Portal dos Dragões
·4 January 2026
Farioli: Champion’s luck? Never heard of it, just hard work

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Yahoo sportsPortal dos Dragões
·4 January 2026

FC Porto returned this Sunday from the Azores with a victory (1-0) against Santa Clara, in the 17th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, marking the end of the first half of the championship.
At the end of the match, Francesco Farioli highlighted the importance of the three points won, which leave FC Porto clearly leading the standings, seven points ahead of Sporting (2nd) and ten ahead of Benfica (3rd).
“Luck? I think we managed to get the best out of a very complicated game. Of course, the goal came from a moment of misfortune for the opposing goalkeeper, but I think we deserved it. We attacked well, structured, on a very challenging pitch, against a very well-organized team with very talented players in attack. It's a very important result for us,” declared the Italian coach of the Dragons to Sport TV.
FC Porto's Pragmatism to Secure the Three Points
“It's important. Today, especially in the last 10-15 minutes, there were many duels. The pitch was at the limit for playing. We had to close our area because Santa Clara has excellent players who shoot very well from long distance. We made substitutions very early, but I think we played well and without a doubt, the result is very important. Champion's luck? I don't know that expression. We are a hardworking team, always with the feeling that we have to keep working and improving. We came here as leaders and we will go into the second half as leaders too.”
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.









































