A look at Portugal's exceptional European campaign so far - on the brink of history
In the most recent summer transfer market, Benfica saw top goalscorer Darwin Nunez depart the club for a deal worth up to 100 million euros, FC Porto witnessed their two young midfield stars Vitinha and Fabio Vieira be taken from them before they had even reached a fraction of their full potential, and Sporting CP allowed their title-winning midfield duo of two years ago to be ripped out of the side with Matheus Nunes and Joao Palhinha heading to the Premier League. Today, two of the three Portuguese heavyweights have already secured qualification to the Champions League round of 16 - with the third, Sporting, potentially on the brink of following suit.
It is the recurring story of Portuguese football; construct a competent football team, see the best-performing players sold for big money to more lucrative leagues, replace them either with talents from the academy or through shrewd acquisitions, and repeat. No doubt, however, that on this occasion, the Big Three in the country have managed to go above and beyond when it comes to collective representation of the nation on the European stage in the face of selling adversity.
To see both Benfica and FC Porto qualify for the round of 16 of Europe’s most prestigious club competition with a game to spare at the expense of Juventus and Atletico Madrid respectively - two former members of the failed Super League breakaway project - is a particularly remarkable sight, and a humiliating humbling for those who continue to promote the concept of a closed-off elitist Super League style competition that would see clubs that hail from the nations such as Portugal essentially permanently locked out. It is also a particularly impressive feat for Portuguese football when you consider the general financial disparity between the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the big four leagues on the continent.
Sporting CP still have work to do in their fight to claim the right to play Champions League football post-Christmas in what has unsurprisingly proven a breathtakingly balanced group - but to have already taken 4 points off Premier League opposition in Tottenham Hotspur across two games and beaten German side and reigning Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 away from home proves that they can battle it out with some serious European football clubs.
The Portuguese Primeira Liga does not have the financial backing of the biggest domestic leagues in Europe, nor does it have the global interest of those lucrative divisions. Yet the biggest clubs in the country continue to prove that they can go up against the top teams in the world and more than hold their own, none proving this more so than Benfica, who in addition to defeating Juventus home and away managed to also draw both in Lisbon and Paris against French giants PSG.
How sustainable the model of buying low and selling high in a conveyer belt style remains to be seen, but the fact that Portuguese clubs have continued to maintain competitiveness among Europe’s finest year on year over the past couple of decades and beyond has been incredible - and perhaps doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It is that consistency that truly deserves praise. But this season is still, potentially, markedly better - potentially historically so.
Spain will only have one team in this season’s Champions League knockout stage - a scenario that would have seemed almost impossible a few years ago - with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla all crashing out in the group phase. France will most likely only have the one representative in the round of 16 too. Portugal, on the other hand, have, at the very least, two teams already safely through to the last 16, with a third very possible - perhaps probable. Should Sporting manage to get the job done in their final game of the group stage by earning at least a draw at home against Eintracht, that would see Portugal match the number of knockout representatives expected to come from both Germany and Italy, and would also ensure Portugal have three teams simultaneously in the Champions League round of 16 for the first time in their entire history.
Considering the strength of each of their Champions League groups - with both Benfica and Sporting entering the group stage as pot 3 sides - it is a remarkable achievement for a nation whose domestic top flight is often looked down upon, and proves the quality that can be unearthed in the country.
Fans from abroad may continue to underestimate the ability of the Big Three from Portugal - indeed, many teams may hope that they draw one of the Big Three as they might be viewed as the more favourable options when they go into the hat next month - but as they’ve already started to prove this season, Benfica, Porto and hopefully Sporting will fear no-one heading into the next phase of the competition.
