Manchester U. Vs. FC Porto: Can the Dragon Overcome the Devil This Time?

Back in 2004, the ninth day of March, 22.29 local hour, a full crowded Old Trafford stadium was seething with enthusiasm and excitement.

The MU was through, after a hard-earned victory against a defiant FC Porto side, which no one expected to be so tough. A minute later, the theater of dreams became the one of the shattered dreams, as Costinha scored a late equalizer which means that it was end of the road for red devils.     

The clock displayed 90, a blank point range death. Nothing to do.  

That season, the FC Porto emblem shone brightly in the European firmament. Such emblem, which is Porto’s city coat of arms, shows a dragon in the crest of a quartered Samnitic shield (the motif why they are called “the dragons”) holding a badge which reads, “cidade invicta” (the invincible city).

Just within a month, they were lifting up their second European cup, to the astonishment of almost every football follower.

Now, five-years later from that point in football history, fate gifted us with another challenge between these two teams. While the colors are the same, the protagonists and circumstances are totally different.

First, we must admit that despite the numbers of stars it held , 2004 MU squad was not too far away from Porto's representatives at the time. 

The Portuguese’s lineup, featuring Deco, Carvalho, Costinha, Maniche, P. Ferreira, Nuno Valente, Jorge Costa, V. Baia and Carlos Alberto was not really that below in terms of performance, that the one formed by Howard, Neville, Brown, O'Shea, Fletcher, Butt, Giggs, and Scholes.

The exception was, of course, Van Nistelrooy, a piece which the Portuguese were fairly unable to reproduce or even emulate in their scheme, but that they successfully managed to cancel in their contender's plan of action.

And of course, Porto’s manager at the time was the all acclaimed, worldwide hated, self-made strategist, visionary and more recently philosopher, José Mourinho. An important remark to point out.   

Up to now, the situation is outrageously different.

Visibly, there is indeed a big gap between the squads. While MU has succeeded through the years in gathering one of the most, if not the most, powerful squad in Europe and probably in the whole world, FC Porto have done just the contrary, being forced themselves to sell (for a good price, must say) valuable players in the rise of their careers that they know they are unable to retain when facing the call of a bigger club.

The former 2004 European Champions come up now with a fresh, vibrant and sometimes clever lineup taken out mostly from the South American vintage, which is perfectly suitable for challenging in the domestic competition (having claimed three of the last four Portuguese Superliga titles) but far too light-weighted when giving the task of overcoming reigning champions Manchester United.

Porto’s dynamite—notably formed by the López/Hulk/González trident—seems to damp when we speak of the likes of Ronaldo/Rooney/Berbatov/Tévez, not to mention the rest of areas of both teams, a lot better, well-balanced and cemented in MU than in Porto.

Second, the circumstances are definitively not the same. Back in time, FC Porto was facing a team which was a pretty good English team, but not the best team in the world as it is now frequently stared like, after winning five trophies in a bit more than a year, and being in course for three more until the end of the season.

The accumulated experience of the current MU squad is overwhelming, compared to that of the FC Porto.

Moreover, when Porto entered the Old Trafford stadium at 2004, they carried the European-tiny-country “poor victim” label, something which clearly played in their favor.

Actually they will carry the “convict facing execution” one, for I bet that what happened barely five years ago, haven’t been forgotten at all by MU fans and some of the players at the time, who actually still play in the team.

As seen, Manchester United has almost all –except for the decisive leg venue—in their favor. The best squad available, the experience, the momentum...What do FC Porto have in their favor?

The chance of playing the second leg match in their own stadium, O Dragao (the dragon); a fervent mass of supporters which firmly believes in them and never ever stop to cheer their team, and the glimpse of two European Champion Cups in their display cabinet, what somehow should encourage them to try their hardest.

Their winning chances, which for insignificant that they could be still they held some, are in summary to grit their teeth in Old Trafford and hold MU impetus the best they can, trying maybe to snatch a goal—what would be a piece of paradise in terms of value—and set up trenches while mining the camp in O Dragao, preparing themselves for a very tough combat in the last and decisive leg.

Frankly speaking, as a FC Porto sympathizer I am (I’m also and first of all an AC Milan fan)in my opinion their aim shall be:

First and more idyllic, winning the row.

Second and more realistic, to at least achieve a decent and respectable exit to the tournament, with their heads up, something that will somehow fix a bit the disgraceful image of the Portuguese football in recent times, considering the pathetic example given by the Sporting Lisbon in the previous stage of the current tournament, and Porto’s own failure to reach quarter finals during the last five years.

Can Os Dragoes make the improbable? Quite difficult, but not impossible. Anyway, I would really wish they could keep in mind that if they are to lose, at least make their opponents sweat like in hell, and grant us a memorable match for the sake of football.