Porto already playing catch-up ahead of season-defining O Clássico

“It’s decisive”. Speaking after Wednesday night’s Champions League win over Club Brugge - a vital result in the context of Porto’s season - Maxi Pereira already had his eyes on Sunday’s O Clássico showdown with Benfica, and didn’t even attempt to hide from the volume of its importance. The ideological impact of Porto beating their greatest enemy would be one thing, but there is already in urgency in terms of points. It’s not too strong to suggest it could shape the nascent season of Nuno’s side. 

Much of this urgency goes back to last weekend, when Porto failed to break down a determined Vitória Setúbal at Bonfim despite an early evening of one-way traffic; they had 21 shots to the hosts’ two, 62% of possession and twice as many corners (8-4). Shelling points against a side that haven’t beaten them since the 1983/84 season, coupled with Benfica’s comfortable win over Paços de Ferreira, means Porto go into Sunday’s game at the Dragão trailing their visitors by five points.  

So while a draw from O Clássico would be disappointing, a defeat would probably cause fatal damage to their title hopes. A 2-0 loss for Porto in the corresponding fixture in December 2014 left them six points off the pace. They spent most of the rest of the campaign chasing hard, and they won 17, drew three and lost just one of their remaining 21 Liga fixtures. Julen Lopetegui’s team still missed out on the title by three points.  

There’s little room for mistakes, then, for a youthful Porto team where merit reigns. Their start to the campaign has been good, and their coach has quickly found a best XI he believes in. There was just one change from the line-up that began in Setúbal for the Brugge match, with Maxi replacing Miguel Layún. Of the XI, only Iker Casillas has reached 30 and the front two of André Silva and Diogo Jota (on loan from Atlético Madrid) are 20 and 19 respectively.  

The level of Nuno’s faith in those young talents is clear, with the more experienced likes of Yacine Brahimi - a €35 million target for Everton in the last transfer window - Laurent Depoitre and Jesús Corona all on the bench on Wednesday. They are learning fast, but the pressure is relentless.  

It will be even more so in O Clássico, because Benfica are relentless. Their failure to win their opening match of the season, at home, also to Setúbal, might have suggested a certain malleability, but they have not offered their rivals the slightest sliver of light or air since. Benfica’s form has been unremitting in Liga NOS, with eight successive wins adorned with 21 goals scored and only three conceded. This has been, it’s worth bearing in mind, without the services of last season’s top scorer Jonas, who netted 32 times in the 34 Liga matches. The Brazilian hitman has played just once in the league this season as he battles a foot injury, complicated by an infection to it.  

Kostas Mitroglou, his strike partner, has also endured a spell on the treatment table but is back in the goals of late, with his brace in the September win over Braga taking the champions top for the first time this season and his last strike setting up an important victory just down the road at Belenenses. The Greece striker was, however, the subject of some criticism after this week’s too-close-for-comfort win over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, having four efforts at goal but failing to add to Eduardo Salvio’s first-half penalty and give his team the cushion that would have allowed them to begin contemplating Sunday’s big game. 

Although the win kept Benfica’s positive dynamic going, there was another - major - blow, with Ljubomir Fejsa going off just before the hour through injury, and he will miss the big trip north. Of coach Rui Vitória’s regulars, the Serbian midfielder has emerged as his most important defensive player, making 3.4 tackles and 2.8 interceptions per game in his nine Liga starts. There is experience to replace in the shape of his fellow Olympiacos alumnus Andreas Samaris, but the Greek international has started only once in the league so far this campaign, for an average rating of 6.25. It’s asking a lot to step into a match of this intensity. 

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Yet dealing with difficulty is what Vitória’s Benfica do. They have coped with a raft of injuries this season, with the absences of Jonas, Mitroglou and Portuguese record signing Raúl Jiménez - who has started just once in Liga NOS - forcing the deployment of teenage winger Gonçalo Guedes as a centre-forward. Even if Guedes has scored just the one Liga goal in seven starts, he has offered two assists on top. 

There have also been goal contributions for the likes of Pizzi and Salvio from midfield, with two apiece, and another teenager in the excellent 19-year-old midfielder André Horta. We’re only nine matches into the Liga season but 11 different players have been on the mark for Benfica. 

Vitória recently marked the one-year anniversary of being humbled 3-0 at the Estádio da Luz by predecessor Jorge Jesus’ Sporting, and trailing them by eight points at the top of the table, Since then, it has been nothing but smiles for the former Vitória Guimarães coach, taking in a third straight championship and a Champions League quarter-final. While Porto’s illustrious history - and overspending in recent years - requires their young team to pay the bills of the past and end their trophy drought, the sturdiness of this Benfica will make things very difficult for them.

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