FC Porto are Champions League giants, but squad is mostly debutants | OneFootball

After two seasons away, FC Porto is preparing to return to the stage it knows best. By winning the national title, the Dragons secured a place in the UEFA Champions League, a competition they will play in for the first time under the new format introduced in 2024/25. It is not, however, a completely new reality, since the format is exactly the same as the one the blue and whites encountered in the last two seasons in the Europa League. Even so, being among the elite always carries a different weight, and the level of difficulty of their opponents will inevitably be higher.

It is often said that the Champions League favors teams more used to the competition. And in number of appearances, FC Porto trails only Barcelona (31), Real Madrid (31) and Bayern Munich (30), with 28 appearances. However, when the focus shifts to the squad’s experience, the picture is different.

The numbers are easy to work out. Looking at the squad Francesco Farioli has at his disposal, only nine players have already featured in the Champions League, excluding qualifiers, a number that increased with the signing of André Silva. The Portuguese international immediately moved to the top of the list of the most experienced players in the competition, with 28 matches — eight of them wearing the Dragons shirt in 2016/17 — the same as Zaidu. The striker has scored 10 goals in the competition, and no other Porto player comes close to that tally; besides André, only Eustáquio, with three goals, and Pepê, with one, have scored in the Champions League. In terms of matches played, Diogo Costa is third, with 23, and the list ends with Victor Froholdt, who has already played one match in the competition for Copenhagen.

This means that a large part of FC Porto’s squad could make their debut in Europe’s biggest club competition in 2026/27, wearing the Dragons shirt. Most are still young players, but there are also more experienced members who aspire to reach that stage. Cláudio Ramos and João Costa are two examples, although their task is made harder, since only a possible absence of Diogo Costa — or a departure from the Dragão... — seems likely to open that opportunity.

Jan Bednarek is one of the most curious cases: at 30, with plenty of Premier League experience and appearances in two European Championships and two World Cups, he will play in the Champions League for the first time. A year after making his debut in European competitions. The Polish defender’s first European campaign was, overall, positive — he featured in all 12 matches FC Porto played in the UEFA Europa League — but it was marked by his early red card in Nottingham, in the second leg of the tie against Forest in the quarter-finals, an incident that ultimately led to the Dragons’ elimination.

Essentially, FC Porto returns to its usual place next season, but does so with a squad that is relatively inexperienced in Europe’s elite competition. Something that the board led by André Villas-Boas may still try to soften in the market, although the main focus remains on young players...

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