Porto will be welcomed back to the Champions League next season

The party is over for Benfica. The likes of David Luiz, Luisao and Fabio Coentrao stayed at the club over the course of last summer to give the Champions League a shot. Now that their exit from the competition has been confirmed they will have to face up to an awkward truth. With their Champions League credentials will go their biggest stars. Ramires and Angel Di Maria moved on and the rest will follow.

Defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv may have been cruel and unusual, given the number of chances and amount of possession the guests had in Bloomfield Stadium but the result was entirely in-keeping with what has been a disastrous campaign, continentally, aside from one good result over Lyon.

Last season, domestically, represented a dark hour for FC Porto but under Andre Villas Boas they are primed to make their comeback to the big time. The Dragons served notice of their intentions for the Portuguese crown with a 5-0 pasting of the champions a few weeks back and are undefeated in all competitions up to now. They are one of the continent’s most in-form and dynamic teams and they belong in the Champions League.

A rubrica habitual da Goal.com faz uma menção ao nosso clube mesmo que não estejamos a participar na Champions’ League deste ano (chora, Jorge, chora…) e constata aquilo que todos já percebemos: o FC Porto ultrapassou o Benfica em termos de prestígio internacional corrente. O histórico já lá vai e o que conta é o que acontece nos tempos em que vivemos.

No fundo, somos uma equipa de segunda linha no panorama europeu, quando comparados com o Real Madrid, o Inter, o Manchester United ou o Bayern. Mas neste círculo seguinte somos sempre considerados como um habituée daquela turba, “aquela equipa lutadora”, “difícil de ganhar no Dragão” e “rijos e determinados”. É um estatuto que trabalhamos para adquirir ao longo de muitos anos e que aparentemente ainda não esmoreceu. Felizmente.