Portuguese Football Betting: Embittered Porto face struggle to retain title

European Leagues / Ben Lyttleton / 08 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

"Porto are convinced that an insider at Benfica last week leaked transcripts of the criminal case brought against Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa during an investigation into corruption."

Ben Lyttleton takes a close look at the Portuguese top flight where Porto look unlikely to win a fifth consecutive league title. So if they won't win, who will?

The Portuguese top flight has an unusual look to it this morning, and not just because Benfica, without a title since 2005, are top of the pile. Nor is it that unfashionable Sporting Braga, a team that lost their coach Jorge Jesus to Benfica in pre-season, are second and could close the gap if they beat rock-bottom Belenenses on Monday night.

No, the surprise is that Porto, title-winners for the last four years, are seven points off the pace and, with a Champions League tie against Arsenal coming up next week, up against making it five in a row. Despite beating Naval 3-0 on Sunday night, they are [3.15] to win the title and [3.0] to get past the Gunners.

Benfica could have been even further ahead of them had top scorer Oscar Cardozo not stuck the crossbar with a last-minute penalty in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Vitoria Setubal. But still Benfica look the strongest side in the
division: they have scored 51 goals in their first 19 league games, and 78 in all competitions compared to last season's total of 73.

Porto are still coming to terms with the aftermath of their December defeat at Benfica, which might define their campaign for all the wrong reasons: there was a mass brawl after the game involving the Porto players and the home side's stewards. Porto have since claimed that they were provoked but the league's disciplinary committee have suspended defender Cristian Sapunaru and striker Hulk until a hearing on February 23.

Porto are especially frustrated because a similar incident in the October game between Braga and Benfica saw Braga captain Vandinho banned for three months for trying to assault the Benfica assistant boss, but the other players involved, Mossoro and Ney Santos, received a three- and two-game ban respectively.

That's not the only divisive issue between the top clubs at the moment. Porto are convinced that an insider at Benfica last week leaked the transcripts of the criminal case brought against Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa during the Golden Whistle investigation looking into corruption from 2002-2005. The transcripts had been made public before but the fact that fans could now listen to the protagonists using their unsophisticated code-words ('fruit' for prostitutes, and the type of coffee they prefer for their complexion) on YouTube, rather than just read it in the paper, has infuriated the Porto camp.

Meanwhile, under Jorge Jesus, Benfica could be heading for that long-awaited title at last. The appointment of Jesus was hardly met with widespread approval but the club were looking for a Portuguese boss who understood the domestic game. Given that previous experiments with bigger names like Quique Sanchez Flores, Ronald Koeman and Jose Antonio Camacho had all failed, it has proved a good decision: as has the summer recruitment in signing Javier Saviola, Ramires and Javi Garcia.

Garcia in particular looks a steal at €7m from Real Madrid, and his tough defensive midfield play allows Benfica to play five attacking men in front of him: with Ramires (or the improving Carlos Martins), Pablo Aimar and Angel di Maria forming a creative trident behind Saviola and Oscar Cardozo, top scorer with 16 goals. Benfica are a short [1.25] for the title, but always worth a bet in the Over-Goals market - unlike Braga, who have conceded just six in 17 games, only two of which have had more than two goals in them. They may not be big entertainers, but they are certainly effective. They proved their credentials with last week's 1-0 win over Sporting.

Porto have a game in hand on Benfica so it's too early to say that it's a two-horse race for the title between Benfica and Braga. Perhaps if Porto fail to get past Arsenal in the Champions League, then they will focus all their attention on the league. Porto have enjoyed a heady spell for a long time, but the club is finally getting an idea of what life can be like without friends in high places.