Sporting CP 7 Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace 0

Sporting CP v Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace
Pre-season Friendly
July 20th, 2026
Estádio Algarve

The warm up

As long as the game of professional football has existed we've experienced unpopular ownerships of clubs, but in the here and now not many rank as high in the unpopularity stakes as the owners of the lions pre-season opponents BlueCo. Probably best known on the worldwide stage for their ownership of Premier League club Chelsea, they took a majority shareholding in Strasbourg in June of 2023 and it's fair to suggest that the fans of the Ligue 1 club are less than impressed despite their recent relative success on the pitch. Results are one thing but the identity and soul of the club mean so much more to their fans who feel their new ownership is ripping that away from them. They've even taken their protests to the streets of London pairing up with fans of Chelsea. From the outside looking in, it certainly should serve as a warning to Frederico Varandas and the board of Sporting CP given rumours have long persisted about possible investment into the lions by BlueCo. 

Founded in 1906 they're based in the city of Strasbourg in Alsace. Home to a population of just shy of 300,000, the district in which it's located is home to over a million people which is a handy catchment area if you're trying to attract eyes on to your football club. Given most of my readership is located in the US when I point out that Strasbourg is a city with vast historical roots, they really do having celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1988. Whilst in the present day it forms part of France, it has on more than one occasion in it's history formed part of Germany so presumably somewhere in an alternate universe they're playing football in the Bundesliga protected by the 50 plus 1 rule. It's located in the Rhine Valley which is on the eastern border of modern day Germany and is probably most games for its wine growing. 

As a club they've known little major domestic success though they are one of only six clubs to have won all three of Frances major titles over the years, noting the equivalent of the Taça da Liga no longer exists. Their one and only league title win came in the 1978/79 season which was so long ago that even this author was still a little chubby baby in nappies. They have suffered a string of relegations from the top flight pretty much every decade from the 1950s onwards. Like the city itself the club has changed nationality three times. It's inception was under the German Empire as FC Neudorf. Only after Germany lost the First World War and the region fell back into French hands did the club become known by its present name. It then found itself annexed again during the second world war and then became French again. You imagine the players and fans of the club in 1939 would maybe be perplexed by the dissatisfaction of the current fans in comparison. Definitely a stark reminder of how we're all living in very different times. 

The club was founded by a group of local students (again how times have changed) and their first forty years were spent swapping between the German and French leagues. I guess that brings a whole new meaning to the definition of a yo-yo club. They apparently abandoned their first ever match at half time having found themselves 7-0 down. ‘It’s my ball and I'm going home!’ They persisted though and eventually got to a stage where they could compete on something resembling an equal footing although that apparently would take the best part of another three years during which there were a lot of threats to disband the team. Clearly they wouldn't have believed you if you could have told them that one day their club would be owned by an investment fund worth billions. I think as humble beginnings go, compared to any other club I've written about, Strasbourg are clearly winning on that front. Remarkably something must have finally clicked because their 28-0 win (no not a typo) over Erstein remains the second largest ever in German football. So if that ever comes up in a pub quiz one day you'll know who to thank. 

It's current name is an homage to Racing Club de France. Sportinguista's will have no problem with the concept of an organisation which bears the name of the country rather than the city to which it's based. They're probably now best known for the rugby union side Racing 92, though as always I might be wrong. Anyways that's where Strasbourg took their inspiration from. Nicknamed Le Racing, Le RSC and Les Bleu et Blanc, none of which scream of being overly imaginative. 

They play at the Stade de la Meinau more commonly known as la Meinau which seats 32,300 and was opened in 1914. Currently they're coached by Gary O’Neil but by the time you read this he may well have left for Ipswich Town following their promotion to the Premier League. 

They went bankrupt at the end of the 2010/11 season and had to begin life back in the fifth division. Promotion was secured in their first season and quite remarkably by 2017/18 they were a Ligue 1 side. In 2018/19 they won the now defunct French league cup for a third time in their history. The aforementioned takeover by BlueCo came in 2023 and the 2024/25 season saw qualification to the UEFA Conference League where they won the league phase though they eventually lost in the semi finals to Rayo Vallecano. 

