If - or when - Sporting win the league, it will be one of the most impressive triumphs in Portuguese football. Win it unbeaten, and it's one of the greatest achievements in all of football history

If you had told even the most optimistic Sporting fan before the season started that, with just 5 games to go, they would be in poleposition to win the Portuguese Primeira Liga, they simply would not have believed you. Even more so that they are within touching distance of completing a famous unbeaten campaign.

It cannot be overstated just how unfancied Sporting were before the season kicked off. Nobody, almost literally without exception, thought Sporting were remotely close to mounting a serious title challenge. Most would have expected them to more likely struggle to hold off Braga for 3rd place, such was the opinion of Sporting CP at the time.

With an exciting but inexperienced manager in the helm, it seemed several seasons too soon for Sporting to leave a serious mark on the league, even more so considering the departure of talisman Bruno Fernandes, who was central to pretty much everything positive Sporting did throughout the previous campaign.

He was seen as entirely irreplaceable. Nobody would be able to replicate his goalscoring exploits, nobody would be able fill the void left behind - surely…

This belief was only strengthened after a rather unspectacular summer transfer window - on paper at least. Sporting, rather than branching into the global market, chose to focus on recruiting some of the best performers from the Portuguese Primeira Liga, spending shrewdly and locally, in complete contrast to Benfica’s headline-grabbing, big-spending approach. To many, the title was already wrapped up before the season had even gotten underway.

Sporting’s season did not get off to the best of starts either. A narrow victory over Aberdeen in their first Europa League qualifying match was followed up by a humiliating 1-4 home loss to Austrian outfit LASK - a shocking defeat that saw Sporting exit European football before it has really begun. It looked set to be as disappointing a season for Sporting as everybody had anticipated.

But their continental failings ran in complete contrast to their domestic showing, and against all odds, they actually started to come across as the most organised, accomplished side in the league.

With a knack for scoring late goals, a clear sense of identity in Ruben Amorim’s fluid 3-4-3 formation and a surprise star in former Wolves and Famalicao midfielder Pedro Goncalves, Sporting were well and truly changing the nation’s perception of them in what must be one of the biggest opinion changes ever seen in the beautiful game - and they have only continued to go from strength to strength.

Many have been anticipating a somewhat characteristic Sporting collapse for weeks now, still unable to believe what they have been able to accomplish this season, but in Amorim they have a manager who continues to say all the right things, while they boast an incredibly well-balanced, well-drilled squad that has quality in every department.

Sebastian Coates in the heart of defence has been a revelation this season, as has the teenage prodigy Nuno Mendes on the left flank, while Joao Palhinha in central midfield has been pivotal in protecting the Sporting backline. And that’s not to mention the goalscoring machine Pedro Goncalves, whose 17 goals and 4 assists in 28 league games is on par with his predecessor Bruno Fernandes.

It cannot be understated just how surprising a Sporting title triumph would be this season. It seems an inevitability now as we reach the tail-end of the campaign, but we cannot simply forget just how unlikely this seemed before the season got underway.

Winning the league title for the first time in two decades is in itself a sensational achievement - but what makes it all the more extraordinary is that they can still complete it unbeaten, something which has only ever happened 4 times in Portuguese football history - twice for Porto, and twice for Benfica. Sporting, therefore, have never managed such a feat, and if winning the title this season seemed impossible before the campaign got underway, you can imagine just how illogical it seemed that they would be able to achieve an unbeaten one too.

But, with just 4 games remaining and a record of 23 wins, 7 draws and 0 defeats, they are within touching distance of what really has to go down as one of the greatest achievements in all of football history, such is the improbability of what they have achieved so far this campaign.