Liga NOS returns on June 4th
After the initial expectation that Portuguese football could resume at the end of May, yesterday’s Club League meeting decreed the weekend of June 4th as the return date of the competition at a time when there are still ten matches left. journeys.
SALOMONIC DECISION
This was a decision that will have gone down well with most football players since it will give the clubs another week of preparation, as well as more time to carry out all the necessary tests and inspections of the stadiums in order to verify that everyone is in good condition. receiving matches.
Pedro Proença, president of the League of Clubs, said precisely that, claiming that many stadiums will still be subject to inspections in order to ascertain whether they meet the necessary requirements so that they can receive matches in the current conditions requested by the General Directorate of Health.
After several weeks of discussion and many meetings, we finally had the green light to resume the Portuguese League and now we can only hope that in the 21 days between the restart of the competition there will not be many more positive cases of Covid-19 in the teams in order not to compromise this resumption.
SANTA CLARA, BELENENSES AND FAMILY WITHOUT HOME FACTOR
One of the issues that already seems certain is that some teams will have new general headquarters in the last matches of Liga NOS due to the fact that they have geographically distant stadiums or with little conditions to accommodate all the members necessary to carry out a game behind closed doors.
According to the national press, Santa Clara and Belenenses should move to the city of football where they will play their home matches, while Famalicão must play their matches at Estádio Cidade de Barcelos, which has better conditions than their stadium. .
More teams may have to follow an identical path taking into account the nature of their stadiums, which clearly lack any space that allows the correct social distance requested by DGS.
Clubs such as Paços de Ferreira, Desportivo das Aves or Tondela will still not be sure if they will play at home, and only after surveys will they be able to see if they need to move weapons and luggage to another event during the next ten rounds.
HOT SCAMS IN REACTMENT
In Matchday 25 we will have some important matches at the top of the table as the leader FC Porto faces the surprising Famalicão, probably at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.
With just one more point than Benfica at the top of the table, the drag room for maneuver is nil so they will have a fire test right away in their first post-stop match.
In the fight for European places we will also have very interesting matches with SC Braga playing against Santa Clara and Sporting visiting Vitória de Guimarães in matches that will be authentic lotteries at the moment. Benfica, on the other hand, tends to be the team that will have the most accessible encounter in the resumption since it receives in its stadium Tondela, current 14th ranked with 25 points after 24 matches.
AVES AND PORTIMONESES NEED THREE IMMEDIATE POINTS
At the bottom of the table, Desportivo das Aves (13pts) and Portimonense (16pts) live in an extremely delicate situation and will not have much margin of error in the coming weeks, with the first match in the post-stop being crucial for both.
The avenses receive Belenenses SAD and will do everything they can to add three vital points to maintain their hopes of being able to remain among the greats of Portuguese football for another season.
Portimonense, on the other hand, receives the surprising Gil Vicente and a victory in this match may allow them to shorten distances to the bottom of the table in their attempt to remain among the elite.
Both teams will have an extremely difficult mission in the last ten rounds of the Portuguese League, but as it is said in popular jargon, hope is the last to die, and it will be with this thought in mind that these two emblems will face the remaining matches of the league in the hope of countering the current trend, which is demotion.
FARENSE AND NATIONAL HAVE PREPARED NEXT SEASON
The shameful decision of the bodies responsible for concluding the II Liga removed many clubs from the possibility of fighting for the promotion of Liga NOS or of trying to escape relegation. Thus, Casa Pia and Cova da Piedade have already collected the Portuguese Championship while Farense and Nacional have moved up to Liga NOS with the benefit of having saved the effort of the ten matches that were yet to be played.
Clubs like Feirense, Mafra or Estoril will certainly not have been satisfied with this outcome, but the truth is that Nacional and Farense will strengthen the Liga NOS next season, and the two clubs should already be building their squads in one process that will be long and will allow them to build solid teams.
