Porto sealed the top 3 v Famalicão, how long since they missed out? | OneFootball

FC Porto, under Francesco Farioli, are leading the Liga Portugal 25/26 on their own, but there is another record that has drawn attention.

The Dragons are the first of the ‘big’ clubs to secure a place on the podium this season, which raises the question: when was the last time that did not happen?

To find the answer, we have to go back to a time when Teófilo Cubillas shone in blue and white and, at the club, a young forward named Fernando Gomes was beginning to emerge, then 19 years old. We are talking about the 1975/76 season, exactly 50 years ago.

Benfica, Boavista FC, Belenenses and FC Porto. That was the order at the top of the Portuguese First Division at the end of the 30 matchdays. And it is worth remembering that the team from the Invicta secured fourth place after a run of favorable results in the final round.

The Dragons went to the Luz and beat their eternal rivals 2-3, with Júlio Carlos scoring twice after coming off the bench in the 65th minute, having gone into half-time trailing 2-0. Even so, that was not enough to move up to fourth place. The other part of the equation came at the old Bessa, where José Maria Pedroto’s Boavista beat Sporting 3-1.

Since then, 49 seasons have followed in which FC Porto have always finished among the top three in the top tier of Portuguese football. In that period, Sporting finished outside the podium 11 times, while Benfica only missed that target on three occasions.

This fact becomes even more relevant when analyzing the 40 seasons before 1975/76, in which the Dragons finished outside the podium 18 times. The difference between the two periods is enormous.

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