COACH OF
THESEASON
Witha thirdtitleand
a seconddoublein
fiveseasons,thejob
SergioConceicao
hasdoneatPorto
hasbeenmiraculous,
especiallywhenyou
considertheclub’s
FFPlimitationsand
arch-rivalsBenfica’s
unprecedented
spendingfor much
ofthatperiod.NEWCOMER
OFTHESEASON
BroughttoSporting
onloanfromPSG
inthe dealthatsaw
NunoMendesheadin
theoppositedirection,
wingerPabloSarabia
providedservice
befittingofa regular
Spaininternational
fortheLisbon club,
notching 21 goals
inall competitions
fortheLions.“Whatisthefootballthatpeople
mostliketo see?Thatdepends,” he
replied.“Somepeoplelikedwatching
Barcelona,butthatputmetosleep.
Otherspreferred watchingthe
Dortmundsideofa fewyears
ago,whichwerea wonderinterms
ofconstantfastattacking.Whatever
theapproach,the intensityalwayshas
tobethere.Weascoachingstaffareextremelydemandingevery single
day.Ifa player comestotrainingand
thinkshecan do justenough,that’s
notgoodenoughfor us.Wework
veryhardtomake sure they all
raisetheirgame.”
The 47 -year-oldisalsodemanding
ofPorto’s boardroom,angrilyexpressing
hisdisgustat theDiazsaleinJanuary
andhintingheavilythathisdecision
onwhetherornottostickaround
theEstadio do Dragao will depend
onincreasedinvestmenttoenable
a more competitivecampaign in the
ChampionsLeague.ShouldPorto’s
topbrassfailtodeliveronthatfront,
withhisstockextremelyhigh,itwould
notbea hugeshocktoseeConceicao
moveon,with rumoursofa prospective
switchtoSerieA recurrent.
After theeuphoriaofwinning
theleagueforthefirsttimeintwo
decadeslastyear, Sporting’s campaign
feltanti-climactic.Thatis harshon
Ruben Amorim,giventhatthe 8 5
pointsgainedwouldbegoodenough
towintheleagueinfourofthe last
seven seasons, andthere is stillplenty
ofsheenonhisburgeoningreputation,
especially aftera positivecampaign
inthe ChampionsLeague.
Asfor Benfica,anotherseason
offailurewasmitigatedslightlybya
triumphinthe UEFA Youth League.
ThesupportersofPortugal’s most
popularclubwill be hopingthe
talentedgroupofyoungsterscango
ontoemulatePorto. Thenortherners
wonthecompetitionin 2019 andjust
three yearslater many
ofthatteamplayed
a keyroleindriving
Porto to theleague
titlethisseason.
WithJorgeJesus
gone,Rui Costa
replacinglong-
standingpresidentLuisFilipeVieira
andwith RogerSchmidtsettobecome
theirfirst foreigncoachsince 20 08,it
feelslikea cleanslateforthe Eagles.WORLDSOCCER 51
Classy
Spaniard...
Top of theworld...SergioConceicao Pablo Sarabia
PORTUGAL:PRIMEIRALIGA
EUROSEASONREVIEW
Thedrivingforceoftheteamcomprised
VitinhaandOtavio,whoseperformanceswere
soconsistentlyoutstandingtheybothforced
theirwayintoPortugal’sseniorteam