It's reported that BlueCo paid in the region of €75m for the club. Last season saw them finish in 8th place, a season which began under Leroy Rosenior before he was given the role of Chelsea coach only to be latterly dismissed from there and replaced by O’Neil who it appears has already had enough. Their record: played 34, won 15, drawn 8 and lost 11, GF 58, GA 47. 

Their ownership has certainly taken benefit of virtually every loophole known to man in the English game from selling hotels and the women's team back to themselves to buying players on seven year contracts to amortise their value over a longer period of time before that practice was banned. As Chelsea continue to attempt to hoover up talented youngsters from Europe and South America they've been left with the issue of where to park their players no longer wanted. Well no, that's clearly a lie because they have the perfect dumping ground in Strasbourg. In the winter window Fofana and Anselmino came in. Last summer it was Chilwell, Sarr, Paez, Samuels-Smith, Penders and Amougou which brings the total to 8 players for one season alone. Twenty nine players left the French club in total over the course of the last season and 21 came in which is one of the main crux's of their fans. They no longer exist other than to serve the needs of player trading for BlueCo. I said several times last season that I hope Quenda has been learning French instead of English because he clearly doesn't look Premier League ready and Chelsea massively overpaid for his services. He could well be joined in France by Essugo who still remains the youngster player ever to play for Sporting CP. 

I certainly have a lot of sympathy for their fans because they're clearly subservient to their London overlords. Whilst having billionaire owners will be beneficial in France given Ligue 1 clubs were all told last season to put a figure of broadcast revenue of €0 on the balance sheet, it is hard to know your true purpose is nothing more than to benefit your sister club who lets face it are hardly reeping the rewards of your labours on the pitch. Every time you develop a yongster in Ligue 1 you're left with the prospect of them being moved to Chelsea and not for their true market value either. Any significant financial rewards will eventually end up on the balance sheet of the London club and any mistakes in the market will basically be moved the other way. Let's be honest the situation isn't that much different to that of Sporting's model. The only real difference is where the funds end up and when we get things wrong in the transfer market, we don't have the benefit of having another side where we can park those players although some may well argue that relationship does exist with Pafos in Cyprus to a certain extent. We've made some huge errors in the last two seasons having let go of Mateus Fernandes to Southampton and Afonso Moreira to Lyon whose subsequent transfers this summer are set to hit well over a combined fee of €100m. Not only have we lost out on a huge chunk of transfer revenue but we never got to benefit from either players talent on the pitch which makes it equally as jarring. We all know that we're going to lose the best talent every season, that's Portuguese football but when you're wasting money on the likes of Biel, Sotiris, Koindredi, Pontelo, Faye, Kochorashvili, Vagiannidis, Mangas and Kovakevic you wonder if it's worth it. Whereas you've lost the two players already mentioned plus Diogo Travossos, Rodrigo Ribeiro and Dario Essugo without ever seeing how they'd cut it with an extended run in the first team. At least we got to witness a full season of Nuno Mendes as a direct comparison before his move to PSG. Mind you I guess we also had to watch Tiago Tomas so be careful what you wish for. Given we seem to be buying no other position than midfielders this summer it does make me fearful for the likes of Simões and his career development. Still all told I guess it could be worse, we could be Strasbourg. 

June 23rd update - Gary O'Neil as expected has joined Ipswich Town on a three year contract so Strasbourg are back in the market for a new mister. 

July 8th update - Ex-Spurs boss Thomas Frank confirmed he's not interested in becoming the new mister. In a strange twist of fate the former coach of Sporting's first pre-season opponents Celtic, one Wilfried Nancy, is considered to be one of the forerunners despite his VERY short stint in Scotland.

July 10th - It's reported that Strasbourg are going to trigger the €4m release clause of current Famalicão mister João Oliveira to become their new mister. 

