Sporting Lisbon top the Primeira Liga table by 4pts heading into the latest international break and remain the only club in the division yet to taste defeat.
Since their last league title success in 2001/02, Sporting have forever been the bridesmaid and never the bride in Portuguese football; and have even been guilty of being the drunken best man.
35-year old manager, Ruben Amorim was a controversial choice to take over the reins in March of this year. Despite impressive during a short spell as Braga boss, Amorim is perhaps best known as a player at Benfica where he appeared 95 times in the league for Sporting’s arch-rivals.
With 14-caps for his country, Amorim certainly enjoyed a successful career as a player and moved into management early with Braga’s B team. After impressing there, Amorim took over as the first-team manager in December 2019, winning 10 of his 13 matches before being offered the poisoned chalice, that is, the Sporting Job.
Since their last league title success, Sporting have finished runners-up in the Primeira Liga six times, finished 3rd eight times, 4th on three occasions, and even 7th during the 2012/13 campaign. That woeful 7th-place finish was the drunken best man I referred to earlier, but there has been some success for Sporting during that 20-year spell without a league win.
Sporting have won the Taca de Portugal four times since 2002, as well as the Taca da Liga on two occasions, but the Primeira Liga has remained out of their grasp.
Sporting have made some shrewd signings over the summer, not paying over the odds as they have done in previous years. Pedro Goncalves joined the club from Famalicao for £5.85m, Nuno Santos arrived from Rio Ave for £3.38m, and Real Betis defender Zouhair Feddal joined for a mere £1.94m.
Free transfers for veteran goalkeeper Adan and left-back Antunes added some much-needed experience to the squad. The club cashed in on the likes of Wendel, who moved to Zenit for £18.27m, Marcos Acuna, who joined Sevilla for £9.45m, and Luciano Vietto, who went to Hilal in Saudi Arabia for £6.30m.
Recouping some decent money and allowing some other players to leave on the free transfer or on-loan has made the squad much more manageable for Amorim. The manager was able to see just who was up to the task of challenging for the top spot and which of the egos he was better off without.
Sporting have impressed during the opening seven matches of the 2020/21 season, winning six times and drawing once, scoring 19-goals and only conceding 4. No other team has scored as many goals as Sporting so far, and no other team has conceded fewer.
Antonio Adan has been an ever-present in goal, while Feddal, Coates, Mendes, Neto, and Porro have formed a strong defence. Goncalves has proved a revelation in midfield, netting 7-goals in six league starts, and up-front Cabral, Santos, and Sporar have all been chipping in with a few goals each.
The future looks bright for Sporting under their new boss and this could well be the season that the Lions finally end their 20-year wait for a Primeira Liga title.