After a 1:0 at home against Benfica, the surprise in the tournament Braga reaches the final. There they will meet another Portuguese team FC Porto.
After a great season, we are going to witness a Portuguese final in Europa League, where one against another will meet FC Porto and Sporting Braga.
FC Porto
Porto has had a hell of a season, finishing Liga Zon Sagres unbeaten with a record of 27 victories and 3 draws. In fact the only 2 losses the team recorded this season in all tournaments were the ones against Sevilla in the first knockout round and the one against Villarreal in the return game of the semi-finals of Europa League. The result from the first fixture(1st semi final match) was 5:1 and basically the Portuguese team saved its strength for the final.
Here’s how Porto managed to get to this stage of Europa League. The team was in Group L, along with the teams of Besiktas, Rapid Wien and CSKA Sofia. After recording 5 victories and 1 draw, the Portuguese finished first with 16 points and advanced to the knockout stage, where they first met Sevilla. After a victory in Spain with 2:1 and a loss in Portugal with 0:1, the team advanced with an away goal advantage.
In the Round of 16, FC Port met CSKA Moscow. Two minimal victories of 1:0 and 2:1, sent the team to the quarter-finals, where they faced another Russian team, Spartak Moscow. This time Porto wasn’t that kind, winning the home game with 5:1 and the away match with 5:2, and sending a message for all teams awaiting out there.
The semi-final was against Villarreal, who despite their excellent performance lost the first game 1:5, after leading 1:0. Porto didn’t manage to win the return match in Spain, losing with 2:3, but it didn’t matter to them.
Braga
FC Braga’s journey started in the Champions League, in Group H, among teams like Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan. The team won 3 games, and lost 3 games, finishing 3rd with 9 points and moving down in the elimination stage of Europa League.
In the Round of 32 Braga met Lech Poznan, losing the first game in Poland with 0:1, but winning the one in Portugal with 2:0 and advancing to the next stage.
In the Round of 16 Braga met a great obstacle, the team of Liverpool. After a 1:0 at home, the Portuguese managed to hold a 0:0 on Anfield and qualified for the quarter-finals.
In the Quarter-finals Braga met Dynamo Kiev, and after a 1:1 in Ukraine and a 0:0 in Portugal, Braga advanced to the semi-finals. There they met a well know opponent, another Portuguese team Benfica. After a loss in the first leg with 1:2, Braga was able to win the return match with 1:0 and make it to the final, with an away goal.
Prediction
As the game will be played in Dublin, the home team here is just symbolic. This is how the last 5 matches between these two teams went:
13/02/2011: Braga 0-2 Porto
11/09/2010: Porto 3-2 Braga
21/02/2010: Porto 5-1 Braga
19/09/2009: Braga 1-0 Porto
24/05/2009: Porto 1-1 Braga
FC Porto has won the last 3 meetings, including both this season one of which was just 3 months ago. The team owns perhaps one of the best strikers this year, Falcao, who has set a new record of scored goals in Uefa Cup/Europa League, a total of 16, surpassing German legend Jürgen Klinsmann, who has 15.
Alan and Lima on the other hand are Braga’s top scorers with 2 goals each this season.
Porto has played a total of 9 UEFA competitions finals, winning 6 and losing 3. Most memorable one, and perhaps the most valuable one was in 2003/04 UEFA Champions League: AS Monaco FC 0-3 Porto, with manager Jose Mourinho.
I find FC Porto’s class this season far past that of Braga. My prediction will be Porto to win this match in regular time, with at least 2 goals margin.
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