Benfica’s stunning season, with 18 wins and four draws in 22 official matches, is reflected in the championship standings and also in the results of an Aximage survey for DN, JN, O JOGO and TSF. When asked about the team that currently has the best conditions to win the title, most respondents chose Clube da Luz (58%), followed by FC Porto (22%), Sporting (8%) and Braga (2%) ). Played 11 of the 34 rounds of the League, the eagles lead six points ahead of Minho’s warriors, eight more than the dragons and 12 more than the lions.
As for the protagonists of what has already been played in the season, it is also in Benfica that the favorites live. According to the poll, striker Rafa was the best player for 37% of respondents, with a clear advantage over Taremi (16%), Enzo Fernández (14%), Otávio (7%) and Vitinha (6%). The Braga attacker breaks the dominance of eagles and dragons, each of which has two players in the top four.
As for who the recommended coach is, the poll also leaves no doubt: Roger Schmidt got 56% of the likes, well ahead of Sérgio Conceição (18%), Ruben Amorim (7%) and Artur George (4% ). The magnificent campaign of Casa Pia, this year promoted to the highest level of Portuguese football and currently fourth in the league, accounted for 2% of respondents who mentioned coach Filipe Martins.
When asked about the consequences of the interruption for the World Cup in Benfica, 28% of respondents answered that it will be beneficial as Schmidt’s team can recharge their batteries18% said it will be harmful because of the loss of rhythm, and 36% devalued the topic and said the break is the same for all clubs.
The poll also looked at the possibility of a Portuguese club winning a European competition this season. Despite both reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League as first in their respective groups, Benfica and FC Porto inspire a very different confidence among the fans: for 49% of those polled, the club da Luz in Portugal is the one with the most chances of winning the millionaire league, while the Porto players only got 22% of the responses. Even in the Europa League, Sporting was mentioned by only 6% of respondents and Braga by 4%.
Arbitration “equal” to 2021/22
Aximage’s poll for DN, JN, O JOGO and TSF also asked a question about the performance of the referees in the current season compared to the previous one. In the comments, exactly half of the respondents (50%) chose to say that the level of referees is “the same” as last season.
For 23% of the people who took part in this poll, the performance of the referees is “better” than in 2021/22, while 15% responded that it was “worse”. The rest of the respondents (12%) answered that they have no opinion on the subject.
DATA SHEET
The poll was conducted by Aximage for DN, TSF, JN and O JOGO, with the aim of evaluating the Portuguese’s opinion on the football season. The fieldwork took place between 26 and 30 October 2022 and 812 interviews were conducted among people over 18 years old living in Portugal. A quota sample, obtained through a gender, age, and region (NUTSII) cross matrix, was performed from the known universe, rebalanced by gender, age group, and education. For a probability sample of 812 interviews, the maximum standard deviation of a proportion is 0.017 (ie a “margin of error” – at 95% – of 3.44%). Study responsibility: Aximage Comunicação e Imagem, Lda., under the technical direction of Ana Carla Basílio.
Source: DN
