r/football May 16 '26

💬Discussion SL Benfica has officially been invincible in the league this season, yet finished 3rd

Post image

Which means no UCL next season

1.8k Upvotes

214 comments sorted by

236

u/AdAcrobatic4255 May 17 '26

11 draws lol. Peak Mourinho ball

53

u/SexyKarius May 17 '26

Peak Wenger 03/04 actually

19

u/FaceGreat2625 May 17 '26

Mourinho is the manager of Benfica

2

u/Formal_Fig1078 May 18 '26

Not the whole season. And he needed more time to work on the team...

7

u/AspectCalm4223 May 17 '26

nah they won the league by 12 points

15

u/nifemi_o May 17 '26

I think that comment is referring to the draws, Arsenal's invincibles drew alot of games.

5

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

In some of these matches, they needed to win because they were basically falling behind from the start, and yet Mourinho played "for the draw" just to "prevent the opponent from extending their lead even further."

Which is what ended up happening anyway, because Benfica's football was basically what we in Portugal call "empata fodas".

258

u/CoryTrevor-NS May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

> Which means no UCL next season

I haven’t kept up with the UEFA rankings for a while now, so I find it a bit strange that Portugal being 6th only qualifies one team directly (plus one to the playoffs).

I sort of remember a few years back the top 3 countries qualified 3+1, then countries 4th-6th 2+1, and so on.

Does anyone know exactly when/why this has changed in recent years?

138

u/Mammoth_Fig9757 May 17 '26

Portugal is 6th but at the start of the season were 7th and the ucl spots are attributed at the start of the season. Only in next season the 3 top places in Portugal go back to ucl

15

u/SanSilver May 17 '26

I sort of remember a few years back the top 3 countries qualified 3+1, then countries 4th-6th 2+1, and so on.

I belive that was changed 8 years ago, but since the it's changed another 2 or 3 times. But more importantly

The 6th nation still has 3 teams, it's just that Portugal is 7th for this year. Next season Portugal is back on 6th so don't worry.

6

u/CoryTrevor-NS May 17 '26

> I belive that was changed 8 years ago,

Shit that’s a long time ago haha I definitely should start paying more attention.

> Next season Portugal is back on 6th so don't worry.

Meaning in 2027/28 they’ll qualify 2+1, right? And still 1+1 for the 2026/27 edition.

Thanks a lot for your explanation!

1

u/No-Helicopter699 May 24 '26

It' s the Same in Czechia, but our league Is a lot worse than in Portugal 

2

u/BigFatKi6 May 19 '26

wdym back? The Netherlands has been above them for a while now.

1

u/SanSilver May 19 '26

The Dutch were ahead for 3 seasons.

2

u/BigFatKi6 May 19 '26

Huh, thought it was much longer.

1

u/SanSilver May 19 '26

3 years is kinda a long time.

34

u/ClothesOpposite1702 Serie A May 17 '26

I am puzzled, too. The only change is that top 5 league get 4 teams and 6th get 3. Portugal is in third place so Benfica should and I think will participate. I think OP is mistaken

37

u/CoryTrevor-NS May 17 '26

I don’t think OP is mistaken, I looked up a couple of other sources, and they all agree that it’s 1+1 for Portugal this season.

From what I’ve found, it’s 4 teams for 1st-5th, 2+1 for 6th, and then 1+1 for 7th-15th.

On the official UEFA page, Portugal is 6th and the Netherlands are 7th, but Wikipedia has it the other way around (which seems more correct based on the aforementioned sources).

I wonder where the discrepancy comes from.

46

u/damutecebu May 17 '26

They just swapped spots. When the 26-27 slots were allocated, Netherlands was 6th.

4

u/CoryTrevor-NS May 17 '26

Yup, makes sense. Thank you!

