Rio Ave v Sporting CP

Rio Ave v Sporting CP

Sunday May 10th, 2026

Estádio dos Arcos

Matchday 33

The warm up 

It's Friday May 1st as I write, the sun is shining, April has finally finished and at 1100 hours this morning Sporting formally announced the renewal of the mister Rui Borges contract until 2028 with an option to extend to 2029. Somewhere on the internet the RBBBB will be having a meltdown. That's the Rui Borges Boo Boys Brigade just for reference. If watching the lions draw to AVS on Sunday and then throwing away a two goal lead Wednesday to draw 2-2 wasn't enough, the toxicity towards the mister and certain players online was so distasteful that I'm now staying away from it all and just posting links. I only came to Sporting later on in life and the English side I supported growing up were to put it mildly - crap. I'd sulk pretty much all week when we lost which meant for a lot of my life I was just sulking. Drawing to the leagues bottom two sides isn't ideal but I'm now middle age and can at least shrug these things off, personally I'd be more worried if we lost. What does worry me doing a 180° turn and picking up on a previous point is the toxicity. I saw Trincão slated and ruled out for future position of club captain for having the audacity of smiling post game after Tondela scored two goals after the 90th minute. I mean if only this was before the revolution we could have had him shot at dawn! Some people laugh at funerals. I know this because I've laughed at a funeral and people give you looks like they wish you were the one in the casket. It's a transmission of nervous energy in a way that doesn't suit certain people's tastes. If you're choosing you club captain, or moreover dismissing someone in your mind on ten seconds of footage then I wonder how you make the actual important decisions in your own life. André Villas-Boas has gone on the attack again this week. The RBBBB were out in force tripping over themselves to fire shots at the mister. You're left thinking is this what the game has become? Full disclosure I worked out about twenty years ago that I don't really like football. Which is odd given I spent half my time writing about the subject. I've just spent the best part of two weeks researching the Bruno de Carvalho years working on a series of articles and I've only just now really dealt with the attacks at Alcochete. Overlap the two time periods, in particular the 2017/18 season and this current one and the only similarity is that they didn't qualify for the Champions League automatically. I fully expect Borges' men to win the Taça de Portugal this month but you never know. I don't expect the players to be attacked five days before the final let's put it that way. The point being - We've come a long way in 8 seasons. We've won three league titles. Count them - one, two, three. Two of them were back to back. In the history of football across every league ever played there will be few examples where selling your best player the previous summer hasn't had some sort of detrimental affect on the following one. In our case the selling of Portugal's player of the season two campaigns running and the lions and leagues top goalscorer in both. Who could possibly have foretold they selling Viktor Gyökeres might have a large impact on your title chances this season? 

I did some rough maths after the Tondela game just to humour myself really and it was rough and not fully accurate. I was trying to work out how many more minutes our players had played collectively compared to the bottom two sides. I was in fairness trying to write my post match report so I did a general figure rather than a deep dive into how many games we'd all had go into extra time and add that on but even then the difference in general numbers were quite staggering. 

If you take a game of 90 minutes with your eleven players that's 990 minutes per team. If you want to be pedantic, if someone gets sent off then that figure decreases but let's go with that figure for the general rule of thumb. Rio Ave will have played 32 league games which will collectively be 31,680 minutes played in total. Since we last met them they've not played in any other competition other than the Liga. So that will be 16 games totalling 15,840 minutes. Sporting by the time this fixture comes around will have played 26 times, 10 games more. So that's a baseline of 25,740 minutes extra played. Of those extra games played their opponents include PSG the current Champions League holders, Premier League Arsenal twice and a double legged semi final against FC Porto. Bodø went into additional time as did AVS, so adding 660 minutes to 25,740 gives us 26,400 minutes that the lions have played which is 10,560 more than Rio Ave have done in the same period. With no midweek football they've also been getting a week's recovery between games. How many additional fixtures do you think Rio Ave have played across their entire season? Stop. Think of the number now. Got one? I'll keep waffling and tell you that the sun is still shining and it's still Friday afternoon and finally with enough time hopefully and space in between tell you the actual answer is one. Sporting had played the equivalent of Rio Aves entire games they'll play this season by February 5th. 

So to date, Rio Ave’s total accumulative minutes across their squad played in all competitions = 32,670 minutes. That means they'll have only played 6,270 minutes more over their entire season than Sporting have done since they last met. 

One final piece of maths then, the lions will have played 53 times = 52,470 minutes. Plus an additional 330 for each of Bodø, AVS, Santa Clara and Paços de Ferreira. Total time played 53,790 minutes. Sporting's players collectively before kick off will have played 21,120 minutes more than Rio Aves’. So there's a genuine reason they've been looking physically more fatigued in these last rounds of fixtures than the likes of AVS and Tondela, it's because they are. They're mentally fatigued after not just a tough campaign this season but for the third straight season. They've had a second successive appalling season for injuries and Rui Borges has never once had the luxury of a full squad to choose from. Not once. Ever. Their transfer business has also weakened the side not strengthened it.

