If You’re Going To Watch One Primeira Liga Match All Season…

…make it O Clássico, “arguably the most important match in Portuguese football,” kicking off later today at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (aka the Estádio da Luz):

SL Benfica vs. FC Porto, 3:15pmET (available via ESPN3.com in the US; see here for other TV listings)

Not only is it a classic and heated Portugese rivalry, the two clubs are currently battling it out at the top of the Primeira Liga table–even on points with identical records, with Porto ahead on goal differential.

Here’s what the top of the table looks like:

We have to admit, we’re not close observers of Portuguese domestic football, and hence the only times we’ve seen either of these clubs play has been when Porto has played in the Europa league, last season en route to their title in that competition, and over the past few weeks when they were eliminated by Manchester City.

Actually, here is what we wrote last spring, ahead of Porto’s victory of Sporting Braga in the Europa League final:

They’ve had a remarkable season: they won the Liga Sagres going away, going undefeated in the process (27 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses).  They were also undefeated in their Europa League group, and marched through the knockout phase, beating a couple Spanish and a couple Moscow clubs along the way: Sevilla, CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Villareal.  (Braga dropped down from the Champions League after finishing third in their group behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal, although they did defeat Arsenal 2-1 at home in November. In the Europa knockout phase, they beat Polish Lech Poznan, before upsetting Liverpool, then Dynamo Kyiv and finally another Portuguese power, Benfica, in the semis.)

For today’s match, keep your eye on the handful of rising stars on their squad, quite a few of whom are South American: the Brazilians Fernando and Hulk (yes, the Hulk); Colombians Falcao and James Rodríguez; Argentine midfielders Fernando Belluschi and Nicolás Otamendi; Uruguayan defenders Fucile and Álvaro Pereira. They also have a few Portuguese internationals (midfielder João Moutinho, winger Silvestre Varela, the Cape Verdean-born defender Rolando).

All of those players are still with the squad, with one big exception–striker Falcao was sold over the summer to Atletico Madrid.

For reference, here’s Porto’s current squad:

No. Position Player 1 GK Helton 2 DF Danilo 4 DF Maicon 5 DF Álvaro Pereira 6 MF Fredy Guarín 7 MF Fernando Belluschi 8 MF João Moutinho 10 MF Cristian Rodríguez 11 FW Kléber 12 FW Hulk (captain) 13 DF Jorge Fucile 14 DF Rolando 15 DF Emídio Rafael 17 FW Silvestre Varela

No. Position Player 18 FW Walter 19 FW James Rodríguez 20 FW Djalma 21 DF Cristian Săpunaru 22 DF Eliaquim Mangala 23 MF Souza 25 MF Fernando 26 DF Alex Sandro 27 FW Juan Manuel Iturbe 30 DF Nicolás Otamendi 31 GK Rafael Bracalli 35 MF Steven Defour

And Benfica’s:

No. Position Player 1 GK Artur 3 DF Emerson 4 DF Luisão (captain) 6 MF Javi García 7 FW Óscar Cardozo 8 FW Bruno César 9 FW Nolito 10 MF Pablo Aimar (vice-captain) 12 FW Yannick Djaló 14 DF Maxi Pereira 16 FW Nélson Oliveira 19 FW Rodrigo 20 MF Nicolás Gaitán

No. Position Player 21 MF Nemanja Matić 24 DF Ezequiel Garay 27 DF Miguel Vítor 28 MF Axel Witsel 30 FW Javier Saviola 33 DF Jardel 34 DF André Almeida 36 DF Luís Martins 37 MF Rúben Pinto 38 DF Joan Capdevila 39 GK Mika 47 GK Eduardo (on loan from Genoa)