In Portugal – Still the Race of Three Horses

2025-01-28 18:15 © AFP

It is interesting to follow the progress of the "Primeira Liga” championships in Portugal every year. On one hand, the competition is very high, and on the other hand, it is low. It is low because the variety of champions over the years is very narrow.

In the last 4 seasons, there have been three different champions in the "Primeira Liga” championships, which sounds positive and matches the most competitive leagues according to this indicator, but it is worth mentioning that in the last 23 seasons no one has won this league other than the big three: "Sporting,” "Porto,” and "Benfica.” From 2003 to 2020, the "Primeira Liga” title was shared only between "Porto” and "Benfica.”

In this case, the Portuguese league can be compared to similarly strong leagues in the Netherlands and Turkey and to see what kind of competition prevails there.

In the Turkish league, where the situation will also depend on the changing financial situation of the country, there have been different six champions in the last 25 years, in the "Eredivisie” championships there have been five, while in the Portuguese league – only four (in the 2000-2001 season, "Boavista” won).

Even less competitive is the Portuguese league according to statistics over the last 80 seasons (since the "Primeira Liga” started in 1934), compared to Turkey and the Netherlands. Portugal has contributed one additional championship, while the others have all been the same.

The dominance of "Sporting,” "Benfica,” and "Porto” throughout the entire 80-season history is indeed surprising – they have fought for 78 out of 80 possible titles. This can be understood due to the sizes of the cities of these teams, and recently, a team from another large city, Braga, wanted to join this great trio. At one point, they aimed for the title of the Portuguese league, but fell short of this step. The "Primeira Liga” championships continue with a three-horse race, while "Braga” is clearly the fourth strongest team in the country.

This year, all three flagship teams are faltering a bit. "Sporting” had to urgently change coaches and did so more than once, and there were also changes in the coaching staff of "Benfica” and "Porto.” The most stable core has been maintained by the "Sporting” team, which currently leads and is moving towards its third title in five years.

The "Braga” or "Vitoria” teams are still lacking compared to these three horses, but this does not diminish the value of these championships too much. By the way, they can be watched in Lithuania via the SPORT1 channel.

These three main teams of the country are strong on a European scale. They have been promoting the name of Portugal, the 2016 European football champions, for several years now.