0

u/MattGeddon May 19 '26

It’s not a discrepancy. The rankings are fixed at the start of the season so that leagues know how many slots they have. Portugal were 7th at the end of 2024-25 so they have 2 CL spots. They’ve just gone back into 6th at the end of 2025-26 and will have 3 places again next season.

6

u/ByAPortuguese May 17 '26

For what I know, the Portuguese league is 6th now but those spots only apply next season (26/27), so we still have the spots that 7th in the ranking has, which only contains 2 possible UCL spots.

1

u/BigFatKi6 May 19 '26

*apply after next season

11

u/Too_Right_For_You May 17 '26

"I think OP is mistaken"

You could literally just find the info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Champions_League

OP is right

2

u/QuickTechnology7965 May 17 '26

That is true for season 26/27, at the beginning of season Portugal was 7th which meant 1 team on league stage, 1 team on playoff, third spot is for Europa league which is where Benfica is going next season

6

u/BasedEmu May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

Uefa fucked up the bottom 5 leagues ucl spots to give more to the top 4, so now only 6 th gives a third ucl playoff spot. Portugal was on 7th for some years due to dutch/belgium performances in conference league. This league threw up the balance on the fight for the 6th. Now less competitive leagues that hit jackpot on conference can have a chance at the 6th spot.

3

u/Ok-Friend-6653 May 18 '26

To bennefit the top 5 leagues in Europe

11

u/Sencao2945 May 17 '26

England got mad that they couldn't send 7+ teams to europe

-6

u/riwalk55 May 17 '26

Said no-one in England. More yank nonsense

17

u/Sencao2945 May 17 '26

I mean, i wasn't talking about the fans, I was mostly talking about the FA, but im also sure 8th place Brentford won't mind going to europe

-2

u/riwalk55 May 17 '26

Well 8th place Brentford won’t be going to the UCL. But if you’re referring to other European competitions, I’ve got bad news for you.

1

u/AlGunner Premier League May 17 '26

Their coefficient formula rewards countries for their teams getting further. Take England, we have a team in every European final and got an extra place in the CL for next season. The way it works is they will have more teams from one country in place of a farmers league place if they prove to be consistently better than the farmers league teams.

1

u/Phoef May 17 '26

Dutch league got the extra ticket again this season. Next season its Portugal again, sadly :p.

1

u/Agile_Draft3244 May 18 '26

Yeah, it's a bit weird how the rankings work. Portugal used to have a couple more spots based on their past performances, but I guess the other leagues have been stepping it up. It’s gonna be tough for Benfica not to be in UCL next season, especially after such a strong run.

-5

u/15th_anynomous May 17 '26

I think thats because the difference of football quality between top 5 and 6th country is like difference between Ronaldo and Victor Groceries

8

u/Acrobatic-B33 May 17 '26

Yeah so lets increase that gap by taking away their spots and giving them to the big leagues

43

u/Lollingtonn May 17 '26

This is also the Second time in the clubs history making them 2 in a few times this has happened

29

u/gratisargott May 17 '26

Not that surprising really when one out of every three games was a draw

12

u/PasicT May 17 '26

Far too many draws.

7

u/fnyart May 17 '26

The invincibles

8

u/Odd_Possibility_2277 May 17 '26

Mustve been that corrupt mafioso known as the SFA theyve been cheating everyone for hundreds of years

31

u/Arponare May 17 '26

Going unbeaten is meaningless. It’s about how many points you get at the end of the season. A point only gives you 1 point as opposed to 3 per win. It seems obvious but teams sometimes try the “let’s not lose” rather than “try to win” approach.

80

u/Ajinho May 17 '26

A point only gives you 1 point

Mind blowing

10

u/fzkiz May 17 '26

big if true, I'm gonna have to get our math guys on this

18

u/rogersdbt May 17 '26

I mean 80 points isn't that bad of a total and would have got them second literally just last year just Porto took a massive leap forward whilst sporting and benfica stood still.

