SPORTING LISBON vs. Belenenses (Estádio José Alvalade)

Match: SPORTING LISBON 1 - 3 Belenenses

League: Primeira Liga (Portugal)

Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade

Date: Sunday, May 7th, 2017

Preview

Our first match in Portugal in the bag! Yes!

There was no doubt going into this game who the favourites were and that was Sporting Lisbon or as they are called in Portugal - Sporting Clube de Portugal as we know the locals don't prefer the other more 'English' name.

Sporting were on a decent streak before this game winning 4 out of their last 5 matches so on paper, they were definitely the team in form. Sitting currently in 3rd before the match, 8 points away from top place Benfica who are on course to win another league title and 5 points behind FC Porto who are in second, it looks like Sporting Lisbon will once again be ending up in third this season. One key player that we were looking out for was Bas Dost from the Netherlands who was currently chasing Lionel Messi in Europe for the most goals in league play.

Belenenses on the other hand were on a horrendous run of form as they had lost 5 matches straight and would need a miracle to pull something out of this game but the fight of an underdog is something we all know in football is possible no matter what the league or the caliber of both sides. I didnt know one player from their entire squad which painted the picture but yet the minnows would have something to say about that.

With Portuguese football not getting a lot of media coverage in Europe nor in North America, I found a few players who I still recognized such as Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell (on loan from Arsenal), Rui Patricio, Sebastian Coates and a few others. All in all, we were stoked for the match and couldnt wait to get in the stadium to soak up the atmosphere and check out the Estádio José Alvalade.

Tickets

Price: 65 Euros

It was quite difficult to find tickets and although we didnt know we could buy the tickets at the ground as it was showing it as completely sold out online - we decided to do the smart thing and buy in advance and buy online. Of course it cost a lot more as we had to pay for shipping and a few other additional fees but it was worth it none the less as it was a learning process. We bought the tickets via a ticketing site called Viagogo which was referred to me by a friend - it is quite good for European sporting events and other shows but of course they can charge through the roof at times.

I would advise also getting in touch with the club and if you are planning on going to a Sporing/Benfica match in the future, no need to buy online as you can buy from the season ticket holders or scalpers since the stadiums are quite large and not everybody shows up to every match.

http://www.viagogo.com/

Here is the view below:

We were located in section B31 which I'm pretty sure was a family section. The view was to the right of the ultras who are seen on the left and we were in the 13th row on the upper deck. Of course it wasnt the closest to the pitch but the great thing was is that the tickets were quite central so it was very easy to see everything in terms of game play.

Travel to Stadium

Method: Metro (Train)

My girlfriend and I took the Metro from Baixa Chiado and took the green line (Vd) all the way up to Campo Grande. If you are visiting Lisbon this is probably the easiest and fastest way to get to the stadium. Of course as I love getting to the stadium early, we got there about an hour and 15 minutes before kick off and although Google Maps told us it would take 30 minutes it probably took us about 15 minutes.

http://www.metrolisboa.pt/eng/

Stadium

Estádio José Alvalade is somewhat of a new stadium as it was built in just 2003 replacing the old Estádio José Alvalade stadium which Sporting had been playing in since 1956. The stadium itself reminded me a bit of Emirates Stadium with its wavy outline but had a much more colourful theme with of course Sporting being green and white. The seats were various different colours as well but I'm sure this was also for the 2004 Euros when the stadium was originally built a few years prior.

Atmosphere

After reading up a lot about the type of atmosphere we were expecting, I was rather excited to see what Sporting Lisbon fans would be like and how Portuguese fans in general were when it came to their league. It was told to us that the quality of football may not be the most pretty as it is more gritty and less beautiful as you would say, but the fans would make up for that.

I have to say that going in with this hope, I was a bit disappointed and maybe expected a bit more. But of course with Sporting in third and not a chance to win the league and a rare chance to catch up to Porto, it was a little bit understandable. This game day in particular was labelled as a 'girls/womens day' so there were also a lot more female supporters in the ground but to their credit, they were probably the loudest in our section.

The atmosphere from the off was a bit of a downer as I didnt realize this until after the match but the ultras were holding up a banner with a face on it which of course I didnt recognize. The banner not only had a face on it but also had a Fiorentina badge on it to show the partnership of the two clubs. It turns out that the face on the banner was a Fiorentina supporter who had come down to watch the derby match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon and had died when he tried to escape a fight between both fans and sadly got hit by a car when he escaped and ended up on the road.

