in the last of my season so far reviews, i'm going to take a look at the excellently named liga sagres. for those of you who have never visited portugal, sagres is their main lager, and perhaps the most delicious alcoholic beverage i have ever tasted. anyways, i'm aware that this is probably a lesser-known league to most (well, all) of you, so i'm going to try and assume less knowledge. so this might turn into a more of a lesson than a review, but whatever, education is good for you. here's the table as it stands, after 14 rounds. 1) braga (33 points)
the arsenalistas have been the revelation of the season so far, and if they continue their run of form into 2010, could potentially break a barrier that hasn't been broken in portuguese football since the 2000/1 season, and only twice in the history of the liga. for those of you at the back, that barrier is a team not named sporting, porto or benfica winning the title. previously best known for their gorgeous stadium, braga have based their current success around their rock-solid defence, conceding just 6 goals so far. up front they are less potent (19 in 14), which will probably count against them over 30 games. but more damaging will be the loss of joao pereira to sporting, as the full-back has been crucial. the transfer encapsulates one of the endemic problems in portuguese football, in that no matter how well your current team is doing, a move to one of the big 3 is every player's eventual goal.
2) benfica (33 points)
those of you who took a look at the table before reading this post will have noticed that benfica are 2nd, despite having superior goal difference. that's because in the liga sagres, teams are first separated by their head-to-head record, then goal difference. braga beat benfica 2-0, so there you go. but it has to be said, benfica are superior in every other department. the attack (comprised of oscar cardozo, new signing saviola, winger angel di maria and playmaker aimar) has been on fire (38 goals thus far), and the defence, marshalled by brazilians luisao and david luiz, who i've mentioned in previous posts, has been almost as good, shipping just 9 goals. few would dispute that they've played the best football, but they have also been investing smartly. javi garcia and javier saviola (both real madrid cast-offs) have been superb, and the club have just today wrapped up the purchase of two promising young brazilians. the only question mark is their history of flakiness, which would open the door to...
3) fc porto (29 points)
champions for the last 3 seasons, porto started this campaign looking sluggish, and have yet to fully iron a number of problems. the loss of lisandro lopez and lucho gonzalez to lyon and marseilles respectively was a huge blow for them, and the overall quality of the league. replacements falcao and belluschi have flickered but not found consistency, and the continuing poor form of hulk is a real concern. the midfield also lacks the creativity which lucho previously provided, something that was clear in the recent clasico with benfica. despite all this, porto are still in the hunt, and you recent history suggests they will improve. don't count them out.
4) nacional (24 points)
the above 3 teams are out in front, and the next group of 6 teams is led by nacional. after losing top scorer nene to cagliari, their continuing presence in the top four is a testament to the squad, particularly following the loss of coach manuel machado. combining a europa league campaign (which ended at the group stage) with a domestic challenge is not easy, especially with the limited squad that the madeira side possess, but they have been aided by the good form of a number of key players- ruben micael (who looks set to move on this summer), cleber and edgar have all enjoyed good seasons. with europe no longer a distraction, nacional look well placed to cement a top 5 spot.
5) sporting lisbon (21 points)
after a strong pre-season and a number of (seemingly) promising signings, it didn't take long for things to unravel at the alvalade. all season, sporting have lacked motivation and leadership, and the departure of paulo bento quickly became inevitable. he revealed that he wanted to quit over the summer, but that club president bittencourt persuaded him to stay. his inexperienced replacement carlos carvalhal has done little to reverse the slide, and i wouldn't be surprised if he went within the next month. oh and now liedson, the talismanic number 9, is injured. sporting are a club in need of major change, and there will be a high turnover in players come the summer.
6) uniao leiria (20 points)
leiria provided sporting with perhaps their lowest moment of the season, a 1-0 defeat at the alvalade. it highlighted the commendable progress that the side has made under new coach lito vidigal, following their return (after one season in the second tier) to the liga sagres. after losing manuel fernandes as coach, vidigal was a slightly dangerous choice given his lack of top-flight experience, but he has worked well with the limited resources which are a fact of life for any team in portugal, other than the big 3. brazilian striker carlao has been the main source of goals, and if he stays fit, leiria will remain a top-half side.
