FC Porto gear up for Super Cup with settled defence and clear options | OneFootball

Less than a week remains before the workshops at the Jorge Costa Training and Sports Development Centre, in Olival, reopen for the new season, in which FC Porto will compete on five fronts — the league, the Portuguese Cup, the League Cup, the Champions League and the Super Cup — and in which the main goal remains retaining the national championship title.

It is true that the main assets are expected to remain in the blue-and-white squad — unless offers come in matching the values set by their release clauses — but there is one detail that, at this stage, stands out. In every area of the team, there are two that already seem settled for the season ahead: central defence and right-back. The Polish wall, made up of Bednarek and Kiwior — the latter linked with Barcelona in the summer market — along with Nehuén Pérez and Dominik Prpic, guarantees quality and depth for a season expected to be particularly demanding on every level. To this quartet, Francesco Farioli can also add the versatile Pablo Rosario, who in 2025/26 already played that role several times with the regularity of a Swiss clock.

In this regard, Francesco Farioli is well covered. The SAD led by André Villas-Boas is not expected to go to the market for a centre-back, especially since Nehuén Pérez has already recovered from his serious Achilles tendon injury and is once again an option to be considered in a season with many matches. Even so, what happened to the Argentine in 2025 serves as a warning in case of another serious injury, but only in that scenario would the Dragons move to sign a centre-back in the transfer window.

Competition on the right

The picture on the right side of defence also looks competitive, with Martim Fernandes — now recovered from the troublesome injury to the sole of his right foot that limited him in the second half of last season — set to provide strong competition for Alberto Costa, who finished 2025/26 in excellent form with high-level performances.

In this case, Francesco Farioli knows he will have more than enough quality to field and manage the workload of the two natural right-backs at his disposal, which will allow for proper rotation across the various competitions in which the blue and whites will be involved. The team can only benefit from this battle of two roosters for one spot, with both players maintaining healthy competition for the good of the group, as they have always shown whenever they have been asked publicly about the matter.

Pre-season will therefore allow the first outline to be drawn of the starting eleven that could officially begin the national champions’ 2026/27 season in the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup final, scheduled for the weekend of 1 and 2 August at the Cidade de Coimbra Stadium, against surprise package Torreense, who beat Sporting in the Portuguese Cup final at Jamor.

It is still not time to define FC Porto’s 2026/27 squad with precision, but when it comes to central defence and right-back, the solutions have practically already been found. Martim Fernandes and Alberto Costa will be the owners of the right side of the blue-and-white defence, while the Poles Bednarek and Kiwior, properly backed up by Nehuén Pérez and Prpic, ensure defensive security at the heart of the back line.

The tireless Pablo Rosario, whether in central defence or at right-back (or even on the left...), is another alternative to consider, as are some members of the B team. The SAD still has plenty of work ahead, especially in other positions, but in defence, the house is almost in order.

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