January schedule eases for FC Porto after League Cup exit | OneFootball

The elimination from the League Cup, which marked FC Porto’s first home defeat, left the squad disappointed, but “without drama,” as Farioli urged after the match, already with tomorrow’s trip to Tondela in mind.

In a December with an extremely packed schedule, the Dragons know there will be some relief at the turn of the year, now that the League Cup final four is no longer an option—a path that would have involved tough matches: Sporting was waiting in the semifinals and the final would have been against the winner of Benfica-Braga.

Thus, the home match against Santa Clara may no longer be played on Friday, the 2nd, at 6:00 p.m.—its scheduling was dependent on this change. The league resumes only on the weekend of January 17-18, with the Dragons visiting V. Guimarães, who eliminated them from the League Cup. However, if they beat Famalicão in the Portuguese Cup on December 18, FC Porto will have the quarter-finals the week before their trip to Minho. That match is paired with the winner of Farense-Benfica and, although the FPF allows clubs involved in UEFA competitions to play in the first week of February—before the blue and whites’ visit to Alvalade—such a move would require an agreement between the clubs.

In any scenario, even with a Cup match, the competitive load will ease at the start of the new year. Until then, however, six matches are expected in just 20 days, spread across three competitions.

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