Like the championship, the battle for the I Liga top scorer trophy is also open… and with a small advantage for Benfica. Gonçalo Ramos and João Mário top the table with 17 goals, chased by Taremi, who has been trying to become the winner for four seasons, and by Sporting Pedro Gonçalves, who lifted the trophy in 2020-21.
And something rare could happen this season, as it’s been 27 years since two Portuguese failed to finish in the first two places. At the end of the 1995–96 season, then-Porto player Domingos Paciência was crowned with 25 goals, ahead of then-Benfica player João Vieira Pinto, who finished the championship with 18 goals. It hasn’t happened since then, but in the 2004-05 season there was a podium that over time became 100% Portuguese, with Liedson, João Tomás and Simão Sabrosa. However, at that time the Sporting striker was still far from naturalization and playing for the Portuguese national team (it happened only in 2009).
At the moment, and with five games to go before the end of the championship, the biggest fight is between Gonçalo Ramos and João Mário, with the 21-year-old striker holding a slight advantage. The number 88 shirt scored 17 goals in 25 matches, while his team-mate scored the same number of goals in 28, so if they tie, it will be the striker who takes home the Silver Ball trophy. This keeps the difference in the number of games played.
So far, Ramos has played fewer games and played fewer minutes, that is, he needed less time on the field to reach the goal (0.68 goals per game against 0.61 for the midfielder). On the other hand, as Benfica’s official penalty taker, the midfielder can benefit from the goals scored from the penalty spot for the remaining five days. Of João Mário’s 17 goals, seven have been from 11 yards out. It won’t be unheard of to see a midfielder top scorer in the league as Pedro Goncalves was crowned two years ago.
Gonçalo Ramos has exploded this season and becomes a real killer, able to surpass a brand that has been around for more than 30 years for the Luz side. Not since Rui Águas (1991-92), a real striker, Portuguese and Benfica fan, has been crowned. But to top Rui Águas’ performance, the eagles’ number 88 jersey must start from João Mário.
A draw can happen, but it will never prevail. Liga Portugal has not shared the Silver Ball since 2011-2012. That year, Óscar Cardozo (Benfica) and Lima (Sp. Braga) shared first place honours. The same had already happened in 2002-2003 with Simão Sabrosa (Benfica) and Fary (Beira Mar), in 1983-84 with Nené (Benfica) and Fernando Gomes (FC Porto), in 1965-66 with Ernesto Figueiredo (Sporting) and Eusébio (Benfica) and in 1939-40 with Peyroteo (Sporting) and Slavko Kodrnja (FC Porto).
Three seasons ago, three players finished the I Liga with the same 18 goals – Carlos Vinícius (Benfica), Taremi (Rio Ave) and Pizzi (Benfica) – with the Brazilian taking home the trophy for fewer minutes played.
Taremi vs. Pedro Goncalves
Despite the two Benfica players having a slight advantage over Taremi and Pedro Gonçalves, Gonçalo Ramos has gone three rounds without scoring and João Mário has gone four rounds without scoring, which could give the chasers some encouragement. The Iranian from FC Porto and the midfielder from Sporting have played exactly the same goals (15) and played the same 28 matches, but the blue and white player has less time on the field (2186 minutes against 2401 minutes for Pot) and that counts as a tiebreak.
Taremi has been fighting for four seasons to become the top scorer in the I Liga… he has always been surpassed – in 2021-22 by Darwin Núñez, in 2020-21 by Pedro Gonçalves and Seferovic, and in 2019-20 he was tied with Pizzi and Carlos Vinicius, but without a trophy.
The lion-like midfielder already knows what it’s like to lift the Silver Ball – a trophy created by A Bola newspaper in 1952-53 to reward the championship’s top scorer. It was in his debut season with a lion on his chest (2020-21) that the Sporting player proved to be a top scorer, scoring 23 goals – the unprecedented hat-trick of the last round enabled him to beat Benfica’s Seferovic in and become decisive for winning the national title.
three fighters in the top 10
In the list of the ten best scorers of the Portuguese championship, three players from Sp. . Braga – Ricardo Hora (11 goals in 25 matches), Simón Banza (10 in 26) and Iuri Medeiros (9 in 26). The top 10 scorers in the I Liga is closed by Rafa Mújica do Arouca (eight goals).
One thing is right. Be a champion, go to the Champions or Europa League or stay with the Portuguese football elite… all championship accounts need goals. It’s the goals that score points and it’s the points that decide who celebrates in the end, so the battle for the championship is also linked to the duel for the top scorer’s trophy. Benfica currently leads the I Liga with 74 points, four more than FC Porto (70) and six more than Sp. Braga (68). Sporting is already out of this fight with 61 points, in 4th place.
Source: DN
