Santa Clara will host Nacional in the Round of 16 of the Taca de Portugal on Thursday. They are tied for the most points among the top three in the league going into one of two meetings between all-second-tier teams this early in the competition.
Preview (Santa Clara vs. Nacional)
Santa Clara has had a little rough patch of play lately after having won six straight games. They have not lost in ninety minutes of play the entire season. While they ended 2023 with a 0-0 draw against Belenenses, which was by no means a bad result, they then managed to lose 1-0 at Mafra in a match that they controlled. Despite outshooting their opponents 18 to 2, Santa Clara was surprisingly left empty-handed at the weekend. Thanks to a smash-and-grab goal in the 93rd minute that took all three points for the visitors. Manager Vasco Matos will be hoping that his team can replicate their success from the 2020–21 campaign. They advanced to the Taca de Portugal quarterfinals, to go back to their best.
They have advanced to the round of 16 four times since 2018. However, their first two appearances were cut short by losses to Moreirense and Porto. To set up a quarterfinal matchup with Braga, the Azoreans defeated Moreirense in 2021 as a form of retaliation. Santa Clara will start the match as the favorite due to home advantage and their stellar recent record against Nacional. They are undefeated in seven matches overall, including a winning run of four games from 2018 to 2022.
With an average of more than two goals per game this season, Nacional is a rare oddity in Portuguese professional football since they are a free-flowing, goal-hungry team. It gave them momentum because they were the only team in the top three to win over the weekend. Nacional has a respectable history in this league even if they are not among the top teams.
Team News
Santa Clara has made significant changes for their cup matches this season. Matos might switch things up once more in an attempt to fight for promotion. Leading scorer Bruno Almeida did not start the last round against Elvas. He has been one of the numerous first-team players given a break in the cup games.
For the next few weeks, Nacional will be without one of their best players, Witi, as she travels with Mozambique to the Africa Cup of Nations. Nacional, like its rivals, has chosen to rotate and made significant changes after defeating Casa Pia of Primeira Liga in the previous round to field a comparable team. Despite his strong recent play—which includes a hat-trick in a 3-2 victory against Porto B—that might see Jesus Ramirez, an Atletico Morelia loanee, start on the bench.
Santa Clara 2-1 Nacional
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