On January 5th, the Alvalade Stadium was brightly lit, as bright as day.
The stands were packed, the crowds were surging, and the noise was overwhelming.
Sporting Lisbon's performance this season was not ideal, especially at the beginning, with successive setbacks, which made fans very dissatisfied.
Especially the losses in the Champions League qualifiers and the Super Cup have caused Boloni, the double-championship coach, to suffer a crisis of confidence.
Fortunately, as the season progresses, young players such as Sudong, Ronnie, Quaresma, Tonito and Pepe gradually take the lead, although there are still battles for the main players like Sudong and Nikule in the process.
, but overall, it is quite stable.
The Portuguese Super League ranks second, the UEFA Cup has reached the top 16, and the Portuguese Cup has been promoted successively. The three fronts are advancing at the same time. The team is in good condition, which also makes Sporting Lisbon fans have higher expectations for the team.
For example, the Portuguese Super League should not be satisfied with just second place.
Work harder and pull down the leader?
This is what Green Lion fans expect when they walk into the Alvalade Stadium.
Seven points behind in the league. If Porto is unable to win this game and the opponent is allowed to continue to expand its lead, then as the outside media said, the Portuguese Super League champion will lose suspense early and become Porto's bag.
This is what the home fans least want to see, but it is what some away fans who followed the team on the southward expedition are looking forward to.
Even though there were not many fans for Porto's expedition to Lisbon, and they were placed in a remote corner by Sporting Lisbon, they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, and it was an away game, but they were not intimidated, and instead shouted with great passion.
There is still some time before the game starts, but Porto fans are already shouting slogans in unison.
"Porto, champion!"
Sporting Lisbon fans were also annoyed and began an organized counterattack.
The scene was chaotic and deafening.
…
Players from both teams lined up in the tunnel, waiting to play.
They are both from Portuguese Super League teams and have many acquaintances with each other.
What surprised Su Dong most was Pepe, who seemed to know many people in Porto.
Deco, Del Rey, and winger Clayton are all Brazilian players, and Pepe and Deco are brothers.
According to Pepe, they both left Brazil through the same channel. It was precisely because of Deco's successful precedent that they, their fellow juniors, followed and landed in the Portuguese Super League.
At first, they were chatting happily, but gradually, the sound became a little loud.
Especially Pepe, who seems to have left the team after saying a harsh word.
"What's wrong?" Su Dong asked Pepe curiously.
"Nothing." Pepe shook his head, but then thought of something again, "You have to be careful in the game later. Carvalho and that guy named Jorge Costa are very dirty when they play football.
, a lot of little tricks, and rough.”
Mourinho's team is rough and aggressive in defense, something Su Dong experienced as early as last season.
"Don't worry, I'm not someone to mess with either." Su Dong smiled confidently.
Pepe snorted coldly, "I have told Delai that if they dare to attack you, I will retaliate against their genius. I will attack him just as they attack you!"
Su Dong was stunned when he heard this. He thought it was because of this that they were quarreling over there.
When it comes to cruelty and brutality, Pepe says he is second, but no one would dare to admit he is first.
This guy seems to be fighting his opponent every time he plays. He tries his best every time and fights for every ball. His actions are very rough and savage. He often gets cards and often makes his opponent yell at him.
But that’s strange to say.
When Pepe was at Maritimo, Sudong and Ronnie hated his fouls, but when he came to Sporting Lisbon and fouled his opponents, they found it quite enjoyable.
The butt determines the head!
The genius of Porto in Pepe's words is Postiga. This striker has been improved this season, but his performance is not as good as McCarthy's, so that there have been voices in the Porto team saying that they want to buy back the under-performing McCarthy from La Liga.
Last season, Portugal's two talented rising stars, Quaresma, continued to move forward steadily, while Postiga fell behind a bit, and was even vaguely surpassed by Ronnie.
This is what professional football is like, like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat.
…………
…………
Under the leadership of referee Lucilio Baptista, the two teams slowly entered the court.
At this moment, the Alvalade Stadium burst into overwhelming cheers.
The stadium broadcaster was the first to announce Porto's lineup like announcing the names of dishes.
Although Mourinho often uses a two-forward formation of 4312, in the Portuguese Super League, they use 433 most often. This is obviously because Mourinho is strong enough for his team.
of confidence.
In the Portuguese Super League, which other team can force Porto to use three midfielders?
Goalkeeper Baia, the defense is Valente, Carvalho, Jorge Costa and Paulo Ferreira, the three midfielders are Deco, Costinha and Maniche, and the frontcourt is Del
Rai is on the left, Postiga is in the center, and Cappuccio is on the right.
This is basically Porto's main lineup this season.
Although the midfielder is a three-man midfielder, Deco's position has always been very advanced, more like an attacking midfielder.