July 12th - Finally they've got their man as João Oliveira is indeed announced as the new mister. As well as being the Famalicão mister he had previously been part of the coaching setup under Marco Silva during his travails around Europe. 

July 15th - More new faces in France. Benjamin Brantlind has signed from IFK Göteborg for £1.3m. Milosz Piekutowski was picked up as a free agent. Mateo del Blanco has joined from Union in Argentina for £2.2m.

Confirmed exits Emanuel Emegha to Chelsea for £22m and Amadou Cissé to Amed SK for free. 

July 17th - After much speculation in relation to Ibrahima Ba at Famalicão becoming a lion, he of course signs for Strasbourg for €20m and will potentially make his debut against them in the Algarve. Define irony. 

July 20th - After all the speculation and announcement of his signing, Ibrahima Ba failed his medical. 

A winning start to the day as the lions win their second behind closed doors pre-season friendly. Bragança scores the only goal in a 1-0 win over Portimonense to add to his brace last Monday against Celtic. All eyes now focus on tonights game at the Estádio Algarve

In the markets

Sporting CP 3/5
Draw 31/10
RC Strasbourg 31/10

Team News

The starting XI for this morning's game was Callai, Faye, Lee, Mota, Dias, Lima, Bragança, Cardoso, Couto, Guilherme and Pedro Gonçalves.

Starting XI 

Virgínia, Vagiannidis, Quaresma, Felicíssimo, Mangas, Altimira, Silas, Doumbia, Geny, Flávio Gonçalves and Nel

Substitutes

Callai, Pires, Araújo, Grombahi, Rodrigues, Bafdili, Zalazar, Faye, Derry and Ioannidis 

Three changes to the starting XI from the 4-1 win over Celtic. Faye swaps for Vagiannidis, noting the former played this morning. Similarly with Pedro Gonçalves who's replaced by Silas and Nel starts in place of Gabriel Silva. 

Strasbourg Starting XI 

12 Piekutowski 

24 Høgsberg 

6 Doukouré 

3 Chilwell

17 Amougou 

41 Nzingoula

11 Nanasi 

45 Brantlind 

27 Amo-Ameyaw

99 Lukovic

First half 

The lions once more in their new green and white horizontal striped kit. Strasbourg in blue with white trim. Quaresma with the captain's armband. Rui Borges the man in black tonight. Sporting get us underway and attack right to left and you could have heard a pin drop after the whistle. Libraries have more noise in them.

1 Geny shoved off the ball and for the first time RCS allowed time on the ball

2 Doukouré tries to thread a long pass into the final third but gets it all wrong and it ends with Virgínia 

3 Great work from Doumbia to win the ball back in the final third…

3 GOAL Sporting CP 1 RC Strasbourg 0. Doumbia started the move winning possession back. His curled pass out wide then set in motion the second play and the final one saw him pick up the ball inside the box, dribble towards the goal line, cut back inside his marker and from a yard outside the left of the six yard box rifles it high past the keeper for the opener

4 Doumbia shot blocked from inside the D

5 Altimira conceded a free kick in the final third but Sporting clear 

7 Foot race between Lukovic and Virgínia. The keeper wins it as he dives at the feet of the Strasbourg player. The motion took him out of the box but importantly his hands on the ball were still inside the 18 yard box 

10 Quaresma looked for Geny down the right but the defender shepherds the ball out for a goal kick 

11 Doumbia and Mangas seemed to have struck up a good understanding on the left 

12 Good passing move down the right when Gonçalves slips and the opening is lost 

13 Nels strength wins the ball in the final third. His pass found Gonçalves who went so close to his finding his first senior goal. He drove from the edge of the 18 yard box past 3 defenders and his shot from 12 yards is tipped round for a corner by Piekutowski at full stretch 

