Portugal Manager Travel Guide
History…
The Portuguese League has been running for over 70 years since the 1930's and has been dominated by three clubs. Benfica currently hold the record for most titles with 31, but FC Porto are hot on their heels winning the trophy last year taking their tally to 21 titles and counting, having topped the table in 14 of the last 22 campaigns.
Just behind them are the third superpower Sporting Lisbon - they now have 18 titles, the most recent of these coming 2001/02. Surprisingly the only other two clubs to have claimed Portugal's top honour are Boavista and Belenenses, each on just the one occasion.
In continental football all three of the nations giants have enjoyed glory at one time or another, Benfica being the first taking the Champions Cup in both 1961 and 62 becoming only the second club to win the trophy having ended Real Madrid's record of five consecutive titles. Alas, despite being the bridesmaids on several occasions, Benfica have not claimed a European trophy since.
Sporting Lisbon were next to experience European success in 1964 when they claimed the now defunct Cup-Winners Cup beating MTK Budapest in the final, and Porto added another trophy by lifting their first Champions Cup in 1987 with a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.
It was only more recently though that Portuguese football has enjoyed a resurgence on the continental scene, largely due to a man by the name of Jose Mourinho. In 2003 he led Porto to UEFA Cup glory sneaking a silver goal victory over Celtic in the final, then a year later he went one better by leading his club to Champions Cup glory for the second time disposing of Manchester United and Chelsea on route to the final where they thrashed Monaco 3-0.
In international terms, the Portuguese have endured a somewhat Jekyll and Hyde existence with long-periods of absence from the top competitions, followed by periods of relative success, not least recently. The World Cup hasn't been kind to Portugal though they have only qualified four times (that includes this year's competition) and have been past the 1st Round on just two occasions, in 1966 in England with Eusebio a massive influence, and in Germany this year, where they reached the Semi Finals and the 'winker' Ronaldo incident stole all the headlines.
In the European Championships, when they've qualified they've done well 1984 and 2000 saw them reach the Semi-Finals, and in 1996 they reached the Quarters. But their best ever showing was two years ago on home soil where they reached the finals and were red-hot favourites before being beaten by outsiders Greece.
One Season Challenge - Take Boavista to the title eclipsing the giants!
One Season Challenge - Win the League and Champions Cup with the team of your choice, Porto, Benfica or Sporting Lisbon
Mission Impossible - Take over at west coast minnows Esmoriz and march them up the Portuguese football pyramid.
Players to Watch…
Well, Portugal has a very similar transfer market to the Spanish Leagues in that it is predominantly made up of Portuguese nationals and Brazilian exports. Of course there is a presence from almost every country around the world, but the vast majority of players are from the two countries.
The word of the day then is scouting through the Portuguese and Brazilian leagues, whilst also keeping an eye on the rest of Europe particularly the Spain. As with every national league, keeping tabs on national players based elsewhere but possibly looking to end their career in their home league is also advisable. Below are lists of the pick of the players that fall into each of these categories.
Top Youngsters in Portugal
Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon)
Alberoni (Leiria)
Pedro Peraltinha (Leixoes)
Top Youngster in Brazil
Kerlon (Cruzeiro)
Diedo Tardelli (Sao Paulo)
Rafael Sobis (Internacional)
Renato (Atletico Mineiro)
Wendel (Corinthians)
The Best in Portugal
Simão (Benfica)
Quaresma (Porto)
Anderson (Porto)
Eye On Spain
Darko Kovacevic (Sociedad)
Antonio Pacheco (Albacete)
Savo Milosevic (Osasuna)
Ruben Baraja (Valencia)
Homecoming Portuguese Men O' War
Luis Figo (Inter Milan)
Pedro Mendes (Portsmouth)
Pauleta (Paris)
The League…
There are sixteen clubs in the SuperLiga, and during the course of a season each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season, the two lowest placed teams are relegated and the top two teams from the League of Honour are promoted in their place.
Currently, the top three teams in the SuperLiga qualify for the Champions Cup. The top two teams directly enter the group phase. The third placed team enters the competition at the third qualifying round, and must survive a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase.
The teams classified in fourth and fifth enter the Euro Cup together with the winner of the Portuguese Cup. If the winner of the Cup is already qualified for the Champions League, or would be qualified for the UEFA Cup by its league position, the runner-up will occupy the spot in the UEFA Cup. If the runner-up is also qualified for European competition through league position, the spot is occupied by the 6th placed team in the SuperLiga.