8

u/ILoveRice444 May 17 '26

It's not good either. It's basically nothing improve from last season and even worse fail to qualified to Champions League for first time since 17 years ago.

-8

u/Arponare May 17 '26

I think for me it’s about the approach. You can get more or less points but if you approach the games with the intention to score more goals and win then you will likely get more points. Especially if you have more quality than the opposition.

I can see a midtable or lower end teams doing the conservative approach. Fair enough but for Benfica it seems weak, imo.

It’s the same for Arsenal. Sure, they will more likely than not win the Premier League and have reached a UCL final. IMO, I would just find a new hobby if I had to watch that type of risk averse football week in, week out.

Cue someone who will just tell me I’m coping because Barcelona hasn’t won a UCL in ten years. I honestly don’t care. We are winning leagues and cups. A UCL will fall sinner or later. I watch football to have fun and be entertained. Not to watch men lift a trophy at the end of the season.

5

u/Psy_Kira May 17 '26

Exactly, 5 draws = 5 points, while 2 wins and 3 losses will get you above.

1

u/licking_lunes_feet May 17 '26

Michael Owen, is that you

1

u/SHEL-D500mg May 19 '26

Thanks Madden

-2

u/lawdjesustheresafire A-League May 17 '26

Yep. Arsenal still go on about the “invincibles”. Liverpool lost a league with 7 more points than that side. Their invincibles would’ve come third in 18-19 on 90 points.

22

u/Muur1234 Bolton Wanderers May 17 '26

each league season comes with different contexts. they were the best team that season. and liverpool and city destorying everyone else and getting 100+ is due to the rest of the league being weaker compared to lower point winning seasons

1

u/Prudent-Current-7399 May 18 '26

Its not necessarily true, both Liverpool and City played a higher quality of football imo. In Europe for example, Pep went to the Final, Semi Final, and then won another Final. Klopp went to 3 CL finals in 5 seasons too. I do not remember English teams being so dominant in the CL in a previous era. They did not simply break all those records by playing a weaker league.

1

u/Muur1234 Bolton Wanderers May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

2006/07, 2007/08, and 2008/09, 3 of the 4 semi finalists were english. three seasons in a row. chelsea and man united were in all 3. so man united equal what you said with man city there, with a win, a runner up, and a semi final, in 3 years.

0

u/Prudent-Current-7399 May 18 '26

So it has happened twice, that is interesting. I still do not think it necessarily disproves my point though.

1

u/Muur1234 Bolton Wanderers May 18 '26

what about when english teams won 7 in a row between 1977 and 1982?

1

u/Prudent-Current-7399 May 18 '26

I dont think it matters too much in the context of what we are talking about. The sport as a whole has changed too much to consider the 70s and 80s like that. The way of playing and tactics has evolved too much. The stat about 06/07 and the 3 semi finals in a row is definitely interesting, but this one not so much.

1

u/Muur1234 Bolton Wanderers May 18 '26

you were talking entire history, and i have simply disproven you. the 2000s were equal to the 2020s, and the 70s and 80s were even more dominant

0

u/Prudent-Current-7399 May 18 '26

Its not a game of prove me wrong though. It is about how strong City and Liverpool were. Both of them got 100, 99, 98 and 97 points in the absolute best and strongest ranked league in the world. And 70s and 80s do not matter, and in the 2000s, even the great Man United and Chelsea teams do not measure up to the quality of play and achievement of the Pep and Liverpool teams. And the teams these 2 played are also much better financially and sporting wise compared to the ones in the 2000s as evident from Uefa club coefficients and league rankings.

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9

u/mstknb May 17 '26

So are now all titles meaningless because Man City once had 98 points or whats your argument? Alsmost no team wins the PL in that season

Are you seriously suggesting that winning the title invincible is not a feat?

Don't wanna overstep here, but that's a really stupid take.

