Confirmed! Porto v Sporting set for midweek clash | OneFootball

It's confirmed. The clash between Porto and Sporting, part of the 21st round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, will indeed take place on a Monday, February 9th, a day after the second round of the presidential elections, which will be contested between António José Seguro and André Ventura.

Despite National Championship games being played last Sunday, January 18th, the day of the first round of the elections, including a match involving the Dragons, a duel of the magnitude of a Classic could generate a media conflict and exposure between events, a situation that is intended to be avoided.

The change has a direct impact on Sporting, which faces AVS SAD on February 4th, in the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup. To comply with the minimum 72-hour rest period between matches, the Lions could not play the classic against the Dragons on Saturday, February 7th, thus paving the way for the Monday solution.

The duel against the team led by Francesco Farioli comes at a particularly demanding time for Sporting, which knows it can no longer afford to drop points in the title race. With the margin for error increasingly narrow, the Lions - who won their last match - approach the trip to Dragão as a true final.

At the moment, the team led by Rui Borges has 45 points and remains in second place in the Liga Portugal Betclic standings. Porto (52) is in first place with seven more points. Meanwhile, Benfica is in third place with 42 points.

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