Football Season Guide

Failed to defend their title. Finished 2nd, full 6 points behind Porto. Lost the same amount of games as the Dragons, only 2 W25 D7. Had by far the best attack with 89 goals scored in 34 games. Yet, a 3-game winless run, D2 L1, late in the season proved costly. Luis Suárez won the Golden Boot with his 28 goals. Pedro Gonçalves was even more impressive with his 13 goals and 11 assists. Playmaker Hjulmand and wingers Francisco Trincão and Geovany Quenda also played key roles. The 3 of them have been sold this summer. Major blows to the attacking power of the team. Lack options on the wings right now. The departures of Trincão and Quenda haven’t been addressed well as of yet. New arrival Zalazar could play out wide but he is most effective as an AM. Hjulmand was Player of the Season in the entire league last term. Replacing him will be hard. Went on a shopping spree to try and do that. Sergi, Doumbia and Andersen were signed. All 3 can play in the same role. None of them believed to be of the same class so a major downgrade on the most creative position on the pitch can be expected. Goal machine Suarez stays put for now. There is a major concern how effective he will be without quality play down the wings and without a prominent gifted passer like Hjulmand. Sporting seem to be weaker right now compared to last season. This could spell a difficult campaign. Not certain if they will be able to keep up with the pace of bitter rivals Porto and Benfica.