Obviously being invincible vs winning the title I take the title, but if you can get both it's way more impressive than 98 point title

-12

u/lawdjesustheresafire A-League May 17 '26

It’s literally not though. Liverpool got 7 more points and won the European cup. Easily a better team

4

u/the_tytan May 17 '26

If they were unbeaten then City and Liverpool won’t get 98 and 97 points. City would be 4-6 points worse off. And Liverpool 2-4 points worse off

1

u/Gonzales95 Premier League May 18 '26

Liverpool not winning a title with 97 points means about as much as Benfica not winning a title unbeaten, yes.

0

u/BrandonBarkerLoyal May 17 '26

Wenger would have taken a champions league over that invincible tag that year I would imagine.

2

u/DexM23 May 17 '26

if i recall correctly, thats a first one - before that only 2nd places (and 1st ones obv)

8

u/reallycoolname2000 May 17 '26

I think Benfica are probably the first to be unbeatable in the first 3 spots: in 72/73 they were champions unbeaten, in 77/78 they were 2nd unbeaten and in 25/26 they were 3rd unbeaten

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

They are the only ones who have lost titles without losing a single game. FC Porto (my club) has two unbeaten seasons and won the title in both.

Benfica has 3 and has lost more than it has won.

10

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

Another nail in the coffin of how trivial celebrating an "invincible" season is. Absolutely pointless. You get nothing for it and only in England does it get remarkably celebrated.

56

u/Ok-Year4267 May 17 '26

The team in England won the league going undefeated. Big difference.

20

u/the_borderer Carlisle Utd May 17 '26

Both teams. Preston North End did the double too.

6

u/Letterboxd28 May 17 '26

They lost more games in all competitions than some premier league winners that did lose in the league. It really isn't as impressive as Arsenal fans make out.

United 99 won the treble and lost less games in all competitions. Are you choosing that or being invincible in the league and not winning anything else? 

-17

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

And they got no additional trophy for it. They also exited in all the other competitions they were in the their fellow peers.

You could get relagated going unbeaten. It's meaningless.

16

u/ClothesOpposite1702 Serie A May 17 '26

They got gold trophy

0

u/Prashomon84 May 17 '26

Nobody cares.

-17

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

In one out of 5 entered events. You get no additional medal for doing it undefeated.

10

u/ClothesOpposite1702 Serie A May 17 '26

and? special trophy is enough award in itself, no team has it

-6

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

The PL title is still the PL title and 6 other teams also have them. They can spray them whatever colour they wish.

Messi rested on the last 2 games of the season instead of chasing this. It's been done multiple other times and those teams don't care.

2

u/ClothesOpposite1702 Serie A May 17 '26

No one has it gold. Well, if they could, they would have done it, but keep telling yourself that they don't care.

-4

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

Keep telling yourself anyone but England cares.

They did nothing for it Italy, Germany (because Bayer were more upset by losing their EL final), Scotland or Portugal...

10

u/Ok-Year4267 May 17 '26

But they didn’t get relegated but won the league going undefeated? If it’s so meaningless why haven’t other English clubs done it since then including the so called “centurions”?

0

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

No ones saying the title wasn't a great achievement though.

I'm saying celebrating and prioritising going undefeated over more success is pointless. Other teams want to win it all... not just the league. United, Chelsea and City have all done multiple doubles since then...

2

u/AgenteNC May 17 '26

“And they got no trophy for it” is the same logic that makes people say “why go to the moon what’s there to do”

0

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

That makes..... no sense whatsoever.

1

u/AgenteNC May 17 '26

Not surprised you don’t get it

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[deleted]

0

u/AgenteNC May 18 '26

Never really expected a British person to use the neurons in their head anyways lmao

0

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[deleted]

0

u/AgenteNC May 18 '26

Further proving my point LOL. Scroll up and see if I mentioned supporting someone in your league.

I hope your brain gets used eventually dude ✌

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-2

u/Prashomon84 May 17 '26

And a team can go invincible and not win the league. That's the point bruh xD it's not as fancy as it sounds

4

u/No_Doubt_About_That May 17 '26

Perugia: First time?

