Benfica could this Saturday become Portuguese football champions for the 38th time, saying goodbye to the 2022/23 Ligue I with the Santa Clara red lantern, with Porto hoping for a “miracle” to confirm the title.
The Lisbon team has a two-point lead over rivals Porto at the start of the 34th and final matchday, and only a loss at the Estadio da Luz against a team already relegated to the second tier puts it at the mercy of the result of the Dragons on admission to Vitória de Guimarães in fifth place.
A victory over the Azores would allow Benfica to win the title they lacked in the previous three seasons, but even a draw could be enough as Porto would need to beat Minho at the same time (18:00) and overcome the 11-goal difference in favor of ” orlov” in the tie-break between goals scored and goals conceded.
Centre-back António Silva, arguably the biggest revelation of the season, is serving a suspension and will not be able to help Benfica expand their national title record on the pitch with their 38th scepter, eight more than FC. Porto (30) is the second most titled club, while Sporting is half (19).
Aside from the title decision and aside from the cosmetic rankings, the final round will only shed light on the fifth and sixth place winners, who open up access to the third and second qualifying rounds of the next edition of the Europa Conference. League and are occupied, respectively, by Vitoria de Guimarães and Aroca.
Guimarães is two points ahead of its pursuers but faces a bigger challenge at the Porto FC stadium, which vaguely dreams of confirming the title while Aruka visits, also at 6pm, Portimonense 13 classified and maintenance already assured.
The “fabric” in Ligue I 2022/23 will fall after 22:00, when the game starts between Sporting de Braga (out of reach in third place, last qualifying for the Champions League) and Pacos de Ferreira, who finished in the penultimate place and were almost relegated, while Maritimo, penultimate, also already knows that they will compete in the maintenance play-off, regardless of the result in Estoril Praia.
On Friday, fourth-placed Sporting CP completed their participation in the 2022/23 I League season with a 2-1 win against Wiesela.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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