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betting » Previews » Europa League Finals 2011 - All Out Portuguese Attack

Europa League Finals 2011 - All Out Portuguese Attack

By Joe, BettingExpert.com | Edited

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Brag vs. Porto

An all Portuguese final between current Portuguese Champion, Porto and fourth place, Braga at the Dublin Arena in the Europa League. One might see Porto as favourites but in these circumstances, all finals are equal until the first team get the first goal.

 

 

Porto vs. Braga


Dublin will host an all out Portuguese affair for the Europa League final on the Wednesday 18th of May with a 19:45BST kickoff. Both teams will have to travel to the capital of Ireland, knowing that only 47km separate between the two, to fight for the last silverware on offer for both teams. Porto could pick up the double while Braga will write into their history in capturing their first major trophy.

 

Porto will get that small advantage of being the home team at Dublin Arena on Wednesday. Whether that will help remains to be seen, however the statistics is surely with Porto this season. They managed to secure the Portuguese Championship well ahead of time and the champions of Portugal completed their league undefeated in 2010/2011 last weekend. The impressive season finished with a 2-0 away win over Maritimo which cemented 30 games played, 27 win and three draws. That formidable form should give them the confidence to pick up another title in their season finale game. Porto coach Andre Villas-Boas could put his name in the history book of being the youngest coach to win a UEFA club competition at 32 years. He will need the best from this current crop of players and with Hulk, 23 goals in the domestic league, and Falcao, 16 goals domestic goals, they form one of the deadliest partnership in Europe. Especially Falcao who suppressed Jurgen Klinesmann’s record of the most scored goals in one European competition. This player could be on target again on Wednesday. Porto’s dominance in both domestically and European is evident and the continuation of this offensive football will give dividends, hopefully in the continental stage.

 

This is Braga’s first ever major final and what an adventure that they are experiencing this season. Domestically, the toll of playing in the Europe has push them on the brink of playing second fiddle to Sporting Lissabon and Benfica at the top of the Portuguese league. They ended the season trailing Porto with 38 points which spells a bit of concerns for the away side when they stepped into Dublin Arena to meet their compatriots. Never the less, the domestic form might suggest they are on the back foot but their European form suggest a difference story. They managed to beat Liverpool, Kiev and Benfica enroute to the final, also beating Celtic and Sevilla in the Champions League earlier this season. Most notable win was the two games against Benfica, where they won on away goal rule. They fought hard but struggle in their away game as they tend to lose on foreign soil. Hopefully they won’t be doing that on Wednesday. If they want to avoid the defeat then Lima, Alan and Paulo Cesar needs to show the world what they are capable of. Braga will have to rely on former Porto player Alan as he has the experience and also with two goals in the Europa League, he is affectively their top scorer this season. Another former Porto player, Heider Barbosa will get his chance to show his former employers that it was wrong to let him go. Braga might be underdogs but surely there is nothing to lose on this occasion.

 

The last four Europa league finals were settled by extra time so expect this one to go down to the wire. The stats will tell you that Porto is the better team out of the two. They have met three times domestically this season and Porto triumphed in all of their three meetings. It resulted in nine goals and three conceded, this game is earmarked with Porto as favourites. Porto has the physiological advantage over Braga, but the underdogs will have to forget those stats and take this one off match as it is. Their remarkable run to the final is something they need to concentrate on so that they will get the momentum and confidence before the kickoff on Wednesday.



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betting » Previews » Europa League Finals 2011 - All Out Portuguese Attack