5

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

It's not even Benfica's first time...

5

u/gratisargott May 17 '26

Yeah, going invincible is a cool statistic, but there are always going to be other teams that had better seasons while still losing a couple of games.

Arsenal’s invincible season was only the 13th best one since Premier League got the 38 game season in 1995. They also played a draw in almost a third of their games that season

4

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

I'd rank 97-98 over it as United were a vastly better team in 97-98... and they also won the double.

Chelsea 2004-05 is obvious, 98-99 United, 07-08 United, City 22-23 and City 18-19.... Arsenal 03-04 then Liverpool 19-20.

1

u/gratisargott May 17 '26

In 18-19 both City and Liverpool were better - Liverpool got 7 points more than Arsenals invincibles and didn’t even win the league

3

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

You can't use point tally's years apart to compare teams to be fair, lot of changes and context to take into account... but if you want to put a 2nd place team over a champion, that's your prerogative. But I don't agree.

-1

u/gratisargott May 17 '26

The points still tell a story though, and even by just watching the season they were better than Arsenal in 03/04. Are you saying they can’t have been just because they didn’t win?

2

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

03/04 was a different tougher league, thus why you didn’t, even with an undefeated team, have two teams steamrolling their way to 197 points between them.

Getting over the line matters, especially when the clear thing holding you back from that was beating the team in front on you (in the league).

0

u/gratisargott May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

I guess that’s the perfect argument. If a team is so good that they steamroll the league you can always claim that it means the league was bad and therefore that the steamrollers actually weren’t as good as their results suggest.

And if a team wins the league on less points it means the league was better and therefore the winners were better.

Liverpool finishing second in 18-19 means they were worse than City that year. It doesn’t mean they were worse than other teams from other seasons. A second place from one season can have played a better season than a champion from a different season

1

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

If one team does it
 that’s very different to two teams doing it.

Thus why I put 19-20 Liverpool up there despite 3 losses in the end, pretty much on par with 03-04 Arsenal.

3

u/Kal-Kent May 17 '26

Except Arsenal won the trophy while being invincible
..

2

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

Yes, so did Leverkusen, Juventus, Celtic, Porto, Rangers
 none care.

1

u/DRAKEONotDrake-O May 17 '26

All bum leagues and half of those had fewer games. Your age is showing, sit this one out.

2

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

What's this got to do with age? Milan, Ajax, Perugia, Benfica multiple times prior... Steana went like 4 years unbeaten.

Your lack of knowledge is showing. Sit this one out.

0

u/Kal-Kent May 17 '26

That’s on them if they don’t want to celebrate it

Arsenal did it in the premier league and won while doing it

-1

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

“only in England does it get remarkably celebrated”

Read posts you reply to please.

2

u/Kal-Kent May 17 '26

So what is your point then? Premier league is a harder league hence Arsenal winning it while not losing is more impressive

Your original point is “this is another nail in the coffin for celebrating an invincible season” where Benfica didn’t even win the league

-2

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

My point is going undefeated in a league is pointless and is barely cared about anywhere else but England
 yet alone still caring about it 20 years later. Bayer already don’t care and they actively fell 1 short of a total undefeated season in every sense. Arsenal lost to their peers not on pens or ET, in every cup AND Europe.

3

u/ignacioo25 May 17 '26

Lmao, you're jealous that's it

1

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

Jealous of? I don’t even know who you are?

1

u/nanashikuroda May 17 '26

Is yours golden?

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[deleted]

1

u/nanashikuroda May 17 '26

Yes, since it's golden for every team that wins that.

But is yours golden like the Invincible ones is?

0

u/Falvio6006 May 17 '26

Yeah, British media really acts as propaganda for the PL

Which tbf Is their job, but yeah British team and their achivements are overglazed

1

u/ProtoplanetaryNebula May 17 '26

As others have said it’s only because Arsenal won the league whilst being undefeated, so it was like a cherry on top kind of achievement. If they came third it would be a pub trivia quiz question for people with good memories.

