Benfica have a better record with João Pinheiro than FC Porto | OneFootball

In the 8th derby of the 2025/26 season, considering all official competitions, João Pinheiro will referee for the first time this season a match between the three giants of Portuguese football. The international referee from AF Braga, aged 38, was chosen by the Refereeing Council to officiate the Benfica-FC Porto match this Sunday at 6:00 PM at Estádio da Luz. This will be the sixth time he referees a match between these two teams in his career, with Benfica mostly emerging victorious.

It is notable that none of these duels ended in a draw and the three most recent ones resulted in blowouts. In the 2022/23 season, during the 10th round of the League, he was present at Benfica's 1-0 victory at Dragão. In 2023/24 and 2024/25, he was the referee for all the clashes between the Eagles and Dragons in the championship: a 1-0 victory for Benfica in Lisbon and a 5-0 triumph for FC Porto in Invicta two seasons ago; and, in the last season, Benfica won 4-1 in both matches.

This points to a favorable trend for Benfica in the games between them refereed by Pinheiro. However, looking at his overall career record, the referee from Minho shows little difference between the clubs: in 38 matches involving Benfica, the Eagles won 24, drew 8, and lost 6; meanwhile, in 36 games involving FC Porto, the Blues and Whites won 21, drew 10, and lost 5.

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