2022-23 UEFA Champions League knockout stage team preview: Porto
IN BRIEF
Manager: Sergio Conceicao
Group stage performance: 1st (LLWWWW - vs Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge)
UEFA Champions Leagues/European Cups: 2 (1986/87, 2003/04)
Last season’s performance: Groups
SO FAR…
Porto had a bizarre start to their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, losing their opening two matches. That bit is not necessarily bizarre but losing 4-0 at home to a Club Brugge side that have been generally average domestically in the Jupiler Pro League is unusual.
Sergio Conceicao’s side began the groups with a 2-1 defeat away to Atletico Madrid with all three goals in the game coming in second-half stoppage-time and Atletico’s eventual winner, via Antoine Griezmann, being scored in the eleventh minute of added time. That was followed up by their demolition at home to Club Brugge in which the Belgians simply dominated the reigning Portuguese champions.
Porto did recover well from that, though, finishing the groups with four successive victories and eventually finishing at the top of the four team table.
Conceicao’s side began their run with a 2-0 win at home to Leverkusen and a 3-0 win away to the German side, with the German team missing penalties at 0-0 in both games. Then they hammered Club Brugge by four goals to nil and it could well have been more at the Jan Breydel Stadium. They cemented top spot with a dominant performance and 2-1 win at home to Atletico.
WHAT ARE PORTO’S CHANCES IN THE KNOCKOUT STAGES?
Porto nearly went the whole of the 2021/22 Primeira Liga season unbeaten and began this season expecting to defend their title, as well as go deep in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in a while.
Their poor start to the UEFA Champions League campaign coincided with inconsistency in the league whereby they lost two and drew two of their opening 11 matches which is something very unusual for one of ‘Os Tres Grandes’ (The Big Three) of Sporting, Benfica and Porto.
They have recovered extremely well, though, and head into the UEFA Champions League knockout stages in good shape with the likes of Galeno, Mehdi Taremi and Evanilson continuing to advance their attacking reputation in attack.
Porto have slain Italian giants in the recent past, knocking AC Milan out in the groups last season and Juventus out in the knockout stages in recent years. The Portuguese champions will be confident of keeping Inter Milan involved in a tight and competitive encounter, albeit Inter also head into the tie in good form.
Conceicao’s style in Europe has been to maintain an aggressive press that can lead to some ill-discipline and that will be a concern in the Last 16.
ODDS TO WIN THE 2022-23 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 100/1
Odds used are the best at Oddschecker at the time of writing
