Heads up, Mourinho! Porto smiling on the eve of hosting Benfica | OneFootball

Less than a day away from the much-anticipated clash between Benfica and Porto, the pieces on the enormous chessboard are already being moved, and the winner of the Classic may emerge in the details. However, there is a factor that might very well give a slight advantage to the dragons over the Lisbon rival, and it cannot be denied.

As reported by the newspaper A Bola on the morning of this Saturday, October 4, the blue and white emblem arrives at the Classic fresher, despite having played later than the reds. The truth is that, with less recovery time, the dragons have accumulated less fatigue since the start of the season, something that cannot be said for Benfica.

On the other hand, although Porto has played three games in the span of seven days due to the postponement of the match against Arouca, something that did not please the Porto fans, Francesco Farioli's team has responded well. As seen in the match against Red Star, where the Italian made several changes to the lineup. In Benfica's case, the situation is different,

The Club of Light - dealing with a last-minute virus - had a more troubled start to the season compared to the northern rival, as, having finished second in the last championship edition, it was forced to play two qualifying rounds for the Champions League in August, which in itself overloaded Benfica's schedule, not to mention other factors like the Club World Cup and a rushed pre-season.

The truth is that, despite having less rest time before the Classic, Porto heads into the duel fresher than Benfica, perhaps due to the reduced number of games and a different rotation of its players. It is worth noting that the match, counting for the ninth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, is scheduled for tomorrow, October 5, at 21:15.

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