Nacional and Porto meet at Estádio da Madeira, in a match for this phase of the Taça de Portugal (Eighth Final). The history of recent head-to-head matches is favorable to the visiting team, which registers 4 victories in the last 4 matches. The last head-to-head meeting between these two teams, on 20‑12‑2020, ended with Porto’s victory by (2‑0). In this match the home factor may be decisive, since Nacional presents considerable differences in its results at home and as a visitor.
National :
The home team reaches this stage of the Taça de Portugal (Eighth Final) after having played previous qualifiers with: Leixões and Casa Pia. This is a stronger team with the support of its fans, since in the last 30 games it has registered 4 victories, 6 draws and 5 defeats as a visitor, with 13 goals scored and 15 suffered; against 9 victories, 4 draws and 2 defeats in his stadium, with 24 goals scored and 13 suffered. In their last match, for the Primeira Liga, they lost to Sporting CP at home by (0‑2). In their last 10 home matches Nacional has 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. The team allowed the opponent goals in 8 of the last 10 games, so there are defensive processes that need to improve. In 14 games, he only managed 1 comeback in the 7 games in which he suffered the first goal. There is 1 period that stands out in the last 12 home matches for all competitions: they have conceded 5 of their 13 goals between minutes (31′ ‑ 45 ‘).
Nacional comes to this match after a 0x2 defeat at the reception to Sporting Lisboa, in a match for the Portuguese championship. It should be noted that the team from the island of Madeira eliminated Casa Pia and Leixões in the previous qualifiers of the Portuguese Cup. In this home game, coach Luís Freire must act 4-3-3, favoring fast attacks, especially on the flanks: Brayan Riascos and João Camacho are very fast and competent in the transition from defense to attack. Forward Brayan Riascos is Nacional’s top scorer in official matches, with 8 goals scored. Outside of this game is Kalindi Souza, due to physical problems.
Porto :
Until reaching this stage of the Taça de Portugal (Eighth Final), the visiting team eliminated: Tondela and Fabril Barreiro. This is a team that presents similar results at home and abroad, so it is not usually affected by the home factor, since in the last 30 games it has registered 10 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses as a visitor; against 13 victories, 1 draw and 1 defeat in his stadium. In their last match, for the Primeira Liga, they beat Famalicão away by (1‑4). In their last 10 away matches, Porto has recorded 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. His attack has scored regularly, as he has scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches. This is a team that does not usually have difficulties opening the scoring: they scored the first goal in 12 of the last 15 games, of these 12 they came at half-time ahead in 10 and they always managed to maintain the advantage until the end of the 90 ‘.
FC Porto comes to this day with a 1×4 victory in the visit to the Famalicão stadium, in a match for the Portuguese championship: the team’s goals were scored by João Mário, Sérgio Oliveira and Mehdi Taremi (2). In the Portuguese Cup, the visitors eliminated Fabril Barreiro and Tondela. Now, in this match against Nacional, coach Sérgio Conceição must give priority to maintaining possession and organized attacks: Sérgio Oliveira is responsible for organizing and creating the offensive process. The player mentioned above is the team’s top scorer, with 11 goals scored. For this game, the visiting coach cannot count on Iván Marcano, injured, as well as Fábio Vieira, Carraça and Wilson Manafá, who are quarantined.