13 Gonçalves corner far side to the near post headed clear 

14 Nel wins a corner near side. Punched clear by Piekutowski

16 Piekutowski is 36 yards out daring Nel to come forward 

17 Piekutowski again 30 yards out. Strasbourg are playing with a sweeper keeper 

17 Good defending by the lions who nullify the threat of Strasbourg and send them back to the half way line 

18 Mangas concedes a free kick in the final third. He remonstrates with the assistant 

19 Altimira heads behind for a corner far side

19 RCS went short. Lukovic with an effort from far left of the area 12 yards from the goal line with the outside of his boot which brought a diving save from Virgínia. Follow up effort blocked but the assistant had his flag up anyway 

21 Lukovic watches his effort from 10 yards go wide of the far post and out for a goal kick. He really scuffed that one 

21 Geny down from a late Chilwell challenge. He waved his finger at the referee but he definitely catches him on the ankle even if there wasn't any malice in the challenge 

22 Rehydration break. Rui Borges all smiles as he shares a few words with Silas 

23 We're treated to a replay of the Doumbia goal. Even in slow motion that was travelling like a rocket

24 Varandas watching on in the stands. No sign of Mrs Varandas mind you. 

25 Lions scramble the ball clear not once but twice in the space of a minute. Fine run on the far side level with the 18 yard box ended in a blocked shot from Oyedele 

26 Amo-Ameyaw leaves Mangas with twisted blood as he turned him left and right and finally wins a corner near side

27 Chilwell takes the corner claimed by Virgínia 

28 Amo-Ameyaw again causing Mangas issues, ghosted past him and his low effort saved by Virginia from 18 yards 

29 Geny shot blocked from 8 yards for a corner far side 

30 Rather unhelpfully the team news put out on the Strasbourg official account appears to be wrong. Brilliant. Either that or I've got ten players. Yeah my bad. 

30 Poor effort from Altimira from 12 yards. That's probably ended up in the sea

31 Huge tackle from Silas in the centre stops a Strasbourg attack. Very impressive 

32 Doumbia hits the near post from 8 yards and watches as it bounces out back to the keeper. Wouldn't have counted as he was a good yard and a half offside 

34 Mágico Sporting erupts from the Sportinguista's in attendance who've woken up suddenly 

35 Gonçalves so close to his first goal again sees his shot blocked from six yards

35 GOLAZZO Sporting CP 2 Strasbourg 0. Gonçalves was twisting inside the box trying to fashion space for a second shot. The defender nipped the ball off his toes but only into the path of Altimira who with the instep curled it home first time into the bottom left hand corner from 20 yards 

37 Gonçalves combines with Doumbia who smashed a ball in from the left which cannons off Doukouré for a corner 

38 Gonçalves cross just misses its target and out for a goal kick at the back post

39 Whatever competition Mangas won to become a footballer can we stop it now and tell him he has to go back home 

40 Big tackle from Quaresma who emerged with the ball 36 yards out

41 Amo-Ameyaw - The kids got dancing feet. They'll have to stick Mangas in a chamber for the bends at half time 

42 Amougou just left a little something on Silas when he was on the floor. Credit to him he didn't over react. Free kick to Sporting 

43 Brilliant from Doukouré to somehow come up with the ball and stop Doumbia from making it 3. The Italian didn't help his own cause with a first touch off the knee but still that's great defending after to recover possession 

44 Doumbia with the tackle on the final third to stop a Strasbourg attack 

Plus one shown 

Half time 

Sporting CP 2 RC Strasbourg 0

Thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead for the lions. João Oliveira famously was not a happy man in the manner that his Famalicão side lost to Sporting last season. I don't think he's going to be any happier with his new side at half time either. I believe this is their first game of pre-season and it shows. Already the lions look sharper and fitter and fully deserve their lead. The only thing missing has been a Flávio Gonçalves goal and he's come close on a couple of occasions. He's been brilliant again. The one real positive for Strasbourg has been Amo-Ameyaw down the right wing. That boys got some quick feet although caveat that statement by pointing out that it is Ricardo Mangas trying to mark him. 

Star of the half has to be Doumbia who has been instrumental at both ends of the field. Altimiras finish was a thing of beauty to behold. The lions maybe fortunate when Lukovic scuffed his effort but in truth they've never really looked like conceding.