Let it be stated for the record your honour that in neither back to back title winning season did the Sporting board file a court case and continue to attack the captain of either of their rivals. A court case about a game that their own side weren't involved in I hasten to add. We didn't need our fans to twice set off fireworks above the opponents hotel the night before a big game or any game for that matter. We didn't have someone steal goalkeepers towels, have people hide the balls after we've scored. Didn't alter the heat in the changing rooms or adorn the walls in a manner trying to intimidate the opposition. We've not had our security stop the oppositions players from departing their coach and getting to the dressing rooms and had to have the police intervene to let them pass. We've not had to wage a propaganda war against the rival clubs in the media that Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of. We've not had to apply pressure on referees through the media or on the opponents mister by using our contacts to question their records in big games. I could go on but you get the point. No, we went out and played football. Some weeks we were even quite frankly dog shit. One season we even had to change the mister twice. Yet we still won it two seasons on the trot on merit and on our day we are still the best team in Portugal. Last point, if we only had the play a 35 game season this campaign like Rio Ave have done, we'd have fucking pissed the league. 

Right, on to the game at hand against Rio Ave. Time of writing they're 12th with a record of played 31, won 8, drawn 10 and lost 13. GF 33, GA 52. Going into their next game at home to Gil Vicente they have the third worst home record in the division. Played 15, won 3, drawn 5, lost 7. GF 16, GA 25. I'm guessing Marinakis has had more pressing things on his mind like changing the mister at Nottingham Forest every seven to eight games. 

Of their 33 goals scored, 23 from open play, 4 set pieces, 1 free kick, 3 penalties and 2 own goals. Outperforming their Xg by a whopping 0.1. Sorry for breaking your sarcasm metre I'll buy you a new one if you send me the bill. Oh no did your bullshit metre just break as well. My bad. Top scorer is Clayton with 10 which I was going to say is odd because I'm sure he's not scored at all since the two clubs last met and turns out he's with Olympiacos so I'm not imagining things. But the figure of 10 is correct coming in 19 appearances. Presumably the owner thought he'd be the difference maker for his team in Greece but he's scored 0 in 9 since his move. André Luiz has 7 and Nena also known as Blessa still has 93 red balloons to use with 6 to his name. If you were born sometime before 1975 and know that Blessa blows up a red balloon to celebrate and know a thing or two about German pop music you're probably sat thinking that's very clever if also terribly niche. If you're not you'll be thinking what the fuck? Ask your parents who Nena was and stop being so young whilst you're at it. Seven others have found the net by the way. 

They average 1.1 goals scored per game versus 1.7 conceded. Only AVS and Casa Pia have drawn more games with 11. AVS overtaking your tally is clearly our fault so apologies. Only five teams have enjoyed less possession of the ball this campaign. Five clean sheets which is the joint second lowest total only to AVS on 4. 38 big chances missed in total which is the 8th highest total in the division. The lions once more stretching their lead in that unwanted record against AVS and Tondela. Five penalties awarded, 60% conversion rate so even without a calculator, that's 3 scored, 2 missed. This kids a mathematical ge-nee-arse. 

Their Xg conceded is 49.3 so someone's been scoring goals against them that statistically they shouldn't have been. Just two penalties conceded all season which I'm going to say is the best record in the league because they're tied with someone else who we've already mentioned have been involved in a propaganda war so fuck them. Rio Ave won't have had referee's given them the same advantages. Also one save off having the highest total which might also be Sporting's fault because top are Tondela with 109 and we spent more time firing the ball at Fontes than we did the net. Sorry again. 

Fifth lowest number of average fouls per game with 13.1, 78 bookings and 4 red cards. 

Winter window business

Incoming 

Tamble Monteiro from Portimonse for £1.7m

I'm guessing he's the first and last Tamble that will ever grace these reports. 

Jalen Blesa from Cesena for £1.4m

I will be really impressed if they hold onto him. Just £1.4? Really? Oi. He'll be the Syndy Cabral at Estrela. Just remembered which one is his club locker and be back out the door on a nice tidy profit. 

Gustavo Mancha on loan from Olympiacos 

Ennio van set Gouw on loan from Zulte Wareham

Leonardo Buta from Udinese on loan

Ryan Guilherme from Cruzeiro for £2.1m

Diogo Bezerra from OFK Beograd for £1.5m

Outgoing 

Clayton to Olympiacos for £4.2m

Alfonso Pastor to Marítimo for free

Jonathan Panzo to Birmingham for £1.4m

André Luiz to Olympiacos for free

Woahhhhh, woah, woah. Smells like Grimsby around here. Jesus you'd be super pissed if you were a Rio Ave fan wouldn't you? Dear Lord. Oh well expect me to be writing that Jalen Blesa has signed for Forest in a £4.5m deal in the summer. 

If Marinakis has had four coaches at Forest then he must have fired a mister at Rio Ave I'm guessing. No. Sotiris Sylaidopoulos has been in since June well bugger me with a ten foot barge poll. 

Ransom useless fact of the week. Portuguese club Rio Ave only have four Portuguese players in their squad. They'd be fucked if the FA changed to a home-grown players rule then. 

