Farioli chases first FC Porto win on English soil | OneFootball

“We closed the book on the Portuguese Cup to open the one on the Europa League,” warned Francesco Farioli, minutes after FC Porto defeated Celoricense, in a match where the Italian coach fielded almost the same lineup that has been the backbone in the main competitions, aiming to keep the team focused and at a high pace.

Farioli was clear about his intentions for the trip to Nottingham Forest next Thursday. The 36-year-old coach intends to preserve FC Porto's unbeaten record in the current Europa League edition, aiming for a third victory and thus writing another page in the club's history. After 23 matches played in England in UEFA competitions, Porto has yet to secure a win in that country, a unique fact in a journey that already includes victories in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The obstacle arises precisely when the games are played on British soil. There is almost a mental block that has prevented FC Porto from triumphing, despite having come very close on some occasions, such as at Old Trafford in the 2008/09 season, when they led until the 85th minute.

Two seasons ago, at the Emirates, FC Porto lost (0-1) to Arsenal after extra time and ended up seeing the access slip away in penalties, missing another chance to silence the English fans.

Besides the draw already mentioned under Jesualdo Ferreira's command, the Dragons achieved an even more decisive result in Manchester in 2003/04, as that draw secured qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals and proved crucial in the journey to the title in Gelsenkirchen.

The most recent draw dates back to 2017/18, under the guidance of Sérgio Conceição, but with a bitter taste: the goalless draw at Anfield followed one of the heaviest defeats suffered by the Dragons at their stadium (0-5).

Now, facing a Nottingham Forest in crisis – winless for two months and without a coach – Francesco Farioli's team has an opportunity to make history, although the Italian coach acknowledged, after the match with Celoricense, that the change in the English club's management could affect the preparation for this duel.

In the 2020/21 season, in a context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Chelsea hosted FC Porto on neutral ground, at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, behind closed doors, a week after the same venue hosted both teams with the Dragons as the home side. After a 0-2 defeat, Porto won 1-0, with a bicycle kick by Mehdi Taremi in stoppage time, but failed to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals – the fact that this duel was not played on English soil remains in history.

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