Second Half 

The lions going through their warm up on the sidelines. Strasbourg get us back underway.

If there's been any changes they've not been communicated on the screen. 

Post game addition ➡️ 50 Slonina, 41 Nzingoula, 43 Becker, 2 Omobamidele, 15 Del Bianco, 97 Diong, 21 Diop, 23 Sousa, 20 Godo, 99 Lukovic and 47 Messi. Strasbourg did indeed swap their entire eleven out.

46 Strasbourg have been playing keep ball for the first minute but have yet to really make it past their own 30 yard line 

46 Corner near side to the lions won by Vagiannidis who I'd forgotten was even playing 

47 Strasbourg clear and the ball ends all the way back with Virgínia 

47 Free kick for a foul on Gonçalves. Nzingoula gives it the ‘who me ref?’

48 Geny Catamo, so good he can even beat himself with the ball at his own feet. Move breaks down inside the area 

49 Doumbia nutmegs his marker who rather cynically takes him out. Free kick awarded 30 yards out far left hand side 

50 GOAL Gonçalves with the perfect free kick found the head of Silas who powers a header into the bottom right hand corner past the outstretched Piekutowski to make it Sporting CP 3 RC Strasbourg 0. Bullet header

53 Corner won off Mangas far side 

53 The lions clear their lines initially 

54 Cross cum shot stings the hands of Virginia and behind for a corner far side from a narrow angle close to the byline far side 

55 The visitors could well have made eleven  changes at half time but the TV coverage didn't allude to it. Not that I've got commentary but there's no graphics other than the score and time 

56 Gonçalves sends Omobamidele up in the air with a really bad late timed tackle that caught the top of his boot with his studs. Minimum a yellow - not shown 

58 Gonçalves dispossessed in the final third with one defender to beat. His confidence between last season and this is night and day. Yes it's a friendly but he's been brilliant again and not afraid to show his mettle

60 ➡️⬅️ Silas for Rodrigo Zalazar. Mangas for Araújo. Huge cheer for Maxi as he enters the field 

61 Long pass looked for the run of Geny but he'd strayed a yard offside and the flag quickly went up 

63 Zalazar bursts into the box from the right. Cuts in between Diong and Omobamidele who literally sandwiched him. First ever contribution as a lion is to win a penalty 

64 Zalazar has the ball placed on the spot. Puff of the cheeks. Bang. GOAL Sporting CP 4 RC Strasbourg 0. The ball goes bottom right, Slonina went to the left. Great penalty. What a debut. Four goals from four summer signings. Four goals in two straight games 

66 Sousa with a cynical foul on Geny concedes a free kick two yards outside the box near side 

67 ➡️⬅️ Nel for Ioannidis 

67 Araújo beats the wall as he went for the far top corner. Beaten away by Slonina for a corner 

69 Zalazar stings the hands of Slonina who managed to get down low to save the effort from 17 yards. Unfortunately for the keeper… GOAL Sporting CP 5 Strasbourg 0. The keeper could only parry it to the edge of his six yard box where Araújo smashed it home from four yards 

70 Drinks break

72 Del Bianco fires wide from 20 yards past Virginia's far post

74 Vagiannidis concedes a free kick two yards from the Sporting goal line near side 

75 Poor free kick to the edge of the area easily headed clear 

76 Offside flag up against Maxi…he was only - several yards off. He bangs his head like he's got water in his ears stepping out the swimming pool. Might explain his hair 

78 Zalazar foul on Sousa who jars his back as he goes down 

80 GOLAZZO Sporting CP 6 RC Strasbourg 0. Geny picks the ball up far right hand side and continued his run into the box. Shapes left to make the space and curls one into the far corner from 16 yards 

81 ⬅️➡️ That was Genys last contribution. Double change for the lions. We were shown a replay of the goal so missing three of the four in the chain of substitutes...

