(4th – 8th January 2025)
The country of Portugal has somehow eluded me. This is a surprising fact given that I have previously spent an extended period of time in southern Spain, firstly holidaying throughout 2019, before residing with family in the Costa Del Sol during the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021. Even though both of these periods presented good opportunities to visit, I didn’t manage to make my way over the border. I’ve been recommended visiting Portugal for a long time, which is understandable, with the country being a regular holiday destination for friends and family, and the cost being relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other places that I’ve researched and travelled to. Portugal is also renowned for its football, there’s no denying the impact that the likes of SL Benfica, Sporting CP, and FC Porto have had on European football throughout the history of the sport, and the many fantastic football players and managers that continue to emerge from the country. This is despite the their domestic top tier football league, titled the Liga Portugal, not being the most recognisable and highest ranked. An attraction to watching Portuguese football is that their matches are spread over weekends, meaning that it’s relatively simple to visit multiple stadiums within a region during a trip, and that’s exactly what I set out to do in early January 2025.
In hindsight, this may not have been the most ideal time to visit, with the weather proving to be worse than anticipated, owing to the mild and rainy climate during the winter season. I’d previously looked at visiting either Faro, Lisbon, or Porto for a long weekend, but I’d never managed to fit these in with my unpredictable schedule. In January 2024 I visited Malta, which was a successful trip for multiple reasons. Firstly, I visited a new country, secondly I was able to do plenty of sightseeing, and finally I combined these with watching football matches at four grounds on the island, including the national stadium. One month later I travelled to Marbella, three years after I was last in the region. My journey to the Costa Del Sol in February 2024 enabled me to re-visit the local clubs that I had previously followed when I spent time residing there, with two matches during my trip taking place at grounds I hadn’t visited before. For my first visit to Portugal I wanted to plan a trip using same formula I’ve followed with success in the past.
The lineup
Pre-planning for my proposed trip in January 2025 took place a couple of months beforehand. I usually try to identify multiple potential football matches taking place in the same area on the same weekend, which tends to be before the time and date of games are confirmed. To give credit to the Portuguese football leagues, I found that their fixture schedule gets confirmed relatively early in advance of the games being played, and the lower league fixtures tend to follow particular scheduling patterns too. The Portuguese first tier, Liga Portugal, consists of 18 teams and games are spread from Friday to Monday in order to accommodate travelling, particularly to the islands of Madeira and the Azores, and the numerous televised matches. I also found that the Liga Portugal matches tended to be played in the evening, or at least that was the impression I had got from when I was due to visit. In contrast, the lower level matches were typically being played in the afternoon or early evening. This combination allows for plenty of opportunities to watch multiple games in a weekend. The second tier Segunda Liga also has 18 teams, with the regionalised third tier Liga 3 below, consisting of two leagues of 10 teams. These are followed by fourth tier Campeonato de Portugal Prio, which splits into 4 leagues of 14 teams, to round off the upper echelons of the Portuguese footballing pyramid. I’d decided on visiting the capital Lisbon, predominantly chosen after reading the Lonely Planet’s guide to Portugal. I thought the capital would be the most interesting place for me to visit due to the variety of attractions, and it being highlighted as a cultural hotspot, plus it’s a hotbed of high quality and classic football grounds to visit. There’s currently 10 teams competing in the top three tiers of Portuguese football that are located within the vicinity of Lisbon, and plenty more below that should you want to expand your footballing horizons, meaning that it’s an ideal destination for a football weekend!
My sight was set on the first weekend of January. Flights were booked from Birmingham airport, a hotel found in the Intendente district of the city, and football matches planned using the website Soccerway as my starting point. The focal point of the trip would be watching SL Benfica vs SC Braga at the iconic Estadio da Luz, which was taking place on Saturday at 6pm. This left further opportunities to watch more football matches on the Sunday and following weekdays. I would be able to fill the time with a second top tier game, in somewhat of a local derby, with CF Estrela de Amadora vs CD Estoril Praia taking place at 8:30pm on Sunday evening. A visit to Amadora would be preceded by third tier match Atletico Club de Portugal vs CP Academica at 3pm, and concluded by a Monday evening fixture. In the second tier, SL Benfica II were hosting FC Porto II at the Benfica Campus, located across the river in Seixal. I later added a fifth game to complete the lineup for my four nights away, but more about that later…
Taking flight
My flight early took off on Saturday morning, the plane journey was smooth, and the views when descending into Lisbon were great! The weather was mild and windy, and soon enough I was out of the airport and onto the Red metro line heading towards the city centre. I found it easy to buy myself a day pass to cover all metro travel around the city, 8 euros for a 24 hour period, which I took advantage of for multiple days during the trip. My initial wander around the centre was really enjoyable, with festive decorations still in place and a nice atmosphere along the riverfront. There was a nice contrast of views looking out towards the river, and inwards towards the towering cathedral and houses on the city’s hilly landscape. My Lonely Planet book did mention some of the quirks and nuances that you may find in Lisbon, one of those being that smoking cannabis is legal, and within half an hour of my time in the city I was duly offered to the chance to purchase some from a gentleman in the trade. I respectfully declined. On a side note, health and safety is paramount when travelling solo, and even though I’m quite experienced in this, it’s always good to know the specific things to watch out for before you travel. After visiting some more of the sights, shops, and eating lunch, I headed to my hotel and began getting myself ready for the evening’s entertainment.
