First domestic defeat of the Farioli era | OneFootball

The first months of the ‘Farioli era’ at the Dragão have been very positive: the team remains unbeaten at the top of the Liga Betclic, with a three-point lead over rivals Sporting, as well as securing 8th place in the initial phase of the Europa League and a spot in the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup.

However, the Dragons suffered their first domestic defeat of the season, losing at home to V. Guimarães by 3-1 – their first setback since April (Estrela da Amadora, 0-2, at Reboleira). After 15 matches, the Italian coach thus records his first defeat in national competitions – until now, the only loss had been against Nottingham Forest (0-2) in the Europa League. Until yesterday, the only game in Portugal that this version of FC Porto had not won in 2025/26 was precisely the classic against Benfica, on October 5th, which ended goalless.

Eliminated from the Allianz Cup, Porto misses out on qualifying for the final four, created in 2016/17, for the fourth time: the last occurrence was in 2023/24, adding to the eliminations in 2021/22 and the one recorded right at the debut of the format.

In total, in 20 participations in what seems to be an ill-fated competition for the club, FC Porto has won only one title (2022/23). Since the start of the tournament in 2008/09, they have played 66 games, winning only 35 – about 53 percent.

Three goals conceded, and at home

More than the defeat itself, FC Porto conceded three goals in the same match, something unprecedented since Francesco Farioli took charge. The last time this happened was back at the Club World Cup, in June, against Al Ahly (4-4), still with Martín Anselmi at the helm. At the Dragão, to find a similar result, you have to go back to last season’s classic in April, when they lost to Benfica 1-4, also with the Argentine coach on the bench. At home, this is their third defeat in League Cup matches, after losses to Nacional (1-2, in 2010/11) and Marítimo (1-3, in 2015/16).

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