Commander FC Porto with difficult travel to Guimarães

O fC Porto champion has on Sunday another difficult test to his isolated leadership of the championship, by measuring forces in Guimarães with the local Victoria, in play of the 11th day of the I League of football.

The team led by Italian Francesco Farioli managed in the last round to become the second ‘blue and white’ to start the championship with 10 triumphs, being only three of equalizing the achievement achieved in 1939/40, when it reached 13 consecutive victories, and can now, in Guimarães, reach the 11th.

In addition to the immaculate course in Portugal, the ‘dragons’ appear in the ‘crib city’ motivated by the first triumph in the league phase of the Champions League, when they received and swung, on Wednesday, the Italians of Naples by 4-1, in play of the fourth day of the race, which relaunched the portist candidacy for the clearance for the play-off.

From the front, a Vitória de Guimarães is presented to hold a championship far from the starting goals of the season, occupying the 13th place, with nine points, but the Vitória de Guimarães team comes from two meetings without losing, to win by 5-0 at the reception to the Maritime, on the ninth journey, and to tie 0-0 in the always difficult derby minhoto with Gil Vicente, in Barcelos, on the 10th.

The journey does not seem to bring facilities for Benfica, second ranked, to five points of the leader, who plays at the home of the Amadora Star, one of the sensation teams at the start of the race, when he spent six days without losing and imposed a 2-2 draw in the reception to Sporting, but shows signs of breakage, adding four consecutive defeats in the last days.

Forbidden to give points, after adding a tie at home in front of the Scholarship of Viseu and having lost in the Dragon with FC Porto, Benfica appears in Amadora in a cycle of three consecutive triumphs and with the extra motivation to be leading a good start in the Europa League.

Opening the new coach Paulo Fonseca, who won this week Rui Borges, Sporting tries to keep track of the victories, after the former coach has still won in the last round in the trip to Rio Maior the House Pia, while the interim Tiago Fernandes relocated the ‘lions’ on the road to the victories in the Champions League, by winning in London the Ukrainians of Shakhtar Donetsk.

Saturday’s reception to Moreirense does not seem easy, but the ‘canons’, situated in the middle of the table, usually pose more difficulties to the ‘great ones’ when they act in the condition of visitors, thus constituting a good opportunity for Paulo Fonseca to start his walk in Sporting with a triumph.

Highlights in the journey to the clashes Santa Clara-Gil Vicente and Famalicão-Arouca, games between teams to perform good championship starts, while Sporting Braga, in Vila do Conde facing the River Ave, and the Académico de Viseu, in Madeira with the National, will try to stay close to the European zone, facing formations that fight for escape to the last places.

The round also includes Estoril Praia-Marítimo, in a game in which the last ‘canarinhos’, with only two points, are forced to win so as not to see the teams ahead stand out even more, while the islanders, after a start with two triumphs, are already eight games without winning and come from three consecutive defeats.

11th Journey Program:

– Friday, 06 Nov:

Famalicão – Arouca, 20:45

– Saturday, 07 Nov:

National – Academic of Viseu, 15:30

Alverca – Casa Pia, 18:00

Sporting – Moreirense, 20:30

– Sunday, 08 Nov:

Estoril Praia – Marítimo, 15:30

Santa Clara – Gil Vicente, 15:30

Vitória de Guimarães – FC Porto, 18:00

Amadora Star – Benfica, 20:30

Ave River – Sporting Braga, 20:30