Benfica v Porto: João Pinheiro’s record in big clashes 👀 | OneFootball

At the 8th classic of the 2025/26 season, in various official competitions, the time has come for João Pinheiro, who had not yet officiated any matches between the three major Portuguese football teams this season. The international referee from AF Braga, aged 38, was appointed by the Refereeing Council to officiate the Benfica - Porto match this Sunday, and it will be the 6th time he will referee a duel between these two teams in his career, almost always with Benfica emerging victorious.

Interestingly, none of the matches ended in a draw and the last three even resulted in thrashings. In the 2022/23 season, during the 10th round of the League, he was present at Benfica's victory at Dragão, by 1-0. In 2023/24 and 2024/25, he refereed all the encounters between Benfica and Porto in the championship: Benfica's 1-0 victory in Lisbon and Porto's 5-0 win in Invicta two seasons ago; and Benfica's 4-1 victories in both duels last season.

That said, it is clear that Benfica tends to fare better in games against Porto refereed by João Pinheiro. However, from a broader perspective, the referee's overall record is not very different between the two teams: in 38 Benfica games, they won 24, drew eight, and lost six; in 36 Porto matches, the blues and whites won 21, drew 10, and lost five.

It should be noted that, in the Liga Portugal Betclic statistics, João Pinheiro is in the middle of the ranking of referees with the highest average of fouls called per game, 27.8, with a total of 278 fouls, 150 of which are called against visiting teams. He is among the referees with the fewest penalties awarded in the championship, only 3, all in favor of the home teams.

Remember that Benfica and Porto will face each other this Sunday, March 8th, at 18:00, at Estádio da Luz. The match will count for the 25th round of Liga Portugal Betclic. It is also worth noting that Benfica comes into the Classic buoyed by four consecutive victories in the championship, seeking to close the gap to the top of the competition.

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