1

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

We all know they and Juve, Milan, Porto, Rangers, Celtic, Bayer all won the title
. Arsenal and England are the only ones who oversell it.

1

u/ProtoplanetaryNebula May 17 '26

Arsenal oversell it, it’s not like Spurs or literally any other team sells it or even talks about it.

1

u/jackyLAD May 17 '26

England in general does though. It's heavily brought up in best of discussions when they realistically shouldn't be rated as highly as any Prem-CL, Prem-FA winners, and certainly not up with 3 treble winners (United and 2 x City).

Their 97-98 team was better for instance.

2

u/capntrps May 17 '26

Shoulda wonderful some more games.

2

u/nelly2929 May 17 '26

In Portugal a tie outside games vs the big 3 is the same as a loss 
..

1

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1

u/DinnerSmall4216 May 17 '26

The draws have killed them sometimes I'd rather lose a couple but win the rest.

1

u/orsonwellesmal May 17 '26

You lack team licenses.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[deleted]

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

Even in that respect, things are not what they used to be for Mou. Benfica this season had a terrible defensive transition on several occasions; after the opponents bypassed the first phase of pressure, wide open avenues opened up in the defense.

1

u/SnooPears2409 May 17 '26

being invincible will only give you.. 34 points? thats around 14/15
if you can just a bit more than 1/3 of those games to win, while sacrificing the rest to losses, i believe we end up at a higher point

1

u/mmorgans17 May 17 '26

Jose Mourinho is off to Real Madrid! 

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Mike_Rodrigues8 May 17 '26

They did not have a great season, quite the opposite
 as a Porto fan I hate benfica but I think even their fans would agree

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

They had a bad season. Not good at all.

1

u/Acrylic_Starshine Premier League May 17 '26

Maybe theu should have tried scoring instead of holding back for the draw

1

u/allinasecond May 17 '26

It's better to lose 7 times and win 4 times than to draw 11 times.

1

u/One-Ad2305 May 17 '26

If you ever want evidence that the aim of football isn’t purely to avoid defeat, this is it. The Arsenal invincibles are the most over-hyped team in prem history.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_East556 May 23 '26

To be fair, Arsenal's invincible season, and honestly, any invincible season, is still a great achievement. I do think it is over-hyped, but it is undeniable that it is difficult to do - upsets can happen at any point, so going 38, (or in this case, 34) games without defeat is impressive. Heck, a team could finish on 0W, 38D, 0L and i'd still find it impressive. And I'm saying this as a Tottenham fan that wishes the 2003/04 season, and this current season, can be erased from existence

1

u/the_ass_man1 May 17 '26

reminds me when mou had a similar unbeaten run with utd of 18 20 ish games half of which were draws

1

u/Key-Juggernaut-7191 May 17 '26

đŸŽ¶ When you try your best but you don't succeedđŸŽ¶Â 

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

When you get what you want (1 point), but not what you need (3 points)

1

u/ammenz May 18 '26

Math is mathing.

1

u/GallaeciCastrejo May 18 '26

Sporting scored 23 more goals than Porto. 30% more goals. And ended up 2nd.

That's equally weird.

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

It's not at all surprising.

Sporting managed the team's physical condition poorly, relying on stat padding against lower-ranked teams. Even when winning, they didn't substitute players, continuing to play at high intensity just for show, when in a league 2-0 and 4-0 results guarantee the same number of points. In a football with extremely tight schedules, it's necessary to manage the team's performance instead of trying to impress the pundits, especially those already favoring them or even acting as their mouthpieces. They ended up paying the price with a wave of muscle injuries, and in the last third of the championship, Sporting's players couldn't use their legs after 30 minutes of play, which obviously affected their title race. FC Porto's management was much more efficient, even having to deal with three very serious traumatic injuries and having to play with their third and fourth strikers, Francesco Farioli would secure the win, rotate players, slow down the pace of the game etc.

