FC Porto won the Porto way: nobody can score against them | OneFootball

First of all, Fontelo — or, in this case, Viseu — deserves to be saluted. That was the first standout feature of a match played in front of stands packed with local fans, dressed in black and white, with loud voices. The pitch was immaculate, without patches and perfect for playing, while the narrow players’ tunnel contrasted with the green treetops surrounding the stadium beneath a deep blue sky. Even nature seemed to play its part in enhancing the celebration of a venue full of life and local people, gathered there to support the home club.

The confirmation of that atmosphere came in the almost absolute silence that settled over the stadium when FC Porto, full of momentum and not much given to formalities on чужой ground, took to the pitch determined to press Académico from the very first moment. The dragons pushed their wingers forward, brought the midfielders closer to the box, looked for the wide channels and repeatedly won the ball back immediately after losing it, pinning the opposition close to their own area. It was a suffocating start, all the more so in the heat, and throats dried a little more when André Silva, in the 5th minute, turned in a low cross from Pablo Rosario from close range.

Académico’s players barely had time to think, let alone decide what to do with the ball. Very strong in the press and constantly switched on at high intensity, the dragons eventually lowered the tempo while keeping control of proceedings, a principle that says a great deal about Francesco Farioli, as he himself explained: “We are here to win in our way, with control.” And that is exactly what the team showed, once again.

After the opening 15 minutes, the shadow of the floodlight pylon was already moving across the field, evoking matches from another era. Académico then managed to circulate the ball between their centre-backs. From there, they looked for the full-backs and, occasionally, the wingers, but rarely managed to connect Lorougnon Gohi or João Guilherme with the midfielders already inside FC Porto’s half. The national champions’ press had dropped back a few metres, though not many. At the other end, Académico, alert to the dragons’ build-up patterns, tried to block access to the first midfielder, Rosario, allowing Kiwior and Bednarek more time to start moves.

With the freedom to carry the ball forward, the older of the two Poles lifted his head and played a long pass to Pepê, who cushioned it with a header, setting up Gabri Veiga’s run. The Spaniard needed only two touches: he controlled on the move and shot. In the 20th minute, the ball curled on the edge of the box and ended up in the net, in a move as efficient as the team itself: two shots, two goals. Gabri Veiga thus moved to three league goals, increasingly asserting himself, now without Rodrigo Mora competing for the spotlight.

Until the half-hour mark, Académico were chasing shadows. Cihan Kahraman did force Diogo Costa into saving a direct free-kick, while Soufiane Messeguem’s left foot showed quality and greater influence in possession. Even so, both had little impact against an FC Porto block that was willing to concede more possession to the opposition. The team could lower the tempo and drop its lines without losing its ability to create danger.

When Académico dared to press higher, trying to disrupt Porto’s first phase of build-up, the dragons reacted immediately. Martim Fernandes drove forward through the middle with the ball under control and fed André Silva, who laid it off first time to Froholdt. Facing play, the Dane found Gabri Veiga attacking the space on the left. Near the box, the Spaniard, barely looking, sensed William Gomes arriving on the opposite side and placed the ball into his path. In the 38th minute, the third goal arrived, from an automatic, almost telepathic combination executed at great speed. The players seemed to run faster than the very shadows cast on the grass by the sun, forcing those on the bench to shield their eyes with their hands to follow the move.

After the break, Académico had even more of the ball, reinforcing the trend already visible in the previous minutes. However, as so often happens, that apparent superiority was nothing more than an illusion allowed by FC Porto.

The match slowed down and gradually took on a lukewarm tone. Luís Silva, left-footed and one of Académico’s midfield reference points, began to appear more and benefit from greater space, but the hosts were unable to create situations that could serve André Clóvis, the forward who has scored 79 goals for the club. FC Porto kept their block compact and did not allow the opposition to break through. The team from Viseu kept exchanging passes until the inevitable moment when they were forced to go long, repeatedly losing the ball. In keeping with the image of Viseu, the match resembled a car circling a gigantic roundabout without finding any exit.

Académico showed quality in several short-passing sequences built from the back, revealing both the technique of their players and the influence of Bruno Pinheiro’s ideas, a coach who remains close to Farioli after the two worked together in Qatar at Aspire Academy. The Portuguese coach knew that the team led by the Italian would control the match if it managed to impose itself early. Borja Sainz and Hwang In-beom came on, as they had in the previous three rounds. The Spaniard came close to repeating another of his habits, but his curling effort was parried away by goalkeeper Ewerton.

The main novelty was Gabri Veiga’s use on the right side of the attack. The attacking midfielder was moved out wide to operate effectively as a winger, in case anyone thought it was merely one of Farioli’s tactical tricks. It was not: the positional discipline remained and Gabri stayed close to the touchline. Despite the calm nature of the match, FC Porto were not entirely spared physical problems. Zaidu went off injured in the first half, Bednarek was replaced at the interval because he was also struggling, and in the second half Alberto Costa was seen limping, while Martim Fernandes complained after landing awkwardly.

Among the most eye-catching moments were an acrobatic effort from João Guilherme, fully horizontal in the air following a cross, and a clever touch from Alejandro Mestanza from another similar move, with the ball crashing against the bar. With the game practically asleep, the sun fading and painting the landscape of the beautiful Fontelo Stadium orange — a ground that spent almost four decades away from the top flight — FC Porto’s only shortcoming was that the win was not more emphatic, even so carrying out the plan that had been drawn up. “With control, without conceding goals,” Farioli had said the day before. This was another match in that mould. It is becoming a pattern: nobody scores against the dragons.

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