Portuguese Primeira Liga introduces relegation play-off from next season

A significant fundamental change has been made to the Primeira Liga from next season onwards, with up to three teams now able to be relegated from the Portuguese top flight.

As is the model in other countries such as the German Bundesliga, the bottom two teams will continue to suffer automatic relegation from the top tier of Portuguese football, but the side that finishes third from last (ie. 16th) will now have to play against the side that finish 3rd in the Portuguese second tier to determine who plays in the Primeira Liga in the following season.

This so-called relegation play-off between 16th in the Primeira Liga and 3rd in the LigaPro will be played over two legs, with the winner then being allocated the final spot in the Primeira Liga for the following campaign.

According to Record, this change to the Portuguese league system was approved with 28 votes in favour and 18 votes against, while 4 abstained.

This change to the league structure should add additional excitement and intrigue to the season.

Since 2006-07, only two teams have been relegated from the Portuguese Primeira Liga each campaign - the only exception came in 2018-19, when three teams went down to create an extra spot for Gil Vicente, who were granted an automatic spot in the 2019-20 Primeira Liga season by a court decision.