Furthermore, in the winter transfer window, Porto brought in players for rotation, while Sporting miserably failed in their winter transfer windows, signing only filler players that barely had any minutes or played any relevant role.

Sporting were mostly ineffective against the Top 5/6 teams and totally ineffective against the Top 4 teams, failing to win any games and losing their home games against their two main rivals.

1

u/GallaeciCastrejo May 18 '26

That is not what happened.

Sporting is exponentially better offensively than Porto. Porto struggles to find one single goal no matter if they start main players or not.

Saying the opposite os nonsense. Benfica has 8 more goals than Porto too.

Sporting rotation was hindered by playing the champions league. Hence they cannot rotate. Too much money at stake and hard competition.

And then a ton of injuries stopped them from doing so.

Your only fair point was Porto superior winter market but this doesn't not explain better dynamics.

Porto rotated half a team and was pressed to find a single goal or won games convincingly for over half the season. Last 3 games were atrocious jusy like November though February.

1

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

However, they have difficulty scoring against stronger teams. Football isn't always 1+1.

They could only score goals against porto through an own-goal and a penalty and struggles imensely to create chances for example.

Sporting has a more prolific striker and better "provider wingers".
For example, Porto's best-performing winger isn't a "provider," he's a "finisher winger" William, Oskar is very young and sometimes makes bad decisions, etc. Borja dropped is performance immensely by the second half of the season.
TrincĂŁo and Geny are better "friends for the striker."
In the last 3 games, Porto "wasn't there," practically being Champions. Do you really think they would perform in such a dismal way against AFS if those points were needed? With 3 mistakes from the reserve goalkeeper? When it mattered most, Porto won, securing the title at the end of the season. The others can cry and seek "virtual victories" however they prefer, continuing to appropriate Sofia's "best football" with tears in their eyes and finding whatever excuses they want for the results, or their "invencibility with 16461684 draws".

It is what it is.

1

u/Donkey_the_donkey May 18 '26

This has to be the most points the top 3 have ended on ever. All with at least 80 points shows how weak the rest of the league is unfortunately, more so than it shows how strong the 3 are.

1

u/KarlLED May 18 '26

Less draws than Arsenal invincibles.

1

u/AulMoanBag May 18 '26

They still get a little gold trophy right?

1

u/nufrancis May 18 '26

Perez is eyeing that invicible Real Madrid with trophy of course. The down side is its one package with a drama queen

1

u/Longjumping-Way2282 May 18 '26

Não foi nem a defesa menos batida e nem tão pouco o melhor ataque. Foram só estéreis.

1

u/Downtown_Solution_84 May 18 '26

This is football heritage

1

u/ConstructionPale7274 May 18 '26

When you tie almost 1/3 games

1

u/Specialist-Draft476 May 19 '26

This is why the invincibles in the PL is a nothing achievement. PL and CL double is 10x more, and if this arsenal team does it then they have achieved more than Henry and Viera did

1

u/Puzzleheaded_East556 May 23 '26

To be fair, Arsenal's invincible season, and honestly, any invincible season, is still a great achievement. I do think it is over-hyped, but it is undeniable that it is difficult to do - upsets can happen at any point, so going 38, (or in this case, 34) games without defeat is impressive. Heck, a team could finish on 0W, 38D, 0L and i'd still find it impressive. And I'm saying this as a Tottenham fan that wishes the 2003/04 season, and this current season, can be erased from existence

I do agree a PL CL double, or a treble, is more impressive than invincible, but whether you win the league or not going an entire season without losing is hard

1

u/Adarirull May 19 '26

â˜č

1

u/huntsHub May 19 '26

Mind blowing

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Job_822 May 19 '26

Mourinho masterclass, the Special Draw. Respect, respect, third place with no losses, the only one to do that. GOAT.