In terms of the atmosphere itself, I have to give credit as they Ultras did sing the entire game. One of the best moments was when the Ultras started a chant and the rest of the crowd responded once the Ultras said a line. That was definitely the high point of the chanting and I wish they would have done a bit more but it didnt happen again. A few ladies behind us tried to start up some chants but overall it was a quiet atmosphere and it probably didnt help that the team performance in the first half was so poor that no one had anything to get excited about.

As compared to the matches we have seen in both the Netherlands and England, the one thing that made the game that much more exciting was the away fans who also added to the atmosphere but with this game, there were only a mere 20-30 away supporters that we could see in the away end. Honestly, I was expecting more since both teams were from Lisbon and this as known as a local derby but one of with much lower rivalry to that of Sporting vs. Benfica for example. Here is a photo of the away support below (where the 37 poster is - the number of fans is so small you cant even see it in the photo):

Overall, I was quite disappointed with the atmosphere but I'm sure depending on the opponent it could change. As well with Sporting not fighting for the league championship or it being a Champions League/Europa League match, this could also be the case.

The only time I can really say I heard the crowd vs. Belenenses was when they were unhappy with a referee decision and there were a lot of bad decisions. In addition to this, the team's very slow build up play also caused frustration amongst the supporters. The way they did this was by whistling and usually I hear this on TV but hearing it in the flesh was something unique.

The supporters also gave the home team an earful at the end of the match to let them know what they thought of the performance with a bunch of thumbs downs, boos and whistles to boot. Although it may not have been the ideal atmosphere I was expecting, I will back for a derby - that is for sure.

Ultras start up a chant after going 1-0 up

Injury Time (Overall Review)

When they said that the Portuguese style of football was a bit more gritty and less pretty, that they were definitely right about that as tackles were flying in and there were barely any yellow cards given throughout the entirety of the match. The part that under promised was more so the slowness of the game itself in the first half and the atmosphere.

The match itself was probably one of the slowest moving games I've watched as the ball kept going side to side with Sporting Lisbon having majority of the possession but never really penetrating Belenenses 18 yard box. The passing was also incredibly slow which made it even that much worse since I'm already used to seeing side to side passing with Arsenal all the time!

The breakthrough didnt come through until the second half when Bryan Ruiz from Sporting played a cross in which was mishit. The goalkeeper misjudged it and he deflected it off the crossbar back into the front of the net for Bruno Cesar to tap home. It was a much needed boost to the game overall and finally it started getting a bit more lively after that. Sporting came with a few more attacks and it looked like the game was to be wrapped up as Bas Dost (scoring 31 in his last 28 matches) was 1 on 1 with the keeper but he skied over the bar leaving us and the Sporting Fans shocked.

What happened after that miss no one saw coming. Just a few minutes after, a casual ball was played over to the Belenenses right midfielder and he crossed the ball which then bounced off the Sporting left midfielders arm, linesman flag goes up - penalty! And just like that, Belenenses, the team that has just lost 7 in a row has a chance to nick something at the Estadio Jose Alvadade. Up steps Camara...

GOAL!

Just like that, 1-1. But Belenenses werent done just yet as they kept finding ways to get under Sporting's skin and look a threat on the break. In all honesty, the fans and myself were expecting Sporting to fight back, to wake up more or less but they looked just as bad as they did in the first half as they looked sloppy, uncoordinated and lackluster to respond.

A free kick from the left which Belenenses won looked slightly threatening and with a ball whipped in, which deflected off a Sporting defender's head, Almedia hit the sweetest of side volleys to give them the lead from the right side of the six yard box - the fans started to lose their shit and the players looked even more shocked. They werent done just yet though.

After Sporting once again looked sloppy and unable to mount an attack, Belenenses launched a counter attacker which saw another ball crossed from the left which saw two Sporting players not play the ball and let it go to the right side as if there was a lack of communication. Another cross came in which deflected off another Sporting player and an easy tap in was put in by Silva. The Belenenses bench erupted with all their players running into the corner to celebrate the goal which would guarantee their win on the day - a huge and unexpected victory for sure.

All in all, even though Sporting lost, it was a great experience at a beautiful stadium in Lisbon. We got to see a minnow in horrendous form beat a Sporting Lisbon side that maybe looked a bit too confident going in and had no response for the boys in Blue and White.

Will we back to Portugal again? Most definitely and we recommend you to do the same!

R.I.P. Marco Ficini

TTS (The Traveling Supporter) Rating: 7/10