FC Porto managed to ‘score’ in half of the 18 visits to Italy for the European football cups, with four wins and five draws against nine defeats.
On the eve of the 19th away game with transalpine teams, against Inter Milan, for the first leg of the round of 16 of the 2022/23 Champions League, the “dragons” have five games without a win, but drew both, losing the one before them , but they left Turin to celebrate.
The ninth and so far last defeat against Porto on transalpine soil took place on March 9, 2021 and had the taste of a big win in practice, since the 2-3, after extra time, was enough to secure a place in the ‘quarters’ of the 2020/21 ‘Champions’, after a 2-1 at home.
Against a team that had the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo as its big ‘star’, Sérgio Conceição’s ‘eleven’ entered the Juventus Stadium with the minimal lead, but quickly extended it, with a penalty from Sérgio Oliveira, in the 19th minute .
A double from Chiesa, on 49 and 63 minutes, still forced extra time, but then the now Galatasaray player returned to shine, with a double, on 115, with a direct free kick, the goal the Frenchman’s was from scratch using Rabiot for the Italians, at 117.
It was a defeat that tasted like a victory, and after that confrontation, FC Porto returned to Italy twice, both last season, and achieved equality, against AC Milan (1-1), then with a taste of ‘little’, in the ‘Champions’ Group Stage and Lazio (2-2) on their way to the ‘eighth’ of the Europa League.
Before the 2-3 in Turin, the ‘dragons’ suffered two defeats in the ‘eighth’ of the ‘Champions’, the first also on the ground of Juventus (0-1), who dictated the farewell in 2016/17, after the 0 – 2 at Dragão, and the second at Roma (1-2), which would later be ‘rectified’ at Porto (3-1 after extra time), in 2018/19.
To find Porto’s last victory in Italy, we have to go back to the 2016/17 Champions League play-offs, more precisely to August 23, 2016, the day when Porto’s players beat Roma 3-0 at Olímpico, where the hosts were reduced to nine after 50 minutes.
The Brazilian Felipe (eight minutes) and the Mexicans Layún (73) and Corona (75) scored the goals for the ‘eleven’ led by Nuno Espírito Santo.
This was Porto’s fourth win in Italy, after two against AC Milan (1-0 in 1979/80 and 3-2 in 1996/97) and one against Sampdoria (1-0 in 1994/95).
In 1979/80, on their second visit to Italy, after 0-1 against Napoli in their debut, in 1974/75, FC Porto, led by José Maria Pedroto, triumphed in San Siro thanks to a goal from Duda (60 minutes) , after being left with a ‘zero’ in Antas, in the first round of the Cup of Champions.
After a draw with Roma (0-0 in 1981/82) and two defeats against AC Milan (0-1 in 1992/93 and 0-3 in 1993/94, in the ‘Champions’ group stage), FC Porto won again in 1994/95, now against Sampdoria, in the Cup Winners’ Cup.
In Genoa, in the first leg of the ‘quarters’, a goal from former Benfica player Sergei Yuran in the 64th minute gave FC Porto the advantage, but the second leg saw the Italians eventually replicate the 1–0 draw. and win on penalties (5-3).
Two years later, the ‘dragons’ added an unprecedented second successive win in Italy, and with ‘splendor and circumstance’, beating a ‘great’ AC Milan at San Siro, in the opening of the 1996/97 ‘Champions’, with a goal from Artur (53 minutes) and two from substitute Jardel (76 and 82) changing the score from 1-2 to 3-2.
After that triumph, FC Porto won again only 20 years later, when they beat Roma 3-0, but added two more ‘nice’ draws in between: the 0-0 against Lazio, in 2002/03, was worth a place in the final of the UEFA Cup, and the 2-2 with Napoli, in 2013/14, qualifying for the ‘quarters’ of the Europa League.
The defeats came against Juventus (1-3, in the group stage of the 2001/02 ‘Champions’) and in the two games against Inter Milan (1-3 in 2004/05, to ‘fall’ in the ‘eighth’ of the Liga of Champions, and 1-2 in 2005/06, in the group stage of the same competition).
FC Porto’s 19th game in Italy and third away game against Inter Milan will take place at 9:00 PM local time (8:00 PM in Lisbon) on Wednesday and will count towards the first leg of the round of 16 of the League of Champions in Football .
– FC Porto’s 18 matches in the stronghold of Italian clubs: opponents’ season match results (scorers FC Porto) 21/22 LE/POF Lazio W 2-2 (Taremi and Uribe) 21/22 LC/FG AC Milan W 1-1 (Luis Díaz)20/21 LC/OF Juventus D 2-3ap (Sérgio Oliveira 2, 1gp)18/19 LC/OF Roma D 1-2 (Adrián López)16/17 LC/OF Juventus D 0-116/ 17 LC/3P Roma W 3-0 (Felipe, Layún, Corona)13/14 LE/OF Napoli L 2-2 (Ghilas, Ricardo Quaresma)05/06 LC/FG Inter Milan L 1-2 (Hugo Almeida)04 / 05 LC/OF Inter Milan D 1-3 (Jorge Costa)02/03 TU/MF Lazio L 0-001/02 LC/FG Juventus D 1-3 (Clayton)96/97 LC/FG AC Milan V 3 – 2 (Artur, Jardel 2)94/95 TT/QF Sampdoria W 1-0 (Yuran)93/94 LC/FG AC Milan D 0-392/93 LC/FG AC Milan D 0-181/82 TT/2 Roma E 0-079/80 TC/1 AC Milan W 1-0 (Duda)74/75 TU/2 Napoli D 0-1Balance: Matches: 18. Wins: 4. Draws: 5. Defeats: 9. Goals: 19. Goals against: 26.
Source: DN
