They say cats have nine lives. Some may say Erik ten Hag has just two left as Manchester United manager: Porto away on Thursday and Aston Villa away on Sunday.
A trip to the Dragao Stadium, a hostile cauldron of bubbling energy, is a tough fixture at the best of times, while meetings between the two clubs have rarely gone by without incident.
United progressed to the Champions League semi-finals after a 4-0 aggregate win under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1997 but the goalless second leg in Portugal was tarnished by police firing rubber bullets at visiting fans. There was Jose Mourinho’s famous touchline run at Old Trafford in 2004 when Porto snatched a last-minute winner in a round-of-16 tie and then Cristiano Ronaldo’s 45-yard wonder strike that silenced Porto fans in 2009.
Fifteen years on, these are far from the best of times for United, who suffered their second consecutive 3-0 home defeat in the Premier League, to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, leaving Ten Hag under increasing pressure.
Porto, who beat 14th-placed Arouca 4-0 in the Primeira Liga on Sunday, will be confident of overcoming United, according to Portuguese journalist Pedro Cunha, and they will know this is the best time to play Ten Hag’s side given their struggles.
So what can United expect from Vitor Bruno’s side?
Porto, according to Opta projections, are the favourites to win the Europa League and are, on paper, United’s toughest opponent in the league stage given they are the highest-placed team (14th) in UEFA’s coefficient rankings, just one place below United.
They are not the European giants of two decades ago when they won the 2003 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) and 2004 Champions League under Mourinho, or the domestic double and Europa League in the 2010-11 season under now club president Andre Villas-Boas, but their rich European pedigree has left supporters hungry for another continental trophy.
They are undergoing a transition period with a new president and coach. After 42 years at the helm, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa was defeated in the April presidential elections by Villas-Boas, who won 80 per cent of the vote. When elected, Villas-Boas said in a statement that “winning titles and sustaining our club for the future” is what he wanted.
The 46-year-old has a big task to reorganise a club that has suffered from financial and organisational issues. He was quick to introduce changes, the most notable being the appointment of Bruno, assistant to head coach Sergio Conceicao for the last seven years, to run the first team.
In this new cycle, Porto are finding their way under the ambitious Bruno, who had never held a head coach position before but is widely liked by the Portuguese press for his open communication. His team, however, are still an unknown quantity.
Porto have not won the Portuguese league since 2021-22 when they broke a national record of 58 undefeated consecutive league matches, a run lasting 18 months, and their third-placed finish last season denied them another shot at the Champions League. They have finished in the league’s top three for the last 10 years, but the Primeira Liga is not as competitive as the Premier League.
Porto have started the domestic season brightly, sitting second with six wins and one defeat against top-of-the-table Sporting Lisbon in August. In Europe, however, they faltered in their opening match, losing 3-2 against Bodo/Glimt, who played with 10 men for 40 minutes.
The result felt a long way from this time last year when they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League, eventually finishing second in their group. It was just eight months ago that Porto beat Arsenal 1-0 in their round-of-16 home tie before losing on penalties at the Emirates. United last season, in comparison, did not even make it out of their Champions League group, finishing bottom.
As shown by the chart below, which uses Opta data via FBRef, Porto under Conceicao last season were aggressive off the ball (intensity, 92 out of 99), pressed high (high line, 94), and had one of the best defensive records in Europe’s top seven leagues (chance prevention, 97).
They tended to use wingers Galeno and Francisco Conceicao as their main threat, as illustrated by their middling central progression score (52), which is also a theme of this season, with Galeno and Brazil’s Pepe on the flanks.
Bruno’s philosophy is similar to that of the former head coach, but there have been slight tweaks with a focus on a more intense press, quick reactions when they lose possession, and more direct attacks. They will adapt to their opponents and Porto can be defensively stubborn and disciplined out of possession, as demonstrated in the Arsenal tie.
This summer, they lost their top scorers from the past two seasons — Mehdi Taremi, who left for Inter Milan, and Evanilson, who was sold to Bournemouth in a deal worth €47million (£40.3m; $51.7m).
Samu Omorodion, signed from Atletico Madrid in August, has scored five goals in his last four games but at 20 years old, is still a rough diamond. They are also without their beloved centre-back Pepe, the heart and soul of the team who retired last season at the age of 41. Experienced Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa has taken the armband.
There are concerns over their centre-backs, Argentinian Nehuen Perez, 24, on loan from Udinese, and 27-year-old Ze Pedro, who stepped up from the reserves last September. In midfield, 22-year-old Nico Gonzalez, a former Barcelona player, is intelligent on the ball and combines well with No 6 Alan Varela, who joined in 2023 from Boca Juniors.
The ties between United and Portuguese football run deep, with Ronaldo, Nani and Bruno Fernandes arriving in Manchester from Sporting, while Alex Telles, Anderson and Diogo Dalot all joined from Porto.
Before their match against Twente last week, Ten Hag, who played for the Dutch club, said: “It is not nice to hurt something you love.” But Dalot, who came through Porto’s youth ranks, cannot afford to contemplate any emotional ties.
Porto are confident after seeing United’s recent form and are ready to deal Ten Hag what could prove to be a telling blow.
(Top photo: Diogo Baptista/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
