FC Porto in the Champions League, Sporting denied a third straight title | OneFootball

It’s official. Portugal will have a new champion at the end of the current sporting season. After a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night, at home to Tondela, Sporting were officially ruled out of the race for the 2025/26 league title.

It is true that, before this postponed match from the 26th round of the Primeira Liga, the odds were already not in Sporting’s favour, but the draw against the Beira side, secured only after the 90th minute, left Sporting with no mathematical chance of making history and winning the league title for a third consecutive time for the first time ever.

With only three rounds left to play in the Primeira Liga, Sporting are nine points behind leaders FC Porto and trail on the head-to-head tiebreaker as well. The Lions lost to Porto at Alvalade (2-1) and drew at the Estádio do Dragão (1-1).

But there is more to these calculations. In the very remote event that FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting finish the championship level on the same number of points — 82 in this case — Rui Borges’ side would be clearly at a disadvantage in the mini-league between the Big Three.

Sporting would in fact be the worst of the three, with only two points collected from matches against FC Porto and Benfica, while the Dragons and the Eagles have six points each.

This draw at Alvalade also settled FC Porto’s future in next season’s European competitions. Mathematically, Porto can no longer fall below second place, so a spot in the Champions League qualifiers is already guaranteed for now. Even so, direct qualification remains within reach for Francesco Farioli’s side.

What is left to play before the end of the league season?

The next round could crown the national champion. FC Porto can secure first place and the title as early as Saturday, with two possible ways of doing so. The first is by beating Alverca at the Estádio do Dragão, since the Dragons are three points away from the crown. The other depends on Benfica.

The Lisbon side visit Famalicão from 6 p.m. on Saturday. If Benfica fail to win in Minho, FC Porto could be crowned champions with a draw against the Ribatejo side, or with a win, in the match scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sporting, meanwhile, only face Vitória SC on Monday, in the closing match of round 32.

In round 33, which could already see FC Porto as champions, the Dragons will play away to already relegated AVS, Benfica will host Sporting de Braga, and Sporting will travel to face Rio Ave.

The final round includes FC Porto hosting Santa Clara, Benfica visiting Estoril, and the clash between Sporting and Gil Vicente at Alvalade.

It should be remembered that FC Porto lead the league with 82 points, seven more than Benfica and nine more than Sporting.

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