1825
The O Clássico takes place this Friday night as the top two in Portugal go head to head once again with Benfica three points ahead of Porto just one season after the latter won another Primeira Liga title.
Here, we’ll run through everything to know about this historic and monumental derby down the years and what to expect this Friday night.
⌛ Tic tac tic tac ⌛
? Clássico#FCPSLB pic.twitter.com/6Om8U7Vlyf— FC Porto (@FCPorto) October 21, 2022
The History of O Clássico
The first meeting between these two was way back in 1912 when Benfica ran riot in an 8-2 win at Porto. Fast forward over 100 years, and Porto are heading into this one having won the latest encounter back in May towards the end of last season’s league campaign.
In total, there have been 250 meetings between Benfica and Porto and barely any derby in history has been able to witness this many encounters.
Indeed, the two clubs are not from the same city, as Benfica represent the capital, Lisbon, while Porto are from the city of Porto.
The reigning Primeira Liga champions have won the most times from these 250 outings between the two, winning 100 games after their victories over Benfica last season.
The Lisbon outfit are not that far behind, however, having won 87 more games since beating them 8-2 back in 1912. What’s more, the animosity between these two sides also extends from the country’s political and cultural.
The largest victory between these two is also owned by Benfica, as they hammered Porto 12-2 back in 1942/43 during WWII.
The player with the most goals is Benfica legend, Jose Aguas, who netted 18 times in this fixture from his total of 379 goals with the club.
Eusebio is also another player who has bagged a bunch in this fixture, having scored 16 times for Benfica. In fact, four of the top five top scorers in this derby have all done so for Benfica, with Porto’s highest scorer sitting on only 10 goals and as the fifth-highest all-time O Clássico scorer.
Sergei Yuran and Maxi Pereira are the only players who have scored a goal for both sides in O Clássico, while Nicolás Otamendi is the only player to be sent off for both clubs and the only player currently still active who have played for both clubs.
Jose Mourinho is also another famous manager to have represented both clubs.
Benfica are three clear at the top of the table, and if they can get win number 89 from this fixture, they will be the clear favourites to win another Primeira Liga title.
