Sporting CP v Académico de Viseu

Sporting CP v Académico de Viseu
Sunday October 25th, 2026
Estádio José Alvalade
Matchday 9

The warm up

I must admit that even after a decade plus of watching Portuguese football there are still teams I've never heard of before, or if I have it's only by virtue of having heard of them because of Sporting B and Académico de Viseu admittedly fall into that camp. 

They secured promotion to the top flight as runners up to Marítimo having finished level on points with Torreense but claimed the second automatic spot by virtue of their head to head record with the Taça de Portugal winners. Their last game in round 34 was against Sporting B which finished 0-0 and despite failing to win, the point they won proved vital in getting them over the line. 

Four of the promotion winning side were picked in the league XI of the season and all four came through their academy system; Anthony Correia, Kahraman, Soufiane Messeguem and André Clóvis. Centre back Correia featured in 33 matches and was named defender of the month for both February and March. *Messeguem completed the most assists in Liga 2 and was midfielder of the month in January. Brazilian Clóvis featured in all 34 games and was the league's top scorer with 23 goals. He was named the league's best player and forward of the month an impressive five times. 

*Note thats what's quoted on their website. Don't tell Arsénio whose listed as having one more with eight in total. 

Nicknamed Os Viriatos, this will be their return to the top flight after an absence of 37 years. 

Their mister is Sérgio Fonseca, a local man and ex-player who is described as being cherished by the people of Viseu. Reads like high praise indeed. 

The city of Viseu is situated in the central region of Portugal and home to approximately 104,000 inhabitants. It's approximately 80 miles from Porto and whilst governmentally it sits in the central region, geographically I'd suggest it's in the north of the country. It's the birthplace of the former Sporting player Paulo Sousa who played 31 times in the 1993/94 season before being sold to Juventus. It was also the birthplace of Duarte, King of Portugal from 1433 to 1438. At one point or another in its history it's been occupied by the Romans, Suebians, Visigoths and the Moors. It's noted for being one of Portugal's best wine regions. 

The original club was founded in 1914 as Clube Académico de Futebol. In 2005 it folded owing to financial issues and has been known by its current name ever since its reforming. They won promotion to Liga 2 in 2012/13 where they've remained ever since until this season. In 2017/18 they came close to promotion finishing 3rd. In 2022/23 they finished in 4th place, a season also notable for reaching both the quarter finals of the Taça de Portugal and the semi finals of the Taça da Liga. Other than an 8th place in 2019/20 they'd had 8 finishes between 11th and 17th place. 

Home is the Estádio do Fontelo which has a capacity of 6,912. It was opened in 1928 and despite its diminutive size has played host to the Portuguese national side hosting friendlies in 2000, 2008 and as recent as 2017. 

Their record for the 2025/26 season read played 34, won 17, drawn 8, lost 9, GF 58,GA 33. At home they had the number one record in the division. Played 17, won 11, drawn 3 and lost 3. GF 30, GA 11. Away, only the 4th best, Played 17, won 6, drawn 5 and lost 6, GF 28, GA 22. They had the highest average goals per match at 1.7. The joint second best defensive record with Torreense. Incredibly the third best was Sporting B who only conceded 1 goal more with 34. Blimey. They had the highest number of clean sheets with 16. On the disciplinary front they picked up 87 bookings and an additional 8 red cards. Luís Silva can lay claim to 16 of those bookings. Pedro Barcelos claims 2 of the reds. Biggest win at home 4-1 to Oliveirense, away 5-1 to Leixoes. They reached the fourth round of the Taça de Portugal losing away on penalties to AVS. 

Also amongst the goals were Álvaro Zamora with 8, Kahraman with 6, Guilherme with 5 and Gohi with 4. The remaining spread between 8 players. 

Académico de Viseu 2026/27 season to date

Matchday 1 - Benfica (A) 2-2 D

The newly promoted side must have been a mix of nerves and excitement as they started their campaign back in the big time against a Benfica side who went undefeated last season and now coached by the ex-Sporting mister Marco Silva. 

Just 8 minutes gone when a long ball over the defence was chested down by Pavlidis and then struck first time from 18 yards into the bottom right hand corner to make it 1-0. At that point Viseu must have been fearing the worse. However that proved to be the only goal of the half. On 54' Pereira flicked home a corner from the near side from 3 yards which left keeper Samuel Soares flat footed. Game on at 1-1. Prestianni was allowed to run unmarked from the left wing onto the area and he nonchalantly swept home into the bottom right hand corner from 16 yards to restore the Eagles lead just 3 minutes later. Poor marking allowed Clovis to sweep home a cross from the right wing from 8 yards out to make it 2-2. Despite nearly 30 attempts the home side couldn't find a third and the points were shared. Fortunately for the home side there was no one their to see it. An empty stadium made it feel like Covid all over again. 

Xg 3.11 - 1.18
Total attempts 28 - 8
Shots on target 11 - 4
Big chances 3 - 2
Big chances missed 3 - 1