Portugal I Division

Survival was on the mind of many members of the Portuguese First Division: half of the league. Every club bellow 7th place. The hopeless outsider was CD Feirense.

Standing, from left: Seminário, Brito, Cândido, Parra (captain), Pinto, Zequinha.

Crouching: Portela, Bites, Gilberto, Serginho, José Domingos.

Five wins, 2 ties, and 23 losses. 12 points and last, 16th, place.

A place above with 21 points finished a newcomer – GD Riopele.

Modest Riopele had no chance, but at least they tried as much as they can. To a point, it was good season for them – at least playing top flight. Never mind relegation.

Espinho ended 14th with 22 points. For them it was the usual story – if playing first division, it was mostly at the bottom, trying to remain for another season. Often they were not able to escape relegation, and this season was one of those.

No surprises so far and to a point the forth club ending in relegation zone was not a surprise either. But they were also unlucky – Portimonense FC finished 13th because of worse face-to-face record. They had 23 points, the same CS Maritimo also had, but with much worse goal-difference. Maritimo was -23 and Portimonense only -10. The record between both clubs favoured Maritimo… Portimonense went down.

The third-ranking club of Porto failed. Once again, it should be said. One consequence is that their claim for ‘a derby’, when playing against FC Porto or Boavista is pretty much a derby only in their own minds. The other consequence is a bit amusing: nobody likes losers and such squads are hardly ever mentioned. Yet, Portimonense went a step further: it is almost impossible to find a photo of the 1977-78 squad. The club website provides info of the season, but not a picture of the team. There is no trace. Vengeance, reducing the squad to nothing.

And these were the unlucky teams at the bottom of the final table, going down to second division. The most of the league was hardly memorable and most clubs seemingly occupied their usual positions: Boavista finished 7th, Academica Coimbra, fading away since the late 1960s, was 8th, Belenenses quietly continued their slump – they were 5th, but it was already clear for some time that Lisbon was not going to support three strong clubs and Belenenses were just becoming one more small and insignificant club.

The pleasant surprise was Sporting Braga. They finished 4th, seemingly much better than the rest of the league, yet, far behind the three top clubs.

Braga was not full of big stars, but appeared well-rounded squad of descent players. Careful selection was obviously made – not an easy task in a country where the good players quickly and inevitably were snatched by Benfica or Sporting Lisbon. The predicament made almost every other team liable to sudden drops as soon as they had a strong season. It looked like Sporting Braga found the right formula – good players, yet, not so good to tempt the big clubs. They gave the appearance of a club going up and staying there for some time, not a one-time wonder. Braga was not ready for something really successful yet, but if they managed to keep and improve the squad… a very promising team.

Third – Sporting Lisbon. On the surface, maintaining its position and finishing among the very best. Perhaps unlucky contender?

Sporting finished 4 points ahead of Sporting Braga – a solid gap, confirming the difference between the strongest and the rest of the league. But they were also far, far behind the team above – with their 42 points, Sporting were never in the race for the title. They finished 9 points behind the leaders. The difference was significant: a permanent change in Portuguese football occurred. Sporting was no longer one the best clubs, replaced by FC Porto. Instead, they formed a separate category, consisting at the moment only of them – no longer constant contenders, but second-tier club. Stronger than the rest of league, but weaker than the real leaders. It did not look so clear back in 1977-78, but later the season was meaningful: Sporting lost ground, never to regain it again.

The league may have been rather weak, but the race for the title was fabulous. It was run head to head to the end and decided by goal-difference. The contenders were way above the rest. Of course, Benfica was the obvious suspect. They had remarkable domestic season by any standard: 21 wins and 9 ties. Benfica did not lose a single match! A rare achievement, no matter how strong or weak a league. More, Benfice excelled defensively – they allowed only 11 goals in their net, pretty much a goal in every 3 games played. Impenetrable. Their striking power was not so deadly, but 56 goals were still the third highest in the championship. Excellent in every aspect, so the champions were… others.

Benfica had the best known Portuguese players of the time, almost the whole regular team played also for the national team. May be they were unlucky? The title was lost on goal-difference – must be bad luck? Or something else… top players, but some were aging (Toni, Nene, Humberto) and, in general, this was not exactly great generation. Porugal slipped to secondary position with them. Benfica too. Chalana was still unheard of outside Portugal. Eurico and Sheu never became really big stars. It was slightly aging team, already good only for the domestic championship. A tiny weakness, but costly.

FC Porto left them emptyhanded, a team improving for some years already and finally establishing itself as truly leading club. They matched Benfica in almost everything – FC Porto lost only one match during the championship, but compensated with one win more than their rivals. Strong defense, not as great as Benfica’s, but still allowing less than a goal per game average: only 21 balls ended in FC Porto’s net, but even this was vastly compensated by their scoring power. FC Porto scored 81 goals this season. At the end, that was the difference between winners and losers.

The squad was different than Benfica’s – fewer big names, but generally younger and promising. They showed character this season under heavy pressure – a sure sign of a team approaching maturity. They won their 7th title, and with second consecutive victory in the championship, FC Porto firmly replaced Sporting Lisbon as the second club in the ruling duopoly. Nothing chancy about them – they were here to stay. The squad still needed a bit additional class, but the approach was right and there was little doubt that FC Porto was going to be better still. Edging Benfica quite clearly showed better decisions, aiming at great future.