Going off on a quick tangent, Nelson Abbey amongst their defenders who sounds like he could be a church somewhere in an English town or village. 

Sorry I'll round it up. Rio Ave have lost their last five outings to the lions by an aggregate score of 14-2. Their last point won in February of 2024 when the sides drew 3-3 in this corresponding fixture. They've now not beaten Sporting since September 2019. They actually beat them the month before as well which must have been under Marcel Kaiser and with that name we close the circle on where we began. Could be worse people's. 

Following the 4-0 defeat at the Jose Alvalade on December 28th we pick Rio Ave’s season back up -

Matchday 18 – Casa Pia (H) Rio Ave bounced back from defeat to the lions with a 3-1 win. Aguilera extended their lead on 62 minutes and whilst Mendes made it 2-1 8 minutes before the end of the 90, Luiz scored his second just 3 minutes later to ensure victory. Xg 2.97 to 1.89. Four of six big chances missed by the home side. Casa Pia also guilty of missing 3 of 4.

Matchday 19 – Benfica (H) Goals from Barreiro on 15 and an Ntoi own goal on 24 were enough for a 2-0 away win. Xg 0.20 to 1.78. Benfica missed 3 of 4 big chances. RA failed to create a single one.

Matchday 20 – Nacional (A) A heavy defeat suffered at the hands of the islanders. Veron made it 1-0 on 33. Ramirez double the lead straight after the restart. Santos made it 3-0 on 71 and Witi one minute before full time for a 4-0 thumping. Xg 1.48 to 0.48. RA failed to create a single big chance. Could have been worse for them as Nacional miss 2 of  their 3 on top of scoring 4.

Matchday 21 – Arouca (H) Esgaio puts the visitors 1-0 up 2 minutes before half time. A Lomboto own goal on 52 makes it 2-0 and RA’s misery completed on 65 minutes when Lee scored the third goal for a 3-0 win. Xg 0.50 to 1.37. RA didn’t create a single big chance, Arouca missed their only 1.

Matchday 22 – Braga (A) Despite Braga taking the lead on 3 minutes through Grillitsch, they were made to wait until the minute 72 before finally make it 2 through Horta. He scored his second and Braga’s third goal on 90+2 to confirm all 3 points with a 3-0 win. Xg 2.82 to 0.15. Braga also miss 3 big chances, unsurprisingly with an Xg of just 0.15 RA failed to create a single one.

Matchday 23 – Moreirense (H) Rodri gave the visitors the lead on 16. Despite Blesa making it 1-1 on 41 RA unable to hold on as Stjepanovic scored the winner for a 2-1 away win on 56. Xg 1.32 to 0.55. RA miss both their big chances, Moreirense their only one.

Matchday 24 – FC Porto (A) A Froholdt goal on 21 enough for a 1-0 win to the league leaders. Xg 2.06 to 0.24. Porto missed 4 big chances, RA missed their only 1. Six straight defeats now for RA.

Matchday 25 – Famalicão (H) A 0-0 draw ends a run of six straight defeats. Xg 1.03 to 0.85. Both sides missed their 1 big chance created.

Matchday 26 – Tondela (A) A first win in 7 games came courtesy of a solitary Blesa scored on 69 minutes. Xg 0.69 to 1.23. Tondela missed their 1 big chance, RA 1 of 2.

Matchday 27 – Estrela (H) A Blesa brace on 26 and 47 gave RA a 2-0 lead. Despite Pinho pulling one back on 64, RA held on for a 2-1 win. Xg 2.64 to 1.36. RA guilty of missing all 4 of their big chances. Estrela didn’t create a single one.

Matchday 28 – Estoril (A) A third straight win for RA and now 4 unbeaten this despite falling behind on 15 to a goal from Ferro. Brabec made it 1-1 8 minutes after the restart, a Blesa penalty on 73 was enough for a 2-1 win. Xg1.40 to 1.89. Both sides created 4 big chances, Estoril missed 3, RA missed 2.

Matchday 29 – Alverca (H) Figueiredo put the opposition 1-0 up with just 4 minutes gone. RA misery further compounded when Lima made it 2-0 on 20. Blesa pulled one back just before the hour mark but the visitors claim a 2-1 win. Xg1.47 to 1.45. Both sides guilty of missing 2 of 3 big chances.

Matchday 30 – AVS (H) Despite taking the lead through Pohlmann after 17 minutes, Tomane made it 1-1 on 31. Lima then turned the game on its head with a goal on 67. RA equalised on 78 and the points were shared in a 2-2 draw. Xg 2.68 to 1.71. RA missed fur of five big chances against the leagues bottom side. AVS scored both of theirs.

Matchday 31 – Vitória (A) Late goals from Samu on 71 and Strata 4 minutes into additional time at the end of the 90 condemn RA to a 2-0 defeat. Xg 1.17 to 0.04. 1 of 2 big chances missed by the home side, RA missed their only one.

Matchday 32 – Gil Vicente (H) To Follow

In the markets 

Rio Ave TBC

Draw TBC 

Sporting CP