Feirense vs Futebol Clube do Porto Round 5--Liga Zon Sagres Estadio Marcolino de Castro Sunday, September 18, 2011 18:15 (12:15 NY) Don't think the list of call-ups has been released, but this could be a tricky fixture for Porto ahead of next Friday's match vs Benfica. Feirense are one of the new sides in the league, but they've gained a very respectable 5 points in their first 4 league matches, only losing away to Benfica. So while it might be tempting to rest some of the starters, I'd really like to see VP field a strong lineup to get the full points in this one so that we have some momentum heading into next week. [Some info on Feirense from UEFA's website] http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=2601232/domestic/index.html
I read some where that this game is actually being played in the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro. If true, this is better for us as their smaller stadium could be tricky to play in. I say we have a comfortable victory Feirense 0 FC Porto 4
I think will be able to get the 3 points. We can't look past these guys but I'm confident VP won't let that happen.
Looks like Hulk and Alvaro won't play tomorrow as they recover from injury. I understand VP wants them to be 100% for next Friday, but tomorrow just got a bit trickier for sure. List of Callups: GK: Helton & Bracalli DF: Sapunaru, Rolando, Otamendi, Mangala & Fucile MF: Souza, Fernando, Guarin, Defour, Belluschi & Moutinho FW: Djalma, Varela, Walter, Kleber, James Rodriguez & Cristian Rodriguez INJURED: Hulk, Alvaro, Alex Sandro & Rafa TECHNICAL DECISION: Maicon & Iturbe --So Sapunaru (injury), Guarin and Rolando (suspended vs Shakhtar), and Walter (not registered for CL) all return. --Certainly expecting Helton to start in goal, with Sapunaru, Rolando, Otamendi & Fucile across the back 4. --Lots of options in MF, as Defour and Belluschi are both in excellent form. Guarin is a guy who probably needs minutes as well, but he certainly faces competition right now. --And up front, we'll see what VP does without Hulk available. We could see the Rodriguez boys on both flanks, or maybe Varela starts, or perhaps even Djalma gets his first opportunity? We'll see.
I expect: ---------------Helton------------------ Sapu----Rolando--Otamendi---Fucile---- --------------Fernando--------------- ---------Moutinho--Guarin------------- ------James-----Kleber-------Varela----- But I can see Defour/C. Rodriguez starting.
Helton; Sapunaru, Rolando, Mangala, Fucile; Belluschi, Guarín, Moutinho; James, Kléber, Cebolla Nice to see Mangala get his first game here.
Interesting lineup, no DM with 3 central midfielders. Big opportunities for Mangala, Guarin & Cristian Rodriguez. Go Porto!
0-0 at HT, that was an awful 45 minutes from Porto. We're not posing any threat from wide areas, the midfield trio is struggling to take control of the match, and Feirense look more likely to score on the counter than Porto do. Gotta make a few changes in the 2nd half, I'd first suggest getting Cristian Rodriguez off the pitch ASAP.
2nd half started, Silvestre Varela on for Kleber. James now playing through the middle, let's see how this works.
********, nice ball from Varela is headed off the bar from Cristian Rodriguez, and he couldn't put home the rebound. That was our best chance so far, and at least we're putting on some pressure.
Holy shit, what a sequence! Horrible mistake by Fucile left our goal wide open, but tremendous hustle and defending from Guarin to clear the line. We then go the other way, but James nice ball is kicked wide by Varela. Really exciting stuff.
Defour on for Cristian Rodriguez, so now Porto has 4 central midfielders and no real striker on the pitch--desperation time.
10 minutes left, Belluschi just delivered a great cross--but there is no striker to bang it home. Very frustrating to watch.
Red card for James for shoving a guy, looks like this will end in a draw. Sucks that he'll miss the Benfica match.
FT 0-0. --1st half was very poor from Porto, no real chances. --2nd half was better, despite the unbalanced attack. Lots of chances including Rodriguez and Moutinho hitting the cross-bar, but we just couldn't break through. --Clearly this match proved how valuable Hulk is to Porto, as we desperately missed his presence on the right flank. Having Alvaro would have helped as well, so it'll be nice to have them both vs Benfica. --Clearly we still have a problem at striker. Kleber was invisible in the first half, but it's frustrating to have Walter just sit on the bench without ever playing.