Times are dark in Porto.
New European Cup format is a headache for the giants
He really revitalized the European Cup and refreshed the perception of it. An intrigue arose – Barcelona, Liverpool (although this is rather the merit of the club and Arne Slot), Milan, Atalanta, Bayer and Villa are surprisingly high. On the other side are the giants, who, with the transformation of the tournament, have fallen back to the bottom of the table. Below Brest, Lille, Feyenoord, Monaco were giants like Bayern, Real Madrid, special problems with Champions League now two clubs owned by sheikhs: Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
The French could not enter the playoff zone due to failures in important matches – the Parisians were beaten against Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and Bayern. And only after beating City did they manage to move up to 22nd place. As for the “Citizens” themselves, they are one round from the end of the group stage – out of the playoff zone and two points behind Stuttgart, who occupy 24th place. The “Sky Blues” fell out in the end – they missed the match with PSG (We led 2:0, but then conceded four). City’s fate will be determined in the final round – and it will depend on Bruges. Such layouts are only a plus for the plot. Only the peaks themselves suffer.
Tied with City and PSG The giants playing in the Europa League are suffering. The tournament is going worst for Roma and Porto. The former made a mistake with the expulsion of De Rossi and are now trying not to fall. Let’s talk about the latter in more detail.
In the summer we found ourselves without a coach
The European giants are still monitoring the success of the donor teams. Portuguese clubs regularly supply high-quality football players to Europe’s biggest leagues. And periodically they provide the best coaches. In 2024, two specialists from Portugal immediately followed the top 5 championships. Sporting could not keep Ruben Amorim. Liverpool tried to resolve the transfer question in the spring. And in the fall, Manchester United approached him.
Before that, Porto had lost their coach. Sergio Conceição worked at the club for seven years. With him, the “blue and white” won the league title three times – and never left the top three. The period is really long – the manager decided it was time for him to seek promotion. And the timing was favorable – Milan parted ways with Stefano Pioli, Naples refused to cooperate with Calzona, Barcelona said goodbye to Xavi. A number of big clubs don’t have a manager and are willing to offer work.
Sergio had to wait until winter – but he finally took charge of the Rossoneri. But Porto already had to look for a replacement during the offseason. Conceicao managed to build a project for himself, so the loss of a coach is critical for the “dragons”.
Championship problems
With the departure of Conceição, Porto had to trust his deputy Vitor Bruno. The specialist worked at Sergio headquarters for seven years as part of the “blue and white” team and became familiar with his philosophy. At the same time, the club took an obvious risk: the manager had no experience of independent work as a coach at the adult professional level. And the “dragons” started confidently – with six victories in seven matches. It was only in the match against Sporting that we suffered a defeat – it’s unpleasant, but we can work.
Then the winning streak continued: until November the team did not lose points in the Portuguese championship. Another thing is that to qualify for the title here, you not only have to beat lower-class opponents, but also score points against Benfica and Sporting. The class difference between this trio and the rest of the clubs is too big, so they rarely make mistakes. “Porto” after the defeat of “Sporting” in the match against “Benfica” received 1:4.
Immediately afterwards they were eliminated from the Portuguese Cup by Moreirense, and at the beginning of December they lost points against Famalican (1:1). The takeover was the January period – four defeats in a row. After 1:3 against Gil Vicente, Vitor Bruno was sent off. The mentoring functions are carried out by José Tavares. He has worked in the club system for over 10 years, starting as a reserve coach.
Europa League results – obscurity
The total decline has also affected European competitions, where the “dragons” are usually good. The team regularly qualifies for the playoffs and has reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League twice in the previous six seasons. This year is absolute hell.
Exactly from THE The first warning signs have been raised about Porto’s potential decline. While no one except Sporting could stop them in domestic tournaments, the blue and whites lost in the first round of the European Cup to Norwegian underdog Bodø-Glimt (2:3). . A draw against United and a victory over Hoffenheim were encouraging – only they were followed by misses with Lazio (1:2) and Anderlecht (2:2). In the seventh round, the “dragons” were defeated by Olympiacos. The team is about to be without a European spring for the first time since the 05/06 season.
Everything will be decided in the final round against Maccabi Tel Aviv – at the same time, the Lisbon side need one of their competitors above to miss. This scenario doesn’t sound fantastic, but the club, which was so stable before, is fighting too hard for the playoffs. It is important for Porto to quickly find a replacement for Conceicao, otherwise the club risks falling into a crisis.
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