Bednarek and Kiwior shore up Porto’s defence | OneFootball

The departures of Otávio Ataíde and Tiago Djaló in the last summer transfer market, coupled with the retirement of the Spanish Iván Marcado, created a huge gap in FC Porto's defensive axis. The Portistas were left practically without available center-backs and had to strongly attack the market to fill this gap. And the solution could not have been more accurate.

Hired this summer, Jan Bednarek and Jakuk Kiwior form a concrete duo in the defensive axis of FC Porto. The numbers are clear: while Bednarek and Kiwior were on the field at the same time, the dragons did not suffer any goals. In five games where the Polish internationals were an option in the eleven of Francesco Farioli, the blue and whites kept the goal inviolate.

This defensive wall made up of Polish center-backs began to bear fruit in the 1-0 victory over Nacional. This was followed by another match without conceding goals at Rio Ave's home (0-4) and also in the debut in the Europa League in Salzburg (0-1). More recently, the Poles kept the goal at zero in the rout in Arouca (0-4).

Sunday brought the big test for the Bednarek-Kiwior duo. The Classic against Benfica was the biggest exam for the center-backs, especially considering that, in the previous season, the red rival had been the team that scored the most goals against FC Porto: eight in just two matches, both in the I League.

Even so, the pillars of the Portista defense once again fulfilled their role and the nets of FC Porto remained immaculate. It's already 450 minutes in which the Polish duo is on the field and in which the Portistas do not concede any goals. An above-average understanding between the two continues to keep the goal under the guard of Diogo Costa sealed.

Red Star became, on Thursday, the second team to manage to score against FC Porto this season. Prpic lined up alongside Bednarek against the Serbs and Vasilije Kostov took the opportunity to beat the goal defended by Diogo Costa.

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