Portugal’s game of the century: Benfica v Sporting preview | OneFootball

An entire season of hard grind, high hopes, sacrifices, tough decisions, carefully laid plans ripped to pieces, some stunning moments, some stirring triumphs, a few major disappointments, all seasoned with a healthy dose of refereeing controversy (this is Portugal after all) and… it all boils down to 90 minutes, this weekend in the Portuguese capital.

More specifically at the Estádio da Luz. On Saturday evening. 6pm local time.

This is the Lisbon derby nobody dares miss. PortuGOAL previews what is being called the most important Benfica versus Sporting encounter this century.

What’s at stake?

The 2024/25 Liga Portugal title. And as a bonus prize, direct access to next season’s Champions League, as opposed to entry in the qualifying rounds.

What’s needed to become champions?

How we got here – the story so far

Chapter one: Sporting unstoppable under Amorim, Benfica’s false start

Ruben Amorim’s last iteration of his Sporting team was his finest creation yet, relentlessly brushing aside all-comers both home and abroad, playing beautiful football, the team functioning like perfect clockwork. Benfica, on the other hand, had tripped up coming out of the starting blocks, forcing an early change of coach, and Porto, although beginning the season with decent results, convinced nobody with a squad of questionable quality and a rookie coach – doubts that would come to fruition in the course of the season.

Chapter two: Amorim exit precipitates collapse, Benfica build up a head of steam

Over in England, Manchester United’s Portuguese right-back Diogo Dalot missed an open goal against West Ham, United lost the game, Ten Hag was sacked and Ruben Amorim received a call. Amorim wanted to wait until the end of the season. United said, “now or never,” and that was that. Sporting promoted B-team manager João Pereira, and, incredibly, completely fell apart, four successive defeats bringing a quick end to Pereira’s ill-fated reign. Vitória coach Rui Borges was hired. His first league game in charge? The Lisbon derby, a 1-0 victory over Benfica, and the ship apparently had been steadied.

Meanwhile, returning Benfica coach Bruno Lage had brought about an upturn in results and performances. Lage oversaw 11 wins and one draw in 12 Liga Portugal matches, and thrashed both Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Porto (4-1) at the Estádio da Luz. Just when it seemed Benfica could go on an inexorable run to win the league, they missed out on the chance to usurp Sporting in top spot with the derby defeat at Alvalade.

Chapter Three: neck and neck

From January onwards the two Lisbon rivals have sporadically threatened to click into top gear, only to subsequently drop points carelessly. In January, Benfica were boosted by a Taça da Liga triumph, beating Sporting on penalties in the final, but it was also a month when they suffered costly league defeats against Braga and Casa Pia. Benfica have been playing the more consistent football of the two title rivals in recent months, their attack proving especially potent. Lage’s side have scored three or more goals in 8 of their last 10 games.

Sporting never recaptured the form they showed under Amorim. Borges also had to deal with an injury crisis that threatened to destroy their season, but which may have alleviated just in time. Star midfielders Pedro Gonçalves and Morita are back in the picture for Saturday’s derby.

Form guide (last ten games, all competitions)

Benfica:

Tactics

Bruno Lage has put his trust mostly in a 4-2-3-1 system, especially in games against stronger opposition, with Florentino Luís and Fredrik Aursnes anchoring the midfield behind Kökçü, with Aktürkoglu on the left and one of several alternatives on the other flank. Ángel Di Maria occupied the position for much of the season but the Argentine has not played in three weeks since coming off injured against Vitória in Guimarães. Amdouni, Schjelderup and Bruma are three able alternatives on the right wing, with Pavlidis up front. If Lage adopts a more attacking approach, we could see a 4-3-3 formation, with Aursnes pushing further up the pitch into a right midfield spot and Amdouni keeping company with Pavlidis up front.

When Rui Borges first took over he tried to implement his preferred 4-4-2 instead of Amorim’s set-in-stone 3-4-3, but results, injuries and above all the players’ clear preference in sticking with what they are comfortable with has seen Sporting to revert to 3-4-3. After all, it’s a system that has brought significant success over the past five seasons. The key question from a tactical point of view concerns the wing-back positions, with the rest of the team picking itself. Borges has more defensive-minded options in Fresneda and Matheus Reis, and more attacking options in Geny Catamo, Geovany Quenda and Maxi Araújo. A balanced approach, selecting Matheus Reis on the left and Geny or Geovany on the right for example, may be tempting given it is Benfica who must force the issue. Conversely, you can argue that because Benfica will surely commit men forward, Sporting should select the players best equipped to take advantage of the space behind their defence, not to mention the fact that Maxi Araújo has hit his best form since joining Sporting, scoring in each of his last two games.

Key players

For Benfica, after a tough start to life in Lisbon, Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis has arguably been their player of the season, scoring goals galore and linking up brilliantly with his teammates when dropping deeper. Another serious candidate for Benfica’s best player in 2024/25 is Álvaro Carreras, the Spanish left-back a potent weapon when lending his hand in attack. After a lukewarm first season, midfield creator Orkun Kökçü has been showing why he is the most expensive transfer into the Portuguese league. The Turk has been superb since the turn of the year.

Spanish left-back Álvaro Carreras, here in action against Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, has been outstanding this season

One footballer has been head-and-shoulders above all other players in Portugal over the past two seasons and his name is Viktor Gyökeres. The Swedish striker has scored a barely believable 95 goals in 99 games since joining the Lions, and has been back to his best in recent weeks after shaking off an injury, finding the net 17 times in his last 11 games. Another blond Scandinavian, captain Morten Hjulmand, is almost as important to the Green and Whites, and the Danish holding midfielder tends to showcase his best football in the biggest games. At the back, giant centre-back Ousmane Diomande can stamp his authority on any game, although the often-undisciplined defender will have to watch his step in a fixture traditionally littered with red cards.

Captain Morten Hjulmand is the heartbeat of Sporting's midfield

Fixture history

The two teams have met a total of 324 times – it is not by chance that the match is known in Portugal as O Derbí Eterno (The Eternal Derby). Benfica have won 139 of the matches, Sporting 115, with 70 draws.

At Benfica’s stadium, the proportion of victories for the Eagles increases as one would expect, with the Eagles winning 85 of the 154 Lisbon derbies they have hosted, Sporting winning 33 times and 36 draws.

Looking at recent history, in the past decade of league matches played at the Estádio da Luz Benfica have won four times, there have been four draws and Sporting have come out on top twice.

PortuGOAL’s predicted XIs

Benfica (4-2-3-1): Anatoliy Trubin; Tomás Araújo, Nicolás Otamendi, António Silva, Álvaro Carreras; Florentino Luís, Fredrik Aursnes; Zeki Amdouni, Orkun Kökçü, Kerem Aktürkoglu; Vangelis Pavlidis