FC Porto braced for tough Águas Santas clash: “It’ll be hard” | OneFootball

After the midweek European commitments, the championship returns on Saturday with seven matches counting for the 20th round, with the main highlight being FC Porto's (3rd) trip to Águas Santas (4th).

"It's going to be a tough game, we know it's a difficult venue to play in. Due to the atmosphere and the mystique of Águas Santas, that's what we're used to. The goal is always the same, to win. We know they have achieved interesting results against the big teams, we are aware of that and it adds some responsibility, but it only depends on us," said Leonel Fernandes to the Porto website, about the clash with the team from Maia that defeated Benfica on February 11th.

FC Porto, third in the standings and six points behind leaders Sporting, comes to this match after being defeated at home by the Danish team Skanderborg in the Main Round of the European League (28-33). "There are certain things where we feel the difference between an international game and a national game, but we are used to it and I think, at this stage, the change of mindset is already natural. We quickly adjust our notions of the opponent and how we need to approach each game. The essence of our game remains, it's not such a big change," analyzed the Portuguese international.

Also on Saturday, Benfica, second and five points behind Sporting with a game in hand, hosts the team from Braga, Arsenal da Devesa (reversed round); the Minho team occupies the last position and has not yet achieved any victory. "It's difficult to play against this type of team, but we must always stay focused on the game," warned Dutchman Reinier Taboada to the Eagles' website.

The two-time champion Sporting only plays on Sunday, with a visit to Avanca.

20TH ROUND

Marítimo 20:00 ABC

SATURDAY

Póvoa AC 18:00 FC Gaia

V. Guimarães 18:30 Belenenses

Águas Santas 18:30 FC Porto

Arsenal 20:00 Benfica (reversed round, at Luz)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.