It was the weekend of the big game, perhaps the decisive weekend of the season. At the end, we had a winner: Benfica.
Benfica pulled off a huge victory over Porto at the Dragao, pulling 2 points ahead of their rivals. It seemed impossible just weeks ago that Benfica would be anywhere close to the lead. Porto went from a 7 point lead to a 2 point deficit in 8 weeks. While a bunch of credit has to be given to Bruno Lage, Joao Felix, Pizzi and Co., we have to look at Sergio Conceicao's bunch and wonder: what is really going on!
Let's start where things started to turn: a tie on the road against Sporting. A draw against Sporting on the road is not considered a bad result. You can't look at an away draw against a top contender as a championship decider. This tie I consider understandable. Next: tying Guimaraes on the road. Again, an acceptable result because tying Guimaraes on the road in Portuguese league action is not considered an upset. However, because Porto lost at home to Guimaraes, it should be expected that the away match goes to Porto. For that reason, I would consider this game a disappointment.
From there we move on to a draw against 5th place Moreirense. The Cinderella team, who beat Benfica in their home and has shown the capacity to have big results, took a point from a match against Porto. Even though Porto was on the road, I consider it a disappointment to draw against Moreirense. Porto has the superior team, and after two road draws you need to expect a win. And finally, Benfica defeats them at home. After defeating Benfica for the League Cup semi-final, this match was always going to be tough. To flat out lose at home means we will need to see a different Porto than the one struggling to get balls in the net.
While Porto has struggled, Benfica went on the road against the dragons, Sporting and Guimaraes and won all of them. There is no possible way ANYBODY would have predicted that, especially considering just how poorly Rui Vitoria's Benfica was playing. It kinda happened out of nowhere. Now that Benfica has climbed to the top, they need to stay there. It's tough to be in this spot, they can't take the foot off of the accelerator or Porto will go back by them. This ain't over yet!
Week 24 Results
Aves 2 Boavista 0
Nacional 3 Tondela 2
Moreirense 1 Setubal 1
Porto 1 Benfica 2
Belenenses SAD 4 Feirense 0
Chaves 0 Santa Clara 0
Rio Ave 1 Braga 2
Sporting 3 Portimonense 1
Guimaraes 1 Maritimo 0
Standings
1. Benfica 59
2. Porto 57
3. Braga 52
4. Sporting 49
5. Moreirense 42
6. Guimaraes 39
7. Belenenses SAD 36
8. Santa Clara 31
9. Rio Ave 28
10. Portimonense 28
11. Boavista 26
12. Nacional 26
13. Aves 25
14. Setubal 24
15. Maritimo 24
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16. Tondela 23
17. Chaves 20
18. Feirense 14
At the top, we have recapped the massive Benfica win and championship battle. Nothing changed for the 3rd place fight, and the 5th place matchup saw Moreirense draw at home, allowing Guimaraes to close to within 3. Belenenses SAD is within 6 of 5th place with a road match against Benfica coming up. They need a big road win to stay in the fight!
Meanwhile, the race at the bottom! Tondela has finally dropped to a relegation spot. Pepa still has a job but week by week it appears to be getting closer to the end. This shoe will drop sooner rather than later I feel. Chaves couldn't go beyond a home draw to Santa Clara, they needed the win. At some point, Chaves needs to get some sort of win streak going if they have any chance. Feirense needs a MASSIVE turnaround. They are playing horrendous soccer, and they have upcoming games against Porto and Benfica. Things are looking very very bleek.
Maritimo and Setubal are just 1 point above the cutline, they are not playing great soccer. Every point counts, so even the draws against clubs not in the bottom race are big. Aves got a big win against Boavista, meaning the team is a solid 2 points and in sole possession of 13th. August Inacio is looking to save this season, and he may do the unlikely and prevent the team from going down. Aves spent basically the entire first half of the season at the bottom, this is a great few games from the team. The only blemish is a home loss to Benfica, but apparently that's a normality now.
Nacional has pulled 3 points clear of the bottom. Who would think Nacional would be 3 points up and tied for 11th when they lost 10-0 to Benfica? It must be said this maybe says more about how well Benfica is playing rather than a true indication of Nacional performance. Boavista did lose this weekend and they do have a home match against Sporting. It doesn't get easier for them!
Week 25 Matches
Fri. Mar 8, 3:30pm: Chaves-Rio Ave
Sat. Mar 9, 10:30am: Maritimo-Moreirense
Sat. Mar 9, 1pm: Braga-Guimaraes (Game of the Week)
Sat. Mar 9, 3:30pm: Boavista-Sporting
Sun. Mar 10, 10am: Portimonense-Nacional
Sun. Mar 10, 10am: Santa Clara-Aves
Sun. Mar 10, 12:30pm: Setubal-Tondela
Sun. Mar 10, 3pm: Feirense-Porto (RTPi)
Mon. Mar 11, 3:15pm: Benfica-Belenenses SAD (BTV)
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