Stadium of Light
I travelled on the Green line from Intendente to Baixo-Chiado, changing for the Blue line towards Reboleira, which was my first destination for one specific reason. I had bought tickets online from SL Benfica in the week leading up to the game, which were downloaded to my phone, but the CF Estrela de Amadora game on the following day was only available to buy in person. Since the Reboleira metro station is only a short walk away from Amadora’s football ground, I decided to visit their club shop to buy my ticket en-route to the SL Benfica match. A quick metro journey travelling back a few stops to Alto dos Moinhos meant I reached my final destination, and the swarms of people wearing red shirts was immediately noticeable. The street outside the station full of fans drinking, eating, and partying all together before this evening’s important league fixture. It was only a short walk until I reached the Estadio da Luz’s exterior, and I was greeted by undoubtedly the best fan-zone that I’ve ever seen!
Thousands of people were outside the ground enjoying themselves pre-match with a wide array of catering to choose from. The club shop was that busy that I decided against trying to purchase anything, and unfortunately for me, I didn’t see any obvious signs of hot vegetarian food to try out. Having had a long day of travelling and already feeling fatigued I decided that drinking alcohol wasn’t on the agenda. I went into the stadium around 30 minutes before the game and found the entry process simple. After taking some initial photos, I bought food and drink from the concourse, plus a scarf for a bargain price of only 5 euros. I know it’s very cliché, but in this instance it was fair to say that the atmosphere was electric, and a prime reason why I like to attend these ‘big’ games from time to time. Being completely transparent, I paid 60 euros for my ticket to this match, which was the most I’ve ever paid to watch football. In this instance it was a real bucket list ground for me to visit, and one that I wanted to fully experience with a great view of the action. Tickets were available for as low as 15 euros, and you could certainly get good quality seats for around the 30 to 40 euro price range.
SL Benfica have some big names in their team, in particular Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria, who both played well, in what was overall a very competitive and entertaining game. The style of play proved to be expansive and of a high quality throughout, which was very much in keeping with a number of the Spanish teams that I’ve watched in the past, with fluid tactical systems in place. Braga were happy to defend in a low block to then advance with a pacy counter attack, also looking to take advantage of their set pieces, whereas Benfica were possession focussed looking to play into their attacking fullbacks. Sporting Braga took the lead in the 17th minute through Fran Navarro, who produced a neat finish after evading the offside trap. Defender Robson Bambu extended the visitor’s lead in the 40th minute, this time a header from a corner, securing them a 2-0 margin at half-time. The second-half saw constant pressure from the hosts, who were finally rewarded in the 77th minute, when Arthur Cabral reduced the arrears with a nice turn and shot into the bottom left corner. This gave Benfica hope of gaining a point from the game, but Braga were able to hold firm to win the match 2-1. There was still a good atmosphere as I departed the ground, retracing my steps from earlier to arrive back at my hotel around 9pm.
Sunday fun day
I woke up early on Sunday and decided to amend to my intended itinerary, which I was initially in two minds about, with the addition of visiting Sintra to watch fourth tier Sport Uniao Sintrense vs Operario Lagoa (Lagoon Operators) in an 11:30am kick-off. I’d noticed beforehand that this game had an unusual kick-off time, and researched whether I’d be able to travel from Sintra to my scheduled 3pm game at Atletico CP. On my first look, I thought this plan may be tight for time and I wasn’t willing to risk not making my 3pm game, plus I wasn’t certain about how tired I’d be feeling after a busy day beforehand. I felt fine though, so on a grey and cloudy Sunday morning I wrapped up warm and headed off from my hotel at around 10am. I travelled on the metro from Intendente to Areeiro, changing to the overground station for a suburban train from Roma-Areeiro to Portela de Sintra, from which it was only a short walk to the football ground. I was pleasantly surprised at Sintrense’s ground, as it was clear that they’ve refurbished the main stand, allowing for more facilities and seats in the stand. All spectators here have a great birds eye view looking down onto the pitch. There were plenty of seats available and I enjoyed the refreshments, even if there was somewhat of a language barrier when ordering.
