Francesco Farioli

The Dragons do have a magnificent home league record to protect, which dates back to April 2025 and is currently at 23 games unbeaten and counting.

So far in 2026-27, they've won all three home games, conceding just once in the process, indicating that Francesco Farioli's side are going to make life extremely difficult for their visitors.

However, Marco Silva's Benfica are also in a very rich vein of form themselves, and they also have an epic unbeaten record to protect, having not lost in 28 away league games, stretching back to January 2025.

Intriguingly, it was Benfica who were the last visiting team to win at Porto in the Liga Portugal, with Pavlidis scoring a hat-trick on that occasion in a stunning 4-1 victory.

Very well established, very well.

Both of these managers, very well established coaches in Mexico.

Both are Argentine.

Both have been in Mexico a long time.

Um, you know, Enzo Maresca, who, you know, Guillem knows very well, um, has, you know, studied, is formed a lot by Spanish football.

Uh, Francesco Farioli, uh, used to work with Roberto De Zerbi, and then really creditably, I think is from outside of the Italian football system because he backed himself, went to work in Turkey, um, went to work at Nice, then at Ajax, and now at Porto, um, and his, has his own style.

And then of course you have Davide Ancelotti, who you could say, um, even though, you know, he's studied at the, the feet of his father, um, again, someone very influenced by Spanish football, um, living and working in Spain, um, as well.

So this, this new generation of Italians is, is, is...

With the hosts not troubling Gianluigi Donnarumma all game.

Whilst a number of Porto players can be pleased with their output more generally, for example, Jakub Kiwior won five of his six one-on-one duels and three of his four aerial duels, and Martim Fernandes completed 94% of his passes, Francesco Farioli will be disappointed that his side never really troubled City in an attacking sense.

Indeed, it was the first time since a fixture against Juventus in February 2017 that Porto hadn't managed a shot on target in a UCL encounter.

Another UCL record awaits.

They are a club coming from the second city of Portugal, but they are a very competitive side and they had a poor streak of three years.

Uh, but since last season with the new manager, Francesco Farioli, they greatly improved.

They won the league and now they are going after the Champions League, in figurative terms of course.

The great expectation of the club is to reach the knockout stages and then after that, depending on who they play, let's see how it goes.

Hmm.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

I've been, you know, fascinated with the story of Francesco Farioli, who, um, was working with, uh, Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Nice and, you know, maybe up and down, uh, uh, tenure, uh, on the south of France, but then goes to Ajax and quite cruelly misses out on, on a league title in, in pretty spectacular fashion.

But he seems like he's absolutely, uh, you know, taken it by storm since arriving in Porto.