Lage or Borges: one of them will be champion without having dreamed of it

It was August 2024. After a somewhat hectic summer, a new season was beginning and, with it, new ambitions for titles among the three 'big' Portuguese football clubs. Sporting had been crowned champions, three years after breaking a long drought. In the midst of the title celebrations, Ruben Amorim promised a second championship, something that had eluded the 'Lions' for over 70 years. The desire was real. And after 11 consecutive victories to open the season, it became even more so. Until everything changed in November. But we'll get to that later.

By then, Roger Schmidt had already been sacked by Benfica. After a season far from the brilliance of his debut season, five points dropped in the first four rounds would ruin everything, forcing chairman Rui Costa to take action.

Bruno Lage, champion for the 'encarnados' in 2018/19, was the board's choice, which caused some distrust among fans, as a result of his recent inauspicious adventure with the Brazilian team Botafogo, having been unemployed for many months. Luís Filipe Vieira even commented: «Bruno Lage was certainly not the first choice».

However, Lage's return home proved to be a sure thing from the start, with eight consecutive wins that put Benfica in the lead, largely due to their eternal rival. Lured by Manchester United, Ruben Amorim once again 'livened up' the championship.

You never know what would have happened if Ruben Amorim had stayed in charge of the 'lions' until the end of the season, but the truth is that Sporting seemed unstoppable and on course for that promised second title. João Pereira was the man who followed.

A risky choice, coming from the B team and with very little experience, and Frederico Varandas, this time, did not have a 'clinical' eye. He would last only four rounds, having contributed with only one win, one draw and two defeats.

With Benfica in the lead just a few days before the first round derby, Varandas reacted to Sporting's 'freefall' and signed Rui Borges from Vitória de Guimarães, who was having a brilliant campaign in the Conference League, albeit somewhat intermittently in the I League.

Borges never lost His debut could not have gone better. In Alvalade, Sporting beat Benfica 1-0 and returned to the lead, along with FC Porto, who would also go through a crisis and a new coaching change shortly afterwards, without any effect.

The defeat affected the 'eagles', who suffered two more defeats in the following three rounds – against Sporting de Braga and Casa Pia -, motivating a new wave of criticism, while Sporting would once again 'shoot' ahead, with a six-point advantage.

Rui Borges has never lost in the league since taking charge of Sporting, but three consecutive draws with FC Porto, Arouca and AVS allowed Benfica to recover, in a union of forces that would lead to nine consecutive victories.

Sporting drew at home to Sporting de Braga, for the 28th round, but Benfica did the same the following week, against Arouca, which brings us to the current point: a Lisbon derby that could define both teams as champions.

From 6pm on Saturday, at Estádio da Luz, Sporting will be champions if they win and Benfica will be champions if they win by two or more goals. A draw or a narrow victory for the 'encarnados' will postpone everything until the 34th and final round. It will be exciting until the last minute.

If Bruno Lage already has experience in fighting for titles without starting the season at the club, as in 2018/19, when he 'jumped' from the B team to the main team, replacing Rui Vitória, Rui Borges can win the first trophy of his still short career.

Dance of the coaches For the first time in the history of the Portuguese championship, the three 'big' teams changed coaches during the same season. This was also the case for FC Porto, in a season that even started with the winning of the Super Cup, but quickly 'fell'.

Former assistant to Sérgio Conceição, Vítor Bruno entered into a dispute with his predecessor in the position when he took over, under the trust of André Villas-Boas, and even interfered in the fight for leadership at the beginning, but the terrible entry in 2025 was the 'last straw'.

Two defeats and three draws, in a row, during the transition between Vítor Bruno, interim José Tavares and Martín Anselmí, kept FC Porto out of the fight for the title, which they were unable to recover, with the Argentine taking a long time to justify his signing.

The best the 'dragons' have achieved, under Anselmí, were two consecutive victories in the championship, and, with two rounds to go, they are fighting with Sporting de Braga for the last position on the podium, both with 65 points.

The unprecedented changes in all three 'big' clubs coincide with an atypical year in terms of the 'dance' of coaches in the I Liga, with only four clubs keeping the same helmsman since the beginning: Santa Clara, Estoril Praia, Casa Pia and Nacional.

Vasco Matos, in the Azoreans, the Scot Ian Cathro, in the 'canarinhos', João Pereira, in the 'gansos', and Tiago Margarido, in the Madeirans, are the only survivors in a season in which some clubs were managed by five coaches.

In this calculation, the winners are Gil Vicente and Boavista, followed by AVS, with four different coaches throughout the season – José Mota replaced Rui Ferreira this week. Sporting, FC Porto, Vitória de Guimarães and Famalicão added three.