Benfica are the favorites to win the 2023/24 Portuguese Football League. In the survey conducted by Aximage for DN, JN and TSF, which took place between the 14th and 18th of this month, more than half of respondents (51%) ranked the Eagles as the team with the best chance of securing of the title. title, at the end of the test.
FC Porto is the second team with the most mentions with 22%, while Sporting receives 16% of the votes. Sporting de Braga completes the quartet with 4%, with 1% of respondents still mentioning the possibility that a fifth club, not mentioned in the questionnaire, could become champion.
In geographical distribution, Benfica has the highest number of mentions in the center of the country (63%) and in the Lisbon metropolitan area (62%), while in the Porto metropolitan area the Reds’ favoritism drops to 29%. Dragons are mentioned more often in the Porto region (55%), while in Lisbon they decrease sharply, with only 5% of references. However, Sporting is not ranked first in any region of the country, although in the Center, as in Lisbon, it is ahead of Porto’s players as the second club with the best chance of becoming champions (20% against 12%). (21% versus 5%), and in the South and the Islands (19% versus 17%).
Sporting de Braga, the fourth club betting on the title, only managed to finish third in the north of the country with 14% of the nominations, ahead of Sporting with 10%. Benfica has favoritism among both genders, in all age groups and in most social classes.
When the question arises who has built the best team, Benfica is again mentioned most often (49%), followed by Sporting (13%), FC Porto (11%) and Sp. Braga (5%). However, more than a fifth (22%) do not know how to indicate this.
In terms of geographical distribution, Benfica has the most references throughout the country, including in the Porto metropolitan area (37% of responses, against 22% for FC Porto).
On the other hand, when asked who is the best reinforcement/player of this season in national football, more than a third (36%) indicate that it is Di María, from Benfica. The Argentinian surpasses Gyokeres, Sporting’s Swedish reinforcement, who has 12%. Kokçu, another Reds signing, had 6% of the nominations. FC Porto, through reinforcements Alan Varela and Iván Jaime, receives a response of 4% and 3% of respondents. João Moutinho, from Sp. Braga, has 3%, as does Nico González of FC Porto.
More discounts are not exciting
One of the new measures that has attracted the most attention during the matches is the compensation period given by the referees at the end of the first and second half of the matches, with the aim of correcting several periods of no play. , such as celebrating goals, substitutions and injuries.
However, most respondents to this survey disagree with the increase in the number of minutes awarded by referees beyond 90 minutes. A total of 42% reject this increase, while 35% agree with the measure. In the survey, 23% gave no opinion.
It is in the south of the country and on the islands (47%) that the biggest critics of the increase in extra time in games can be found. In the opposite direction, in the Porto Metropolitan region (39%), there are more positive opinions about the implemented measure.
Although the figures for both genders do not differ greatly, in terms of age groups it is the older groups (over 65 years) that have the most unfavorable opinion about the increase in pay (48%). If we talk about classes, the C2 segment (45%) is the segment that most rejects the growth of additional time, while the lowest level (D) is the most in line with the measure, with 37% positive responses. .
The performance of the referees and VAR is the same as before
More than a third of those interviewed in this study believe that the performance of referees and VAR is at an equivalent level compared to last season.
For 36% of the people who responded to the survey, everything is the same in the field of arbitration, although the number of people who think that the level has dropped and that the judges, assistants and video referees are making more and more mistakes is not much lower ( 31 %).
The indications of possible improvements are clear. Only 12% say referees and VAR make fewer mistakes, while 21% don’t know how to answer this.
It is in the Lisbon metropolitan area (34%) that there are more people who think that arbitration makes more mistakes. Those most optimistic about performance are in the center of the country (14%), while the view that everything is the same is more common in the north (44%).
Men seem to be more demanding: 41% believe that Portuguese arbitration makes more mistakes, which is supported by only 22% of women. The youngest age group (18-34 years) is the one that most thinks everything is the same (40%). On a social level, the most negative opinions from the survey emerge through quotes from class C1 (34%), while the lowest class (D) is the one that shows the greatest goodwill, with 13% understanding that a favorable evolution has taken place.
Data sheet: Opinion poll conducted by Aximage for DN/JN/TSF/O JOGO. Universe: Individuals over 18 years of age living in Portugal. Quota sample, obtained from a matrix crossing gender, age and region. The sample had 804 effective interviews: 696 online interviews and 108 telephone interviews; 380 men and 424 women; 181 between 18 and 34 years, 210 between 35 and 49 years, 225 between 50 and 64 years and 188 for people over 65; Norte 281, Centro 177, Sul e Ilhas 123, AM Lisboa 223. Technique: Online application (CAWI) of a structured questionnaire to a panel of individuals meeting the predetermined quota for individuals aged 18 years or older; telephone interviews (CATI) from the same subuniverse questionnaire used by Aximage, filling the same quotas for those aged 50 and over and others. Fieldwork took place between September 14 and 18, 2023. Response rate: 71.52%. The maximum sampling error of this study, for a 95% confidence interval, is +/- 3.5%. Responsibility for the research: Aximage, under the technical direction of Ana Carla Basílio.
Source: DN