83 GOAL Sporting CP 7 RC Strasbourg 0. He's back. Ioannidis slots home a Maxi Araújo cutback through the keepers legs from 12 yards

85 Zalazar unhappy about a challenge from Del Bianco. Maxi came in as his enforcer. Uruguayans clearly stick together like glue 

87 ⬅️➡️ Vagiannidis was the other man to make way with Geny. Faye plays his second game in a day. Grombahi back from his loan gets the last 9 minutes plus additional time 

88 I wonder if you were a Strasbourg fan at what number goal you turned the game off and went to do anything else instead?

90 Cynical foul by Maxi. Free kick 34 yards out. It goes straight out of play and unsurprisingly with the score as it was and 33 seconds over the 90 played the referee blew his whistle 

Full time 

Sporting CP 7 (SEVEN) RC Strasbourg 0

The final word

I appreciate it probably doesn't always read like it but there is a fine art to doing these Matchday posts with a minute by minute and when you've only done one since May, Sporting score seven goals and Strasbourg swap their entire team out at half time it's definitely like being thrown in at the deep end and seeing if you remember how to swim. Where do you even start to begin to unpack those 90 minutes, it's like moving a four bedroom house and all it's contents. Ten days ago I wrote that I wasn't excited for the season ahead. Well after that I've changed my mind. That was exciting wasn't it?!?!

Let's put the obvious card on the table and start with the opponents. João Oliveira has had a week with his new side. He's tried to give everyone a chance to impress and maybe one of 22 players who featured did so in the form of Amo-Ameyaw. No that's little unfair, Doukouré had his moments in the opening 45 as well. But that does leave 20 out of the 22 where he must now be thinking fucking hell what have I let myself in for here? For a month in the buildup to this game I've been writing about the discontent of their fans towards the ownership of BlueCo. Well Sporting haven't helped matters at all after that mawling have they? Let's also be fair in that the lions have played four pre-season games and that was their first. But the lions weren't just sharper, they were razor sharp and thirsty for blood and my God did they get it. 

Ioannidis being back on the pitch and finding the net upon his return was just the cherry on top of several layers of icing upon the finest cake. Anyone else watching on in Portugal must be thinking fucking hell, that's not even close to their starting XI and they've just scored seven times to add to their four against Celtic last Monday and we've seven different goalscorers to boot. Last season I was worried after the Sunderland game where the goals were going to come from. Not got the same worry tonight it's fair to say. Doumbia, Zalazar, Altimira and Silas all with the monkey off their backs with their debut goals. Araújo, Geny and Ioannidis all still proving that they've still got it. Where do you start with the superlatives for that performance? They were phenomenal across the park. Yes Strasbourg were bad, but not in a way where it was solely because they were bad. Sporting made them look bad and there's a fine line between the opposing sides of that statement I know. 

Flávio Gonçalves when he got his chance last season never really took it. I appreciate I said it at half time but he's got the bit between his teeth and he is determined to make a lasting impression on the mister Rui Borges and his performance alone on any normal week would have been a standout one but there was so many positives that even his game was in danger of getting lost within all the quality on display. 

Clearly having Doris (Fotis) on the pitch is a massive bonus. My phone is not letting go of autocorrect on his name so if you're new to these posts I'm not trying to be funny calling him Doris. It's just easier not to argue with my phone when typing. The back end of last season the impact of his absence was huge especially when Suárez got his one game ban and the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Nel. To be fair he scored and we won, but what a difference he'd have made against AVS and Tondela and let's throw Torreense into the mix as well. As for Nel you saw glimpses of what he's capable of, he's definitely got some upper body strength on him which he used to good effect in the first half to bounce the defender off the ball and set up the chance for Gonçalves which was saved. Speaking of Gonçalves’ they cut to Pote in the stands sat with Bragança away from everyone else and lord only knows what the pair were thinking. Probably there's no way back, do you know a good removal company? 

Slonina had 45 minutes to forget when coming on as halftime. Neither goalkeeper really put a good argument in for being the number one come the start of the Ligue 1 side. Whereas Virgínia impressed me again in goal for Sporting. He was strong when coming to collect the ball, links up well with his defenders and as it stands let him start and make Rui Silva work for his place back. 