The Portuguese League has been running for over 70 years since the 1930's and has been dominated by three clubs. Benfica currently hold the record for most titles with 31, but FC Porto are hot on their heels winning the trophy last year taking their tally to 21 titles and counting, having topped the table in 14 of the last 22 campaigns.
Just behind them are the third superpower Sporting Lisbon - they now have 18 titles, the most recent of these coming 2001/02. Surprisingly the only other two clubs to have claimed Portugal's top honour are Boavista and Belenenses, each on just the one occasion.
In continental football all three of the nations giants have enjoyed glory at one time or another, Benfica being the first taking the Champions Cup in both 1961 and 62 becoming only the second club to win the trophy having ended Real Madrid's record of five consecutive titles. Alas, despite being the bridesmaids on several occasions, Benfica have not claimed a European trophy since.
Sporting Lisbon were next to experience European success in 1964 when they claimed the now defunct Cup-Winners Cup beating MTK Budapest in the final, and Porto added another trophy by lifting their first Champions Cup in 1987 with a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.
It was only more recently though that Portuguese football has enjoyed a resurgence on the continental scene, largely due to a man by the name of Jose Mourinho. In 2003 he led Porto to UEFA Cup glory sneaking a silver goal victory over Celtic in the final, then a year later he went one better by leading his club to Champions Cup glory for the second time disposing of Manchester United and Chelsea on route to the final where they thrashed Monaco 3-0.
In international terms, the Portuguese have endured a somewhat Jekyll and Hyde existence with long-periods of absence from the top competitions, followed by periods of relative success, not least recently. The World Cup hasn't been kind to Portugal though they have only qualified four times (that includes this year's competition) and have been past the 1st Round on just two occasions, in 1966 in England with Eusebio a massive influence, and in Germany this year, where they reached the Semi Finals and the 'winker' Ronaldo incident stole all the headlines.
In the European Championships, when they've qualified they've done well 1984 and 2000 saw them reach the Semi-Finals, and in 1996 they reached the Quarters. But their best ever showing was two years ago on home soil where they reached the finals and were red-hot favourites before being beaten by outsiders Greece.
One Season Challenge - Take Boavista to the title eclipsing the giants!
One Season Challenge - Win the League and Champions Cup with the team of your choice, Porto, Benfica or Sporting Lisbon
Mission Impossible - Take over at west coast minnows Esmoriz and march them up the Portuguese football pyramid.
Players to Watch…
Well, Portugal has a very similar transfer market to the Spanish Leagues in that it is predominantly made up of Portuguese nationals and Brazilian exports. Of course there is a presence from almost every country around the world, but the vast majority of players are from the two countries.
The word of the day then is scouting through the Portuguese and Brazilian leagues, whilst also keeping an eye on the rest of Europe particularly the Spain. As with every national league, keeping tabs on national players based elsewhere but possibly looking to end their career in their home league is also advisable. Below are lists of the pick of the players that fall into each of these categories.
Top Youngsters in Portugal
Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon)
Alberoni (Leiria)
Pedro Peraltinha (Leixoes)
Top Youngster in Brazil
Kerlon (Cruzeiro)
Diedo Tardelli (Sao Paulo)
Rafael Sobis (Internacional)
Renato (Atletico Mineiro)
Wendel (Corinthians)
The Best in Portugal
Simão (Benfica)
Quaresma (Porto)
Anderson (Porto)
Eye On Spain
Darko Kovacevic (Sociedad)
Antonio Pacheco (Albacete)
Savo Milosevic (Osasuna)
Ruben Baraja (Valencia)
Homecoming Portuguese Men O' War
Luis Figo (Inter Milan)
Pedro Mendes (Portsmouth)
Pauleta (Paris)
The League…
There are sixteen clubs in the SuperLiga, and during the course of a season each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season, the two lowest placed teams are relegated and the top two teams from the League of Honour are promoted in their place.
Currently, the top three teams in the SuperLiga qualify for the Champions Cup. The top two teams directly enter the group phase. The third placed team enters the competition at the third qualifying round, and must survive a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase.
The teams classified in fourth and fifth enter the Euro Cup together with the winner of the Portuguese Cup. If the winner of the Cup is already qualified for the Champions League, or would be qualified for the UEFA Cup by its league position, the runner-up will occupy the spot in the UEFA Cup. If the runner-up is also qualified for European competition through league position, the spot is occupied by the 6th placed team in the SuperLiga.
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