Bednarek and Kiwior shore up Porto’s defence | OneFootball

The departures of Otávio Ataíde and Tiago Djaló in the last summer transfer window, coupled with the retirement of the Spaniard Iván Marcado, created a gap in FC Porto's defensive axis. The team was left almost without available central defenders and had to aggressively approach the market to fill this void. And the solution couldn't have been more accurate.

Signed this summer, Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior form a concrete duo in FC Porto's defensive axis. The numbers are clear: while Bednarek and Kiwior were on the field simultaneously, the Dragons did not concede any goals. In five games where the Polish internationals were chosen in Francesco Farioli's lineup, the blue and whites kept a clean sheet.

This defensive wall composed of Polish central defenders began to bear fruit with a 1-0 victory against Nacional. This was followed by another match without conceding goals at Rio Ave's home (0-4) and also in their Europa League debut in Salzburg (0-1). More recently, the Poles kept a clean sheet in the thrashing at Arouca (0-4).

Sunday brought the big test for the Bednarek-Kiwior duo. The Classic against Benfica was the biggest exam for the central defenders, especially considering that, in the previous season, the rival team had been the one to score the most goals against FC Porto: eight in just two matches, both in the Primeira Liga.

Even so, the pillars of Porto's defense delivered once again, and FC Porto's net remained untouched. It has been 450 minutes with the Polish duo on the field during which the team has not conceded any goals. An above-average understanding between the two continues to keep the goal guarded by Diogo Costa secure.

Red Star became, on Thursday, the second team to score against FC Porto this season. Prpic lined up alongside Bednarek against the Serbians, and Vasilije Kostov took the opportunity to score past the goal defended by Diogo Costa.

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