Academica defeat Setubal as Week 12 commences

Academica opened Week 12 of the Portuguese League with a 1-0 victory on the road over Setubal as Diogo Valente tapped in a pass into an empty net just three minutes into the encounter and the club hung on the rest of the way moving themselves into 4th spot in the campaign.

FC Porto get set to travel to Lisbon and take on Sporting in this weeks key encounter as the Dragons look to maintain their undefeated record

Benfica look to hold onto stars during transfer window

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus has made it clear that he has no intentions of selling any of his stars during the winter transfer window. Jesus does not want to weaken the club as they chase league leaders Porto for defense of their title.

The two names most often mentioned in transfer rumours from the club are central back David Luiz and left back Fabio Coentrao as the Big European clubs are knocking at the Estadio da Luz. Luiz and Coentrao could fetch Benfica $50 million Euro if they are sold for the clubs asking price.

Paulo Bento announces squad for Portugal friendly

Paulo Bento has announced his Portugal squad for the upcoming friendly against Spain on November 17/10 as the Quinas take on the defending World Cup Champions in a rematch from their Round of 16 encounter in World Cup 2010

Goalies

Eduardo (Genoa)
Rui Patricio (Sporting)

Defensemen

Bruno Alves (Zenit)
Fabio Coentrao (Benfica)
Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea)
Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid)
Pepe (Real Madrid)
Jose Pereira (Sporting)

Midfielders

Joao Moutinho (FC Porto)
Carlos Martins (Benfica)
Manuel Fernandes (Valencia)
Raul Meireles (Liverpool)

Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Danny (Zenit)
Helder Postiga (Sporting)
Nani (Man United)
Varela (FC Porto)
Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen)

Top 25 clubs with fans on Facebook

The Top 25 clubs with fans on facebook has three Portuguese clubs on the list, this information was compiled by Futebol Finance and shows that social media continues to grow and influence clubs profiles in this new Internet age.

Become a Fan of our Portuguse Soccer Facebook Fan Page

Top 25 Clubs

1- Barcelona (6,200,000)
2- Real Madrid (5,200,000)
3- Galatassary (4,600,000)
4- Man United (4,200,000)
5- Liverpool (3,150,000)
6- Fenerbache (3,100,000)
7- Chelsea (2,300,000)
8- Arsenal (2,120,000)
9- AC Milan (1,600,000)
10- Boca Juniors (1,000,000)
11- Marseille (700,000)
12- Napoli (350,000)
13- PSG (350,000)
14- Bayern Munich (290,000)
15- BENFICA (280,000)
16- Man City (230,000)
17- River Plate (215,000)
18- Tottenham (200,000)
19- FC PORTO (180,000)
20- Lyon (170,000)
21- Bordeaux (140,000)
22- Levski Sofia (110,000)
23- Anderlecht (100,000)
24- SPORTING (99,000)
25- Besiktas (94,000)

Guimaraes comeback to stun Sporting

Guimaraes and Sporting looked for a victory today to take advantage of Benfica's loss to FC Porto the day before as the winner of this encounter would move into a second place tie with the Eagles in the Portuguese League.

Sporting started off quickly as a Helder Postiga low strike found its way into the far left corner to give the home side a 1-0 lead 16 minutes into the game, Sporting then would make it 2-0 when Vukcevic's header from a corner kick looked to have just crossed the line.

The second half saw Sporting's fortunes take a turn for the worst as Maniche was handed a red card in the 73rd minute and Targino capitalized five minutes later to cut the lead to one. Targino would then strike again just one minute later as his nifty deke of Patricio left him the wide open cage. Guimaraes would then score the winner with one minute left in regulation time as the bouncing ball found Bruno Teles and the comeback was complete.

They win ties Guimaraes for 2nd spot in the league with Benfica as both teams trail FC Porto for top spot by ten points.

O Classico Preview: Benfica-FC Porto

FC Porto get set to host Benfica in "O Classico" encounter as the league leaders hope to widen their league atop the Portuguese League over the defending Champions. Porto currently hold a seven point lead over second place Benfica and have yet to lose in the league all season.

Previous 5 league encounters at the Dragao:

2009/10 FC Porto 3-1 Benfica
2008/09 FC Porto 1-1 Benfica
2007/08 FC Porto 2-0 Benfica
2006/07 FC Porto 3-2 Benfica
2005/06 FC Porto 0-2 Benfica

Players to Watch:

FC Porto- Hulk, the golden boot leader with 8 goals is having an MVP type season for the Dragons, lately as Hulk goes so does Porto.

Benfica- Carlos Martins, he has been a key cog in the midfield for Benfica this season, Martins vision will create Benfica chances.

Benfica hang on for big win over Lyon

Benfica hung on today for a very important win over Group leaders Lyon and sit third in the Group one point behind current second place club Schalke with two games remaining.

Benfica opened the scoring when Kardec headed home a Carlos Martins free kick in the 20th minute mark. Carlos Martins was in again on the second goal as his chip pass was hit mid air by Fabio Coentrao and Benfica went up two. Javi Garcia made it 3-0 just before the half heading home a Carlos Martins corner.

Benfica made it 4-0 when Fabio Coentrao's second of the game was lifted over the Lyon keeper at the 67th minute mark. Lyon then made it interesting scoring three straight times Gourcuff at 74 minutes, Gomis at the 85th and Lovren at the 95th minute gave the home side a scare but the Eagles hung on for the victory.

Benfica now prepare for "O Classico" as they travel to Dragao to take on FC Porto on Sunday.

Guimaraes win to move into tie for third spot

Guimaraes earned a huge home win today defeating Portimonense and moving into a third place tie in the Portuguese League with Sporting with 15 points each.

Guimaraes got goals from Edgar in the first half and Maranhao in the second to earn the victory and keep their undefeated home record intact.