Primeira Liga, hoping to make an impact to show everyone the talent that he is supposed to have had.

In my opinion, I hope its a successful loan move - but who knows what can happen jn football? Ravel Morrison is a prime example of a highly rated attacking player at United whose career went off the rails - hopefully the same doesn't happen to Gomes.

[ryanhtsheppard]

FC PORTO COMPLETE CUP DOUBLE

FC Porto defeated rivals SL Benfica 2-1 last night to win the Taca de Portuguesa and complete a cup double to officially end the 2019-20 season in Portugal.

After having won the Primeira Liga ahead of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, the new champions ensured they won the cup to end the season with 2 trophies whilst Benfica's turbulent campaign finally came to an end.

Porto took a 2-0 lead after the 60 minute mark, with both goals being scored by former Newcastle United centre back Chancel Mbemba. But despite Brazilian striker Vinicius' 84th minute penalty to bring Benfica back into the game, they couldn't grab an equaliser ensuring that Porto won the Taca de Portuguesa.

With Benfica announcing Jorge Jesus returning to the club after managing Flamengo, they will hope that the manager who was in charge when Benfica were the Kings in Portugal (especially considering they had the likes of Garay, Witsel, Enzo Perez, Eduardo Salvio and of course former Manchester United target Nicolas Gaitan), will hope that he can reclaim the title from Porto and Sergio Conceicao next season.

Meanwhile, despite finishing sixth in the table this season, Vitoria de Guimaraes have announced that former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid midfielder Tiago will become their new manager. He becomes another former player to take charge as a manager, following the likes of Xavi, Frank Lampard and Gennaro Gattuso from being a pro to being a club manager.

So, as the Portuguese season finally draws to a close, Porto can relax with 2 trophies heading back to the Estadio do Dragao.

But come next season, Benfica will want their title back....

[ryanhtsheppard]

WHO WILL STAY IN THE PRIMEIRA LIGA AS RELEGATION BATTLE REACHES CONCLUSION

Tonight is a big night for three teams in the bottom half of the Primeira Liga table, as Portimonense SC, Vitoria de Setubal and CP Tondela play their final games tonight in order to try and stay in the Portuguese top flight next season.

Portimonense start the day in 17th place on 30 points, Vitoria are just above them on 31 whilst CP Tondela have 33 points. One of these sides will not be going to the likes of the Estadio Dragao next season.

Portimonense, the team that contains former West Ham player Ricardo Vaz Te and former Porto and Colombia forward Jackson Martinez, must win against already relegated CD Aves to have a fighting chance of staying up and hope that the results of Tondela and Vitoria go their way.

Meanwhile at the top half of the table, Sporting Lisbon and Braga confirmed their Europa League places, whilst Rio Ave finished a point above Famalicao in fifth to enter the qualifying round for next season's Europa League.

However, tonight is the night where the relegation battle goes down to the wire...

Which two teams are staying up and who will be the unlucky and unfortunate one to leave the Primeira Liga?

[ryanhtsheppard]

FC PORTO CROWNED CHAMPIONS OF PRIMEIRA LIGA

FC Porto were crowned Champions of the Primeira Liga last night following their 2-0 home victory against rivals Sporting Lisbon.

Goals from captain Danilo Pereira and Moussa Marega took them 8 points clear of Benfica with only 2 games to spare, meaning that the Dragoes retained the title from their closest rivals.

It has been a wonderful campaign for head coach Sergio Conceicao and his team, whilst Benfica will be a tad disappointed at the way they have lost their title, as it has been a tumultuous campaign for them, with previous head coach Bruno Lage being dismissed following their poor form since the league restarted due to the impact of coronavirus.

Nevertheless, Porto have played some magnificent football and players such as Pepe, Danilo Pereira, Alex Telles and Marega have all shone this season, whilst Conceicao has also used younger players such as Fabio Vieira who sure looks like one to watch in the seasons to come.

The question is how will Benfica respond next season after losing their title to their closest rivals who are 8 points above them in the table?

Only time will tell.

[ryanhtsheppard]

PORTO TAKE BIG STRIDES TOWARDS TITLE

FC Porto restored their six-point gap at the top of the Primeira Liga table after goals from Francisco Soares, Moussa Marega, Alex Telles, Fabio Vieira and Luis Diaz ensured a dominant 5-0 victory over Belenenses SAD.

It was an important victory for Sergio Conceicao's side, who kept their lead over rivals Benfica who earlier reduced the gap to 3 points following their 3-1 victory over Boavista following Bruno Lage's resignation last week.

There have been reports linking Porto full back Alex Telles with clubs such as Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain these past few weeks, so the 27 year-old Brazilian will want to captain his current side to the Primeira Liga Title and domestic cup title in case if he decides to leave at the end of the current season.

The main question heading for next season is whether or not any other side can challenge Porto and Benfica in the title race?

[ryanhtsheppard]

IS THE PRIMEIRA LIGA PORTO'S TO LOSE?

FC Porto took giant strides last night to reclaim the Portuguese title from rivals Benfica following Chancel Mbemba's 7th minute goal in their 1-0 victory over Pacos de Ferreira.

Their victory took them six points clear off Benfica with 5 games to play after the latter's shock 2-0 away defeat to mid-table side Maritimo.

This shock result for Benfica also saw their manager Bruno Lage resign after the game following their poor form since the Primeira Liga resumed following the coronavirus pandemic, having only taken just 5 points from 5 games.

This leaves the defending champions having it all to do in the final 5 games of the season, with both clubs having to play closest rivals Sporting Lisbon, as well as both having to face each other in the Portugal Cup Final at the end of July.

But, it seems as if the Primeira Liga is Porto's title to lose, and it is credit to manager Sergio Conceicao for being able to take advantage of their rivals poor form towards the latter end of the season.

Can Benfica turn this around? Unlikely. But as they say, anything is possible in football.

[ryanhtsheppard]

Hello and welcome to The Primeira Blog.

My name is Ryan Sheppard and I am a 19 year old Sports Journalism student who will be going into his second year at Southampton Solent University.

In this blog, I will be bringing to you everything you could possibly imagine on the Primeira Liga, the top tier in Portuguese football and one of the most underlooked professional leagues in the modern football world.

From live game reports to analysis on players that have been linked with moves abroad, and club analysis to see if any club can end the dominance of FC Porto and SL Benfica, the two biggest clubs in the country.

This is the place to be.