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Sport Lisboa e Benfica v Sporting CP
December 5th, 2025
Matchday 13
Estádio da Luz
The warm up
The old enemies meet once more for the second Dérbi de
Lisboa of the campaign. At the time of writing ahead of the match to Estrela
tomorrow night the lions are unbeaten in ten matches in all competitions, their last defat coming in the Champions League away to Napoli 2-1. The only game
they’ve failed to score in this campaign was the 1-0 defeat in the seasons
curtain opener in the Supertaça against the dirty pigeons.
Many readers I’m sure will be familiar with the name of Béla
Guttmann the Benfica coach between the years of 1959 and 1962 and again between
1965 and 1966. It was under Guttmann with a team of star names that included
the legendary Eusébio that the Eagles would win back-to-back European Cups in
1961 and 1962 beating Barcelona and then Real Madrid. It was after the second
win that he reportedly approached his paymasters and asked for a raise in his
salary which led us to what he is now best remembered for – the curse of Béla
Guttmann. Having had his request turned down he decided to take his services
elsewhere and allegedly as a parting shot across the bows declared “Not in a
hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champions again.” To this
day the Lisboa city rivals have not won another European final. The win in the Youth competition does not count as far as I'm concerned. Nowadays of
course they don’t even need the curse, they can manage perfectly on their own
to be piss poor in Europe having only just secured their first points of the
current Champions League campaign beating Ajax who remain on 0 points.
Fast forward nearly 60 years and the eagles are now coached by José Mourinho,
the once poster boy for coaching excellence and self-titled Special One.
Now fast approaching the age of 63 in January it appears he is employed more
often than not in a role akin to an after-dinner speaker. In his last role as
coach of the Turkish Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe he succeeded in taking a side
that had collected 99 points and finished runners up to Galatasaray to a
runners up spot with 84 points and destroyed any notion of the stylistic
football the fans had enjoyed under former coach Ismail Kartal. He was relieved
of his duties ironically after losing in the qualifying rounds of the Champions
League to his new employers. Some things it appears you couldn’t actually make
up. In Turkey he was used by the club as a mouthpiece to highlight the
perceived injustices of the leagues refereeing to any side not named
Galatasaray. I’m assuming he has been given a similar remit for the red and
white side of Lisboa as he publicly bemoaned their being cheated out of another
title after the 3-1 loss in the Taça de Portugal last season. Note this was a
game he had no involvement in whatsoever so feel free to argue against my
original point if you will.
Benfica for so many years let their players do the talking
on the pitch and now all the noise comes from the boardroom as it does largely with
FC Porto. The constant conspiracies, the narrative that Sporting aren’t playing
by the rules, that the referees are in the pocket of the lions. You’d have
found less propaganda in the pages of The Völkischer Beobachter which was
the Nazi newspaper published in Germany from December 1920 to April 1945. Can’t
think why that ceased publication so suddenly. For all that though, they remain
Portugal’s largest and successful club even if their president looks like he
spends his evening hitting on 19 year old blondes in the nightclubs of Lisboa
and could have also had a spell in blue movies after his playing career ended.
I wonder if André Villas-Boas still has a build-up of sand between his ears
from his spell in the Dakar Rally way back in 2018. This isn’t an FC Porto blog
so I will digress.
If the club’s management have a current record of behaving
badly then it should come as no surprise to learn that the club’s fans have been
behaving with all the class of a GK Barry Women’s League Cup Draw. Before last season’s
game at the stadium of shite one or more individuals decided it was a great
idea to spray red paint over Sporting’s lion statue amongst other petty
instances of vandalism on club property. Let’s be honest once more societies
problems coming down to behaviour of men because you don’t envisage any of the
damage is being done by the female fans of their club. It’s pathetic but it’s
not surprising to me. Benfica fans are like toddlers all too ready to throw a
tantrum when not getting their own way and their sense of entitlement is
legendary in the Portuguese game. By the way I am acutely aware of the
behaviour of fans of our club so please don’t think I am trying to portray us
as angels in any way shape of form. If you want evidence then please read the
post after the Club Brugge game in the Champions League game last season when I
went to town on them for throwing flares after the defeat.
This may come as a surprise to readers but I want them to do
well in European Football because I’m a pragmatist and know that wins for them
means points for the Portuguese co-efficient and without success for all
Portuguese clubs, we all suffer in terms of Champions League places and clubs
having to go through qualifying campaigns. If Sporting fail to qualify then we
stop being in a position where we keep hold of our better players for longer
and we fall back into the spiral of old letting talent leave on their terms
rather than ours.
Benfica have a record 38 title wins, alongside Sporting and
Porto they’re one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from the topflight
of Portuguese football. That’s a rare occurrence amongst the elites of European
football I hasten to add. In Serie A Internazionale are the only club to not
have been relegated since their inception in 1909. In Spain there are the three
clubs; Real Madrid, Barcelona and our future Champions League opponents
Athletic Club. In Germany; Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg. In
Scotland there are two – Aberdeen and Celtic and in Holland, three; Ajax, PSV
Eindhoven and Feyenoord. Arsenal, Liverpool, the Manchester’s of United and
City, Chelsea, Spurs… have all spent time outside of the topflight. In fact no
club has ever not been relegated at some point during their time in the English
topflight.
