Farioli on Sporting v Porto: Focus on red cards, "It was tough" | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli spoke about the expulsions of Sporting's opponents at the start of the season. In the first three rounds of the Liga Portugal Betclic, Rui Borges's team played with a numerical advantage twice: against Arouca and Nacional. Even so, the Porto coach showed he was prepared for this scenario.

“In the last games, it was difficult to see the opponents with 11 against Sporting. In one-third of the games, they played against 10 players. We prepared for all scenarios, even being at a disadvantage, just in case,” said the blue and white coach at the press conference previewing next Saturday's classic.

The truth is that Francesco Farioli seems to have a short memory. In the last 13 encounters between Sporting and Porto, the Alvalade team had 13 expulsions compared to only one for the dragons. In the last Classic at Estádio do Dragão, Rui Borges's team ended up playing with nine men after the expulsions of Matheus Reis and Ousmane Diomande.

Away from the matches against Sporting, Porto's last season was marked by the number of times the blue and whites played against 10 men. Throughout the 2024/25 season, Vítor Bruno and Martin Anselmi's team played with an extra player on the field on 14 different occasions.

The Sporting – Porto match - which Rui Borges has already previewed - is scheduled for next Saturday at 8:30 PM at Estádio José Alvalade. The game pertains to the fourth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic and pits two of the current three leaders of the competition against each other, alongside Moreirense. The match will be refereed by João Gonçalves.

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