Will it be this one? Portugal can have three teams in the eighth finals of the Champions League. For that, Sporting must qualify and join Benfica and FC Porto, which would be unprecedented. Portuguese football has never been represented by three teams in the group of the 16 best in Europe. The ball is in Sporting’s court, which will welcome Eintracht Frankfurt next Tuesday to the final round of Group D, where all teams can still qualify or be eliminated. But it only takes a draw to progress.
In the case of the Lions’ successes, Portugal threatens to become one of the most represented countries, along with England, with four places: Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have already qualified and Tottenham are still fighting for a place. The scenario in Italy is identical to the Portuguese: with Inter and Napoli qualified, he expects AC Milan to follow. Germany has also qualified the usual Bayern and Dortmund and the opportunity to see through RB Leipzig. Just like E. Frankfurt. What happened would mean Sporting and Portugal would miss the goal. Something that happened last year, when FC Porto were knocked out by At.Madrid in the last round.
There is a combination of final round results that would make the Portuguese league most represented, along with the Premier League, with three teams, against two German, two Italian, two French, one Belgian, one Austrian, one Spanish and one Ukrainian. But for that Sporting would have to eliminate E. Frankfurt, Marseille, Tottenham and Salzburg and Shakhtar the better from AC Milan and Leipzig.
Having three teams in the round of 16 would be the best way to celebrate the return of the three places in the group stage and guarantee a 100% success rate in contrast to the sad reality of Spain, which has four teams in the group stage. came in and only one qualified: the record holder for attendance and trophies, Real Madrid. Barcelona, op. Madrid and Sevilla have already fallen by the wayside and can only reach the Europa League.
Guaranteed for the time being two Portuguese teams in the eighth for the fourth time in history (see table). In the 2007-08 season, FC Porto and Sporting passed, with the Dragons reaching the quarter-finals and the Lions falling into the eighth finals. In the 2016-17 season, Benfica and FC Porto qualified and both finished in eighth place. In 2021-22 Sporting and Benfica qualified – the lions got no further than eighth and Benfica reached the quarters.
Eagles and dragons can still win their groups, allowing them to avoid a behemoth in the draw. FC Porto went to Belgium to avenge the heavy defeat at Dragão with the same figures (4-0) and took advantage of At. Madrid to qualify and welcome the Spaniards on the final day with the desire to avenge their elimination last year and take 1st place. The red scenario is softer. Tied at the top of the group with PSG, Benfica visits Israel’s Maccabi Haifa in the final round, while the Parisians welcome Juventus.
With the triumphs of eagles and dragons and the draw of the lions in this round, Portugal passed the Netherlands in the UEFA ranking for 24 hours and returned to sixth place. But thanks to Thursday’s results in the Europa League and the Conference League, with the triumphs of PSV and AZ Alkmaar, Portugal is back in seventh place.
It should also be noted that the big three have already broken a record in the league – for the first time in the same season, they managed to score 27 points in the group stage, surpassing the 2014/15 record of 26.
many millions of fittings
Benfica (58.3 million) and FC Porto (57.5 million) have already collected almost 60 million euros in income in the competition. After winning two qualifiers, the Reds secured a place in the group stage and the respective 38.3 million. In competition they have a total of 10.26 million so far (three wins and two draws) and a further 9.6 million for qualifying for the round of 16. This value can increase with a win at the end of the group stage .
The triumph in Belgium, on the other hand, gave the Dragons 2.8ME – the amount paid for a win – plus 9.6 million for a place in eighth. The national champions had already collected 5.6 million for the two wins over Bayer Leverkusen and 39.5 million for entering the group stage. Sérgio Conceição’s team could reach 60 million as of next Tuesday at the reception of At. Madrid has another 2.8 million at stake.
The leonine values are more modest, due to the entry premium – it differs according to the ten-year UEFA ranking. For example, Sporting received 28.1 million for participation in the Champions League, plus 6.5 million in competition (two wins and a draw), but it still runs through history and for the 9.6 million from qualifying.
Source: DN