Benfica haven’t won the title since the 2022/23 campaign.
This is a club not used to coming top just as Sporting are the ying to their
yang in that they’re not used to winning titles consistently. At no point have
I written this season that I expect a threepeat. However going into Round 12 six points off FC
Porto and three behind the lions before they face Nacional away, it’s hard to
make a case that they’ll make it win 39 at the end of this campaign.
According to sources online this fixture has now been played
a staggering 325 times with 116 wins, 70 draws, and 139 losses. Look we know
our place in the history of Portuguese football, it’s been in the shadow of the
neighbours for the longest of times, so you’ll forgive us if we’ve appeared
overly excited the past two seasons.
Going into this weekend their record read played 11, won 4,
drawn 4 and lost 0, GF 23, GA 6. At the Stadium of Shite Played 6, won 3, drawn
3, GF 14, GA 5. Their 23 goals have seen 13 come from open play, 3 from set
pieces and a staggering SEVEN penalties scored in 11 games. Dear reader, this
is the team who all Portuguese referees have a vendetta against, a hidden agenda,
please do not forget that important fact. I mean they didn’t have a single
player sent off in the league last season, but still… Oh and yes for reference
that is the most number of penalties awarded to any side in the division.
Top scorer in the league is the Greek Vangelis Pavlidis with
9, six from the penalty spot. Sudakov and Ivanovic (which sounds like a dodgy
Eastern European law firm if ever there was one) have 3 apiece whilst another 8
players have a solitary goal each. Six clean sheets to date, they have the 3rd best rated attack in terms of goals per match scored at 2.1 and are matching their
overall XG which stands at 22.6. On average, they’ve conceded just 0.5 goals
per game and the XG for conceding stands at 8.8 against the actual number of 6.
This isn’t the first meeting of the two sides this season so
for a breakdown of their summer business in the transfer window, please refer
to the Supertaça post. Since that game they beat Nice in the Champions League qualifiers
by an aggregate score of 4-0 and the aforementioned defeat of Fenerbahçe which
finished 1-0 on aggregate and ensured their qualification for the Champions
League proper. They subsequently lost 3-2 at home to Qarabag, 1-0 away to
Chelsea, 3-0 away to Newcastle, 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen before their
first win away to Ajax 2-0 last Tuesday.
In the Taça de Portugal last season’s beaten finalists beat Chaves 2-0 away and
Liga 3 Zone B side Atletico 2-0 away and will face Farense away from home in
the next round. In the Taça da Liga they beat Tondela 3-0 at home and will face
Braga at home in the next round.
Their league campaign got off to a winning start away to
Estrela winning 1-0 through a Pavlidis penalty on the hour. The eagles missed
one of their 2 big chances and despite the narrow scoreline finished with an XG
of 2.41 to 1.41.
Matchday 2 saw the welcome of newly promoted Tondela where they won 3-0. They were
guilty of Sporting levels of chances missed with 4 out of 6 going begging.
Their 21 attempts to 9 bringing an XG of 2.96 to 0.47.
Matchday 3 and another newly promoted side to face off
against. Amazing how kind the fixtures can be for a side competing in the Club World
Cup during the summer don’t you think? Leading 2-0 at half time they actually
saw a man sent off. Twas the miracle before Christmas – if you discount it
being super early and still only August. Alverca pulled one back 6 minutes
before time but couldn’t find a leveller and Benfica maintained their 100%
start winning 2-1. Their lowest XG of the campaign of just 1.03 to 0.81 and
they converted their only big chance of the game.
Matchday 4 saw them welcome Santa Clara who were reduced to
ten men on minute 33 when Paulo Victor was shown a straight red. Despite the advantage
in terms of numbers it took the home side nearly an hour to take the lead. An
Otamendi slip which saw him doing a sterling impression of the WWE wrestlers
Scottie-too-hottie’s worm finishing move, allowed Vinicius to run clear and
score the equaliser one minute into additional time and steal a point for the
islanders in a 1-1 draw. 1 of 2 big chances missed for the home side, Santa
actually missed 2 of their 3 recording an XG of 1.02 to the eagles 1.62. This was
the mister Bruno Lages final league game in charge and he would be dismissed
after the midweek loss to Qarabag that followed this game.
Matchday 6 and more disappointment at home as they could
only manage a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Rio Ave. They must have thought
they had secured all three points when Sudakov found the net 5 minutes from
time only to see Luiz equalise on the stroke of 90 minutes. Rio Ave recorded
four attempts all game, didn’t create a single big chance over the 90 and the
XG was 2.57 to 0.16. Benfica missing 3 of their 3 big chances. The new manager bounce
didn’t last long there then.