7) vitoria guimaraes (19 points)
after a poor 2008/9 season, portugal's 4th team have carried their inconsistency into the new campaign. another new coach (the liga sagres is undoubtedly the most trigger-happy in europe) in paulo brito has been in place since october, and things have undoubtedly improved since then. the veteran jose goncalves has played well, but the side are desperate for goals, and there is no immediately obvious source.
8) rio ave (19 points)
having drawn half their games, rio ave are a frustrating side. another team who are short of a goalscoring forward, they are often let down by their inability to kill games off. having said that, their saving grace has often been their solid defence, which is well marshalled by veteran jose gaspar. for a club of their size (their stadium holds 12,000) to even be in the liga sagres is a great achievement, and carlos brito looks set to guide them to another season of safety.
9) maritimo (19 points)
another club who have been playing the managerial merry go-round, maritimo took a chance by appointing club legend mitchell van der gaag in september, following the dismissal of carlos carvalhal. the dutchman has calmed the often restless fans of the notoriously working-class madeira club, aided in no small part by the young senegalese striker, baba. he looks a promising player, and continuing good form from him should see maritimo climb further into the top half.
10) naval (15 points)
naval are the leading team in the ongoing scrap for liga sagres survival, and are one of 3 teams who have yet to break into double figures in the goals scored tally. for a club whose attendances struggle to top 1000 for even the biggest games, progress is always going to be difficult, and the chronic lack of funds mean that coach augusto inacio has a real job on his hands keeping them up. but naval have become canny players at the art of scraping survival, and i wouldn't be surprised if they repeat the trick this season.
11) pacos de ferreira (14 points)
it's been a turbulent season for pacos, marked by an unfortunate inability to win a game at home. they finally managed it on december 11th, but the mata real has not been a fun place to be this season, for players or fans. another tiny club (capacity of the mata real is just 5100), pacos have been hit with two problems off the pitch as well. winger cassio effectively went on strike, angling for a move to PAOK Athens, whilst paulo sergio ditched them for guimaraes. new coach morais has got a tough task.
12) academica (13 points)
after a dreadful start which saw them rooted to the bottom, academica have begun to find some form in recent games, and andre villas boas (assistant to a certain jose mourinho at porto) won't have been happy to see the winter break. key victories over relegation rivals leixoes and vitoria setubal have lifted them out of the bottom 2, and they should stay there, largely due to the awfulness of the four teams below them.
13) vitoria setubal (11 points)
after a drastic summer of change, which saw every single player from last season replaced, it was always going to be a chaotic campaign for setubal, who survived on the last day of 2008/9. the lack of cohesion amongst the squad is evident, and new coach manuel fernandes has already started trimming the vast 32-man pool of players. one of the bigger clubs outside the big 3, setubal should stay up, provided the experienced fernandes is given time.
14) leixoes (11 points)
another small club living beyond their means, leixoes are a perennial presence around the wrong end of the table. they haven't won since october, and would be my tip for relegation.
15) sporting olhanense (10 points)
winners of the second division last year, much was expected from this algarve side, who have a number of loanees from fc porto. olhanense were particularly enjoyable to watch early on in the season, as you could often hear british holidaymakers keen for a taste of portuguese football, amongst the small crowd. they are very easy on the eye, with technical skills which belong in the top half, but their lack of finishing ability sees them in the relegation zone. but, as their recent 2-2 draw with benfica shows, there is a spirit within the squad that bodes well for their chances of survival.
16) belenenses (10 points)
the same cannot be said for belenenses, who until today were the home of freddy adu, everyone's favourite cautionary tale of young talent. he only played 81 minutes of football during his loan spell, and if a club as bad as belenenses (lisbon's other team) don't need him, that should indicate how far he has fallen. because belenenses are bad. they've mustered a pathetic 7 goals all season, spread between 5 of their 14 games. their solitary win came on august 24th, and they are going down, down, down.
that concludes my winter break reviews, hopefully they've been mildly interesting. potential upcoming post topics- the return of the monday night wars in wrestling, UFC 108, and some other stuff. happy new year and that.
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