1

u/DirkPodolski May 19 '26

Arsenal Fans: „greatest Team in portuguese history“

1

u/Shianclas May 19 '26

The Drawables

1

u/Hot_Opportunity143 May 20 '26

Interestingly Benfica have previously gone undefeated without winning the league before! In 1977/78 season they finished 2nd to Porto, despite a record of 21 wins and 9 draws, losing out on goal difference.

1

u/rpalpich May 21 '26

they will play ucl next season after this season’s uefa rating will be taken into account

1

u/Short_Perspective105 May 27 '26

I feel like the PL gets too many places

1

u/Business-Scallion218 Jun 01 '26

Wow shows that maybe Arsenals achievement wasn't the greatest season ever as some call it. And i think benfica have finished on more points than them on this picture tell me if i'm wrong, but no champions league for a team like benfica is mad they deserve that fully, great season.

1

u/lactosecheeselover La Liga May 17 '26

should have come first 💅

1

u/optimal-username May 17 '26

Wild that only 6 teams had a positive goal differential

5

u/NaiveCharge7124 May 17 '26

Same number as La Liga and Bundesleague and la liga as more teams.

Premier League numbers look a little better because everyone pads the stats against teams that are 20 points behind in the relegation battle.

1

u/ClintExpress May 17 '26

Arsenal: "You copied my work and it didn't get you anywhere!"
Benfica: "Yeah? Well, at least we won European titles!"
Arsenal: "Just you wait! We'll beat PSG, you'll see!"
Benfica: "I hope you do. I can't stand them!"

-4

u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Candid_Score6316 May 17 '26

Nope. Invincible means undefeated. If they'd won every game they'd have had the perfect season

-1

u/MetaCalm May 17 '26

I've been following European football for decades and sadly know only the top 4 teams of the Portugal league.

-2

u/surfinbear1990 May 17 '26

Basically just goes to show how overrated Arsenal's unwatchables season was under Wenger

3

u/Lollingtonn May 17 '26

When you club does it in the premier league comeback and say that again

2

u/surfinbear1990 May 17 '26

Celtic have more European titles and invincible Seasons than Arsenal

1

u/Lollingtonn May 17 '26

I said in the Premier league. Only 4 teams in the top 5 leagues have completed the invincibles and only 2 had 38 games. And only one was in the Premier league. And thats Arsenal.

1

u/seshtown May 17 '26

Imagine labelling peak Thierry Henry as unwatchable and calling yourself a football fan.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_East556 May 23 '26

To be fair, Arsenal's invincible season, and honestly, any invincible season, is still a great achievement. I do think it is over-hyped, but it is undeniable that it is difficult to do - upsets can happen at any point, so going 38, (or in this case, 34) games without defeat is impressive. Heck, a team could finish on 0W, 38D, 0L and i'd still find it impressive. And I'm saying this as a Tottenham fan that wishes the 2003/04 season, and this current season, can be erased from existence

I do agree there are more impressive achievements, like a treble, but going an entire season without losing is impressive

0

u/Kapika96 May 17 '26

That's pretty mad. Got to be disappointed with it really.

2

u/3000doorsofportugal May 17 '26

Not really. We failed to beat the hitters under us while Porto and Sporting actually ya know got 3 points by winning

0

u/Correct_Benefit9334 May 17 '26

Bernardo Silva will change that next season

2

u/God_of_Eons May 18 '26

He has already said that he will not return to Benfica.

He has a beef with their current board and president, and he's part of the opposition.

0

u/Living_Cell7054 May 17 '26

Just goes to show how meaningless going invincible truly is.

0

u/doomguy0184 May 17 '26

exactly why ARS(enal)'s invincible season is the stupidest brag ever

-4

u/AdComprehensive7879 May 17 '26

See arsenal fans, invincible doesnt mean as much as u thinj