There were obvious differences to the previous evening’s spectacle, it’s not fair to compare elite level players to semi-professionals, but the match at Sintrense was no less enjoyable for it. The ground had a wonderful backdrop looking towards the hills in this rural area, and the football on display was also satisfying. If I were to compare the standard to others that I’ve seen previously, I would say it was of a similar quality to the (now fifth tier) Tercera Federacion in Spain. The tactical setup was still very expansive. Sintrense were having joy by stretching their formation wide across the pitch, then playing direct into the centre forwards, whilst the opposition had lost their compact shape. The hosts were on top early-on, and took the lead in the 7th minute. Edney Ribeiro had a simple header at the far post, following a quality passage of play down the right hand side of the pitch. Sintrense doubled their lead in the 32nd minute through the wonderfully named Pipas, and looked solid across the post throughout the first-half. The second period didn’t seem to have the same intensity, with numerous substitutions taking place and extended breaks through injuries. The visitors did give themselves a lifeline when Rafa Benevides pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute. The home side were able to hold firm though, resulting in me watching a second 2-1 scoreline within 18 hours!
After the final whistle blew, I made the short walk back to the Portela de Sintra station, heading on the train back towards Lisbon. This time I exited at the Benfica Station, catching the 724 bus which stopped outside the destination for my afternoon’s game, Estadio da Tapadinha, home of Atletico Clube de Portugal. The entrance directly beside the road was only for away fans, so I wandered behind the left hand side of the ground and bought my ticket for 5 euros, entering on the opposite side into the home end. This is a classic old-skool ground, a giant concrete bowl with plenty of history shown by the paintwork and old steep concrete block terracing. Only two sides are accessible currently, but on a gloomy afternoon there was plenty of room for those in attendance. I had another coffee and snack before getting pre-match photos and taking a seat at the back of the stand, the only covered area. By this time the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and so the lack of cover did prove a problem at times, though I had come prepared with plenty of layers and a raincoat.
This game featured two of the better teams in the third tier Liga 3, with the home side sitting at the top of the table for the regular season. It was clear that both sides were professional level players, with the quality of ball control, passing, and fitness being a clear step-up from my morning’s action. For the most part Atletico and Academia cancelled each other out, with few clear cut chances for either side. We’d have to wait until the second-half for the opening goal of the game, which came the way of the visitors, through Gildo Lourenco in the 62nd minute. The home side were clearly trying hard to find an equaliser, and there was seemingly a mix of optimism and pessimism from the fans, but they would eventually level the game from a Ruben Marques free-kick in the 82nd minute. The host’s old faithful fans were clearly pleased, with the goal lifting the spirits all-round. That would be the last goal-scoring action, with the game ending a 1-1 draw. The was a good atmosphere, even if the fans weren’t in their droves, which featured a healthy away following from Coimbra.
The perfect storm
Unfortunately for me, the end of the game coincided with a rainstorm whilst I was walking south towards the Alcantara-Mar train station, to travel onwards into the centre for the metro lines. I arrived back at my hotel in Intendente around 40 minutes later, which I was thankful for, since this allowed me some time to relax and dry off before heading out once more that evening, with Amadora’s Estadio Jose Gomes taking me around 45 minutes to reach. The evening was dark and miserable, but after looking around, I was able to find a seat that wasn’t pouring wet, nor had water flowing around my shoes. Thankfully it wasn’t still raining as we approached the start of the game, as I’m certain that numerous in attendance wouldn’t have made the effort. The 8:30pm kick-off was great in theory, and enabled me to watch three games in a day, with Portugal being the third country where I’ve been able to achieve that. As a match going football fan I’m certainly not sold on this idea though, particularly in the winter given the poor weather and travelling late. Amadora’s football ground was another enjoyable old-skool classic, with a large concrete bowl that swept around two sides. The away fans were housed in the top corner of bowl, with only the main stand opposite and hardcore home supporters behind the goal being in separate sections.
