If Benfica loses to Sporting de Braga on Saturday, Sporting will have the unprecedented opportunity to celebrate a title in a rival’s stronghold on Sunday, if they beat FC Porto, in the 31st round of the I Football League.
At the José Alvalade Stadium, the ‘lions’ have already attended celebrations by Benfica, in 1975, and, two decades later, by FC Porto, in 1995 and 1999, now having the chance to ‘revenge’ against one of the biggest opponents in football Portuguese, although the ‘blue and whites’ are already out of the fight for the title this season.
The ‘failures’ at rivals’ home began in 1974/75, when, in the penultimate round, Benfica arrived in Alvalade needing just a draw to win the race against FC Porto in the fight for the title, something they would achieve, by impose a 1-1 equality: Fraguito scored in the 30th minute and Diamantino responded for the ‘reds’ in the 52nd.
Meanwhile, two decades have passed and the hegemony of the ‘dragons’ in the post-25th of April period resulted in two celebrations in Alvalade, in the seasons that began and ended their ‘penta’, the only one in Portugal to date, between 1994 and 1999 .
First, on the 31st round, under the guidance of English coach Bobby Robson, who had been fired from Alvalade in the middle of the previous season, Domingos, in the 58th minute, took a penalty in the 1-0 victory precisely at his competitor’s stadium. straight to win the championship, which the ‘dragons’ concluded with a seven-point advantage, in the last season in which each victory was worth two points.
In 1999, FC Porto were already on the champion’s pitch, as Boavista, with whom they were fighting for first place, had drawn and thus offered the title on the ‘couch’: Zahovic equalized in the 85th minute, after Pedro Barbosa’s opening goal, at 46, on the 33rd round of a competition in which the ‘chess players’ were in second place, eight points behind the ‘blue and whites’, while Sporting were fourth, 16 points behind the champion.
At the turn of the millennium, FC Porto once again celebrated at someone else’s home, now at their biggest rival, Benfica, in 2011 and in 2022, in both cases in a party sealed with triumphs at Estádio da Luz.
In the first case, André Villas-Boas, now a candidate for the presidency of FC Porto, in Saturday’s election, was the Porto coach facing Jorge Jesus’ Benfica, whom he beat 2-1, in the challenge made famous by turning off the lights and turning on the irrigation system during the festivities of Invicta’s formation.
The Colombian Guarín opened the scoring in the ninth minute, the Argentine Saviola equalized in the 17th minute, with a penalty, the same way in which the Brazilian Hulk gave definitive command back to the Dragons, champions with a 21 point lead (84-63) over the ‘ incarnate’.
More recently, in the 2021/22 season, the 33rd and penultimate matchday match was decided in added time, at 90+4 minutes, in a counterattack completed by an unlikely hero, the Nigerian full-back Zaidu (1-0) . Sérgio Conceição’s FC Porto were champions with 91 points, six more than Sporting in second, while Benfica closed the podium with 74.
Now, with 12 points still up for grabs, Sporting leads with 80, seven more than Benfica. If Sporting de Braga beats the ‘eagles’ in Luz, Rúben Amorim’s team will depend solely on themselves to begin celebrating their 20th scepter the following day, in the middle of the Estádio do Dragão, having to do so beat the Porto rival.
Sporting de Braga would even view this celebration favorably, a sign that they would have won in Luz and that the ‘lions’ would have beaten the ‘dragons’, at a time when the Minho team is on par with FC Porto and both are fighting for third place. position in the I League, both already 18 points behind Sporting.
Alvalade’s team travels to Porto with the peace of mind of a comfortable advance and the motivation of eight consecutive victories, against FC Porto with the worst record in the Sérgio Conceição era.
