Nearly 27,000 fans at the Dragão for FC Porto’s New Year training session | OneFootball

The Estádio do Dragão reopened its doors for the traditional New Year's training session, and the Porto 'famiglia' responded with a well-filled house: 26,855 fans were present in the stands on a cold and rainy afternoon, but full of enthusiasm. This number is slightly lower than the recent record – last year there were 32,000, although the session took place on December 29 – and also below the 28,000 recorded in 2017, the last time the tradition was held on January 1.

At the end of the session, with the players already distributing autographs, André Villas-Boas made clear the message associated with this initiative. “We are used to building our fortress against the increasing inequalities against FC Porto,” he stated to Porto Canal, emphasizing: “We are only halfway through, January will be complicated with games in the Azores and in Guimarães, Benfica in the Portuguese Cup, but we dream of the title and for that, we must continue to support the team and convey this internal energy.”

The players' entrance onto the field was met with ovation, with smoke flares and some firecrackers in the Super Dragões stand. Before the start of the training, Diogo Costa took the microphone and addressed the Porto 'famiglia', in a gesture that reinforced the connection between the team and the fans. “When we are together and involved in the same goal, we are unbeatable,” indicated the president.

The warm-up took place to the sound of music, as is customary at Olival, followed by rondo exercises, three-against-two finishing situations, and eight-against-eight games on a reduced field, with the squad divided into three teams. All goals were celebrated with enthusiasm, and unity stood out throughout the session.

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