Mangas and Vagiannidis were the two weakest links. Anything decent the French side had come down from the flanks but the Greek did a whole lot better than Mangas did in fairness although when not under pressure he did link up well with Doumbia. Edu was quietly effective alongside Quaresma and the fact I didn't really notice him tonight has more to do with the team performance than the youngster. Neither player was really called upon at any stage during the game. You got little cameos from Grombahi and Faye who Borges seems desperate to see any signs of why we brought him in January having already played him against Portimonense earlier in the day. Notable he was included but Bragança and Gonçalves weren't. They haven't listed substitutes for they game so I've no idea if Kochorashvili appeared but he was watching on from the stands again. Sporting are going to have a massive headache if we don't start clearing the decks of some of these players in the next two to three weeks. No he didn't having found them now. 

Araújo for me last season was our player of the season. He's had a massive World Cup for Uruguay and yet importantly wants to stay. He's clearly got a great friendship with Zalazar. Give him whatever he wants to stay, give him the captain's armband. Don't let the lad leave. He's got superstar written all over him. If and when he finally leaves you squeeze every fucking euro out of that deal. What a start from Zalazar, your first contribution to the side with your very first run is to draw two fouls at the same time to win a penalty and then coolly slot it home for your debut goal. If he plays like that every week then €30m is going to seem like an absolute bargain. What a debut. But again what a performance by both Uruguayans. Someone's going to pen and ode of love from the terraces to the pair of them mark my words. 

Who haven't I raved about yet? Let's go Geny Catamo. He was just starting to find his rhythm once more wide right and a superbly taken goal having made the chance all by himself. He's got a massive season ahead with the exit of Trincão out on the right and I think he's in a superb position to take advantage of it as well. I always said Trincão would be better served dropping deeper and in the end they got in each others space rather than complimenting each others game. Personally I am not worried about losing either Gonçalves or Trincão because I'm a numbers bore. I look through the statistics of blocked shots, shots off target and I know who the two biggest culprits were week in and week out. Admittedly Geny was up there too but he's not on Trincão money. 

That leaves us with the midfield trio of Silas, Altimira and Doumbia. Fine goals from all three of them with very different finishes it must be said. The bullet header from Silas that was reminiscent of a Coates headed goal. I'm here for that all day. The cultured finish of Altimira to pick his spot with the instep and finally the viciousness of Doumbias opener which feels like it was scored about a month ago there was so much packed into that one game. 

Let's try do my four votes for man of the match. This is going to be hard but for the right reasons. I'm going to give a special nod to Virgínia in goal. He's not made my final four clearly but he does deserve a mention, really great throughout. Silas was impressive, great goal, great defensive challenge second half. Still maybe not enough. This is hard. 

Right let's go Flávio Gonçalves. I like this kid, I really like him. I've watched him play for Sporting B, he's clearly got talent. He wasn't ready last season, his head is in the game, he's not afraid to try things in the final third, he has great control, a great eye for a pass and abundance of talent. Last week he had my man of the match. Doesn't get it this week but he's in the four. Let's go Rodrigo Zalazar. Yes it was a cameo appearance but my days he's ready to shine. What an entrance by the way to come on win a penalty, score the penalty and make yourself look like he's been here forever. I can't even tell you what position he plays which for me is great, defenders not so much. He's everywhere all at once. 

This is hard because you could add either Silas or Altimira and they're both equally deserving but then I'm thinking Maxi Araújo even though his appearance was a cameo too. I'll make it easier on myself because my man of the match was Doumbia. The lad has a ridiculous amount of confidence and like Araújo appears to have that special something that could make him into a superstar. He bossed that game. He bossed it in his own final third, in their final third. He was instrumental in all that was good about the lions. He was a pure joy to watch, from his goal, to his challenges, to his no look passes. Easily the best player on the park of the 40 odd players that we saw in total.