Benfica will host FC Porto at Luz this Friday (6pm, BTV) in a derby that could almost definitively settle the title question as a win for the eagles leaves the rival 13 points behind when eight games remain at the end of the I League – a stumbling block by the dragons will Sp. Braga, in case of victory in the next round, go to second place.
So there is a lot at stake in this derby, but history shows that Benfica always has a lot of trouble with the reception to FC Porto. Proof of this is the fact that in the last 20 championship matches played in Luz, the Eagles have won just… four games. That is, in the last 20 trips to the eternal rival’s field, and counting only matches from the I Liga, FC Porto won nine times and there were seven draws.
Note that, as a matter of curiosity, three of these four victories for Benfica were recorded in seasons where the reds were crowned league champions – 2009-10, 2014-15 and 2018-19. The exception was the victory in the 2005-2006 season, when the dragons lifted the cup, in a competition where the eagles finished in third place, behind Sporting.
Benfica’s last win came in the 2018-19 season, a 1-0 win on matchday seven, with a goal from Seferovic in the second half, when FC Porto were led by Sérgio Conceição. Before that, the Eagles won 2-0 in 2013-2014 (goals from Rodrigo and Garay), in 2009-10 by the narrowest margin with a goal from Saviola, and in 2005-06 the Reds scored a free-kick almost from the midfield of Laurent Robert who betrayed Vítor Baía.
The last victory for the blue and white took place exactly last season, on matchday 33, a triumph that saw Sérgio Conceição’s team become national champions again in the eternal rival’s stadium, with a goal from Zaidu already in extra time.
FC Porto even won three of the last five trips to Luz. Before the aforementioned last season, the dragons won 0-2 in the 2019-20 season (they scored Zé Luís and Marega) and in 2017-18 they triumphed by the narrowest margin, with a goal from Mexican Herrera in the 90th minute .
In the general accounting, that is, adding up all Championship matches played at the home of Benfica since 1935, the advantage here is clearly the eagles, a sign that Porto’s dominance has only been accentuated over the last 20 years. In the usual confrontations, Benfica has 43 wins in 88 matches, plus 27 draws and 18 defeats. That is, in the last 20 years alone, the dragons achieved half the victories achieved in 88 years of championship.
Conception vs Benfica
Roger Schmidt plays against FC Porto for the first time at home (he won the only and last game, in the Dragon’s first round match). Sérgio Conceição will visit the stadium in I Liga matches for the ninth time in his entire coaching career.
As coach of the dragons, he lost only once in five matches (he won three and drew one), but in previous visits, under the management of V. Guimarães, Sp. Braga, Académica and Olhanense were always defeated.
While playing for FC Porto in the 1990s, Conceição made eight appearances against Benfica in all competitions. He never scored a goal and finished with a draw – four wins and four losses.
This is a match of capital importance for FC Porto. Not only because a defeat almost irrevocably decides the question of the title in favor of Benfica, but also because the second place, which gives direct access to the champions, can escape the dragons in defeat. However, everything will depend on the result of Sp. Braga, which hosts Estoril on Friday evening after the derby. At the moment, FC Porto has a two-point lead over third-placed Arsenal, which in turn is six points behind Sporting.
Source: DN