Without a doubt there was a considerable drop in quality when comparing this game, between two mid to lower table teams in the Liga Portugal, and the previous evening’s between two teams from the top of the table. The intensity and fluidity was lowered, and the wet pitch seemed to impact both sides. Estoril took the lead in the 15th minute, when Xeka capitalised on a poor pass from the goalkeeper, calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. The visitors doubled their advantage in the 25th minute, after Amadora failed to clear from a corner, the ball was crossed back into the centre and finished by Begraoui. The scoreline went from bad to worse for the hosts soon after, with a whipped cross from a wide free-kick being converted into his own goal by defender Tiago Gabriel in the 31st minute. Estoril should’ve added a fourth before half-time but the ball cannoned off the post after a central strike from a low cross, then within two minutes of the restart they hit the cross bar. It would be Amadora who struck next however, scoring from an Andre Luiz header in the 57th minute. Rodrigo Pinho brought the hosts to within a one goal deficit in the 70th minute, with a cool finish over the on-rushing goalkeeper after being played through. Estoril had the final piece of action in the game though, with substitute Marques restoring a two goal lead for the away team in the 76th minute. The encounter finished Estrela de Amadora 2-4 Estoril Praia, narrowly before 10:30pm.
An ill-feeling
Monday was another long day, but for an entirely different reason than before. Unfortunately, I became ill during the night, which wasn’t the most pleasant experience whilst I was abroad and alone. I’ll spare the unpleasant details, but needless to say that on Monday morning I was in need of hearty food and hydrating drinks to clear my internal systems. I managed to do some sightseeing around the city, before feeling the urge to return back to the hotel for a rest, and recovering in time to head onwards to the final football match of my trip. On this particular evening I was able to experience the novelty of a ferry journey across the Tagus river, with the views on this late afternoon being wonderful. I boarded the ferry at the Cais do Sodre port with my destination being Seixal in the south of Lisbon. After the 20 minute ferry ride, I then made a further 20 minute walk onwards to the Benfica Campus, for the 6pm second tier Segunda Liga game between SL Benfica II and FC Porto II.
I bought a ticket online in advance of the game for a whopping 3.50 euros. This was cheaper than the general admission price of 5 euros as I already had a fan account registered for SL Benfica, making it great value for money for a professional football match. The Benfica Campus’ main stadium is a modern affair, with only two stands, and only the main stand being open for this game. There was a good crowd and plenty of red shirts and scarfs on display, including my new scarf, with fans from young to old showing their support for the SLB youngsters.
Even though both clubs’ first teams are challenging for the Portuguese title, their second teams are having contrasting seasons. SL Benfica II have been lingering around the play-off places for much of the season, whereas FC Porto II are at risk of being in the relegation play-offs. The hosts started the game much stronger, and in general this match was played to a high quality with an emphasis on possession and speed of passing. Benfica took the lead in the 19th minute, after a deep corner kick was nodded back across the box, and headed into the net by Gustavo Marques. The lead was doubled ten minutes later in a quality fashion, when in the 29th minute a deep cross from the right-hand side of the box was spectacularly finished by an overhead kick from Gerson Sousa. 2-0 to the hosts would be the scoreline heading into the half-time interval. Porto came back out fighting after the break, and had a lifeline when Angel Alarcon converted a penalty kick in the 53rd minute. During the second period there proved to be less action, with more substitutions and time wasting taking place, as the game drew to a close finishing with the scoreline at 2-1 to Benfica. The other noticeable aspect of this final match on the trip was the implementation of VAR. I won’t delve into my thoughts about it here, but plainly speaking it shouldn’t be taking a total of 10 minutes of game time for video officials to support the on-field referee’s decisions of awarding a goal, and awarding a penalty, in what was a second tier match between two B teams. I left the match later than anticipated, which wasn’t an issue since the ferries run regularly during the week, meaning that I was still able to return to my room by 9:30pm.
The last look
My final full day in the city gave the chance to visit more of the sights that I’d missed beforehand, most notably the cathedral and castle that are located on the higher section of the city. After having a very enjoyable walk around various viewpoints, I found myself in the highly rated, and thoroughly recommended, vegan restaurant named Kong, which featured the best vegan alternative to Salmon that I’ve had. I knew that I still wasn’t feeling well, which unfortunately meant that I missed out on some experiences that I had originally planned, including visiting the town of Sintra. The illness continued into Wednesday too, when I achieved very little before travelling to the airport and flying home in the afternoon. Once I returned home, I proceeded to spend the next week struggling to get out of bed, badly suffering from whatever it was that I’d picked up in Lisbon. That was certainly not the parting gift I wanted from my time away in this wonderful city.
Obrigado Portgual,
Chris Sharp.
Who knows where I’ll end up next?
Or where I’ll write about next for that matter?
(All photos are taken by myself, please give me credit if you wish to use my photos)
The Travelling Therapist 