Dragons beat nine of the top 10 sides in Liga Portugal | OneFootball

After 11 matchdays, with 10 wins and one draw, FC Porto leads the championship alone with 31 points, three ahead of Sporting. This record is a credit to the work of Francesco Farioli and his players. The blue and white team has already overcome, with distinction, several of the most demanding obstacles on the road to the title: nine of the 11 opponents they have faced in the league are currently in the top 10 of the standings – only Arouca (16th) and Rio Ave (11th) fall outside that list.

Vitória de Guimarães, Gil Vicente, Casa Pia, Sporting, Nacional, Moreirense, SC Braga, and Famalicão have all fallen victim to this FC Porto; only Benfica managed to stop the team, holding them to a goalless draw at the Dragão. On the last weekend of November, Porto will complete the list of top-10 opponents by hosting Estoril – currently 9th – on Sunday, the 30th.

Compared to last season, in the matches already repeated this campaign, FC Porto has recovered 13 points compared to 2024/25: while last year they drew at home with Vitória and away at Vila do Conde and Famalicão, and lost in Barcelos, at Alvalade, and when hosting Benfica, in 2025/26 they won all those matches, with the only exception being the home draw against their rivals Benfica (0-0). This is, therefore, a clear improvement.

More broadly, the Dragons were in third place at the 11th matchday of the previous season, six points behind leaders Sporting; they managed to catch up with the Lions weeks later, but lost the chance to take the lead when they fell (2-0) away at Choupana, after which the situation became more complicated.

The record of 10 wins and one draw in the first 11 rounds allowed Farioli to match the start of two of the club’s most notable coaches in the 21st century: Sérgio Conceição, in 2017/18, and André Villas-Boas, in 2010/11. Those teams scored more goals (30 and 27, respectively) than the 24 of 2025/26, but also conceded more – four goals each compared to three this season. Both finished as champions, although both Conceição and the aforementioned predecessor were stopped at the 12th matchday; Farioli will certainly aim to go even further.

There is also progress in the Europa League. Last year, after four group stage matches, FC Porto, then managed by Vítor Bruno, had collected four points; this season the Dragons have already earned seven points, having played three of the four matches away (Salzburg, Nottingham, and Utrecht).

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