Matchday 7 they welcomed Gil Vicente who took the lead after
just 10 minutes with an Esteves goal as they continued their fine start to the
campaign. However 2 goals from Pavlidis in the space of 8 minutes in the first
half turned the game on its head. Gil had a goal ruled out early in the second
half and finished the game with 10 men although not until deep into additional
time at the end of the game. Benfica created and scored their sole 1 big chance
which would have been from the penalty spot. Gil missed both their big chances.
If you take into account the XG on the penalty scored was 0.79 you can guess
how great the quality of their remaining 9 attempts were with the XG finishing
1.27 to 1.26. The visitors really unfortunate not to leave with something from
the game.
Matchday 8 was the snoozefest away to FC Porto in the
Clássico. 0-0 for Mourinho against his old side and his side would muster a
grand total of 4 attempts over the 90. 0 big chances created, an XG of 0.12 to
Porto’s 0.68. There’s 90 minutes of peoples lives they’ll never get back again.
Matchday 9 at home to Arouca and they figured out what the thing
with the net at the back was for as they metered out their biggest win for the
campaign in all competitions with a 5-0 win. Pavlidis with a hat-trick, Arouca
didn’t fashion a single big chance, recorded 5 shots, as Benfica finished missed
just 1 of their 5 big chances with the XG 3.84 to 0.44.
Matchday 10 away to Vitória SC brought a third clean sheet in
a row and another three points as they won 3-0. The home side reduced to ten
men on 55 minutes when Fabio Blanco received his marching orders 2 minutes
after Araujo had broke the deadlock. 24 attempts in total for the visitors,
guilty of missing 4 of 6 big chances and finishing with an XG of 2.13 to 0.43.
Finally matchday 11 at home to everyone’s favourite Portuguese orphanage Casa
Pia AC. Benfica would throw away a 2-0 lead first through a highly amusing
Araujo own goal and then Nhaga equalised on the stroke of 90 to claim a huge
point for them. Benfica scored with 2 of their 3 big chances, Casa Pia with the
opposite converting just 1 of their 3. The XG 2.22 to 1.21.
Benfica face Nacional at 1800 hours on Saturday November 29th.
Sunday update:
Sporting B
Sporting B v Farense
November 30th, 2025
Alcochete
Starting XI
Callai, Blopa, Romulo, D Moreira, Dias, Cardoso, Lucas, Justo, Gonçalves, Mendonca and Nel.
Substitutes Used
Oliveira, J. Silva, G. Silva, Couto and Besugo
Last season Farense were taking on Sporting's first team in the top flight whereas the B side lest us forget we're playing their trade in Liga 3. Plenty of experience for the visitors with a back three aged 30, 31 and 39 years of age respectively. Their three youngest starters 20 and two 22 year olds compared to a Sporting side once more packed full of teenage talent.
Cardoso got the lions off to the perfect start as he swept home low into the bottom right hand corner from 15 yards to make it 1-0 with just 17 minutes played. They thought they'd double their lead on 32 minutes only to see the goal ruled out. Two minutes into additional time a moment of magic as Nel calmly chipped Araujo in goal from 18 yards and the lions finally had their second and went in at half time 2-0.
On 56 minutes the assistant referee ruined Sporting's fun for a second time as he flagged offside with the ball in the net. The crossbar came to Farense’s rescue next when Gonçalves shot on 71 minutes cannoned back off the crossbar and the follow up from 20 yards went over the bar. Gonçalves wasn't to be denied however as he cut inside two defenders and held off a third to slot home from 7 yards with 75 minutes gone and made it 3-0. In the 83rd minute the assistants flag went up again with a third disallowed goal. Four minutes into additional time Farense grabbed a consolation when a corner kick took a bizarre deflection on the edge of the six yard box which looped over Callai and into the net from an acute angle. Full-time Sporting 3 Farense 1. The win keeps Sporting top with Maritímo level on points but having played a game more. The lions goal difference now a healthy plus 15.
Nacional 1 Benfica 2
In Madeira Benfica found themselves behind when Ramirez put Nacional ahead just before the hour mark. Prestianni came to the visitors' rescue two minutes from time as Benfica first equalised before Pavlidis scored in the fourth minute of injury time to break islanders hearts. 31 attempts for the visitors scoring 1 of just 3 big chances created from that grand total of attempts. Fourteen of those shots from 18 yards or greater. Final XG 0.50 to 2.68.
In the markets
Benfica 33/20
Draw 23/10
Sporting CP 7/5
Team News
Starting XI
Silva, Araújo, Inácio, Diomande, Fresneda, Hjulmand, Morita, Gonçalves, Trincão, Geny and Suárez
Substitutes
Virgínia, Reis, Vagiannidis, Quaresma Kochorashvili, Simões, Quenda, Alisson and Ioannidis
One change in back four as Quaresma drops to the bench for Diomande. Gonçalves comes in for Quenda. Ioannidis fit enough to return to the bench with Ribeiro making way.
Benfica Starting XI
1 Trubin
26 Dahl
30 Otamendi
4 Silva
17 Dedic
5 Barrenechea
20 Rios
8 Aursnes
18 Barreiro
10 Sudakov
14 Pavlidis
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