Liga permutations: Sporting eases Porto's final run-in | OneFootball

With Sporting’s draw against AVS SAD and Porto’s win over Estrela da Amadora in the 31st round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, the title race is now practically decided and out of reach for Rui Borges’ side.

The Lions are now limited to a maximum of 84 points (or 82 if they fail to win the postponed match against Tondela), which leaves Porto needing only to depend on themselves to wrap things up. The Dragons need just three points to mathematically secure the title.

In practice, this means Sporting no longer have any real room to fight for the title and must now turn their focus to the battle for second place, which grants access to the Champions League, although they have also lost their direct advantage over Benfica there.

Even in the most favorable scenarios, Sporting are now reliant on slip-ups from both rivals, which makes the goal of winning a third straight title practically a mirage at this stage of the season, as a result of recent results.

That being the case, Porto could be crowned champions as early as next Saturday if they beat Alverca at home and reach 85 points — a total beyond the reach of Sporting and Benfica. Alternatively, even a draw could be enough that day, provided the Lions do not beat Tondela and the Eagles do not defeat Famalicão; otherwise, the decision could be pushed to Monday, depending on further slip-ups from their rivals.

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