There is also not much suspense on Sporting Lisbon's side.
The goalkeeper is Thiago, who has gradually replaced Nelson this season, the defense is Rui Jorge, Andre Cruz, Pepe and Queiroga, and the three midfielders are Rui Bento and Alberti
Ni and Barbosa, and the frontcourt is the trident combination of Ronnie, Sudong and Quaresma.
There is not much suspense about the offensive lineup, the key lies in the midfield.
Boloni's formation is also very consistent with his usual conservative and cautious characteristics. He won Tonito and adopted a three-midfielder style of play. This is also equivalent to indirectly telling everyone that Sporting Lisbon's overall strength is not as good as Porto.
Of course, this is also a recognized fact.
…
With Baptista's whistle, the game officially started.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Porto showed an aggressive momentum from the beginning, which is also the biggest change since Mourinho took charge.
Mentally, Porto is far more aggressive today than last season.
They were like hungry wolves, charging towards Sporting Lisbon.
The forwards press forward, the midfield presses forward, the defense pushes forward...
This is Porto's high defense!
On the one hand, the overall strength of the team is the best in the Portuguese Super League, and on the other hand, it is the advanced high-position defensive pressing tactics in Europe. The combination of the two, coupled with Mourinho's more sophisticated and scientific training system, has made Porto perform well in the Portuguese Super League.
Outstanding stability and combat effectiveness.
To a certain extent, when the Portuguese Super League teams encountered Porto this season, they were beaten like chickens and dogs.
So far, the Portuguese Super League has played fifteen rounds, and no team has even defeated Porto. The same is true for the Portuguese Cup.
Even in the UEFA Cup, Porto only lost two games, both of which were strategically abandoned away games after beating their opponents in the first round.
So, to some extent, no team has really beaten Porto so far this season.
This strong confidence built up through a long period of victory, as well as Mourinho's aggressive tactics, made the entire Porto team unstoppable.
Even Su Dong has to admit that from a football perspective, Porto is indeed the best team in the Portuguese Super League.
But as an opponent, Sudong's task is to defeat Porto.
…
From the beginning of the game, Su Dong felt the ubiquitous restrictions imposed on him by Porto.
He retreated, Carvalho always following him and Costinha always around him.
Since Porto occupies the midfield advantage, Sporting Lisbon's midfielder cannot press out at all, so the single defensive midfielder Costinha seems more like cooperating with Carvalho, teaming up front and back to freeze Sudong.
And for all high balls, Jorge Costa is always the first to rush forward.
This veteran, who is 1.88 meters tall, has good jumping ability. More importantly, he is very experienced and can predict the path and landing point of the ball quickly.
Two central defenders and a defensive midfielder seemed to have created a triangular prison, trapping Su Dong in it.
Ronnie and Quaresma, who have played brilliantly on the wing this season, also encountered trouble tonight.
Especially Ronnie on the left.
Paulo Ferreira played with Sporting Lisbon last season. This player's defense is really good and comprehensive, which makes Ronnie, who sticks to the ball, unable to take any advantage in front of him.
The same goes for Quaresma against Valente.
On one side, Sporting Lisbon's offense was targeted and contained, and on the other side, Porto's offense targeted Sporting Lisbon's left wing, that is, Rui Jorge's side.
Rui Jorge is young and mainly provides assists. Defense is not his strong point, so Mourinho will focus on arranging Cappuccio to attack Sporting Lisbon's left wing tonight.
But Porto also encountered a problem, which was their lack of support in the middle.
Postiga could not replace McCarthy, Delle was marked by Queiroga, and Deco's back-breaking was Porto's most important scoring method this season, but Milan's old captain Albertini personally marked the Brazilian midfielder, Rui Ben.
Tuo and Barbosa supported from the side, which made Sporting Lisbon's defense very strong.
The tactics of both teams are full of pertinence, not only for the opponent as a whole, but also for restricting core players in local areas.
This made the game dull, with neither side getting a good chance.
But competition is still fierce.
In the fourteenth minute, Rui Jorge committed a foul while defending Cappuccio and was shown a yellow card.
Three minutes later, Jorge Costa fouled while marking Su Dong and also received a yellow card.
In the 22nd minute, Pepe fouled while defending Deco and received another yellow card.
When the two teams can't open up the situation to each other, they can only fight to see who can't help but make mistakes first.
The boring game entered the second half, and there was still no improvement.
Rui Bento fouled when he came in after defending Costinha and received another yellow card.
In sixty minutes, Sporting Lisbon received four yellow cards and Porto only received one. The situation is evident.
Yellow cards are like handcuffs. Once you wear handcuffs, your performance will naturally be restricted.
Everyone can see that Sporting Lisbon's situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable.
