2020–21 Primeira Liga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Farense
(19 May 2021)
Biggest away winBoavista 0–5 Porto
(26 September 2020)
Paços de Ferreira 0–5 Benfica
(10 April 2021)
Highest scoringPorto 4–3 Tondela
(5 December 2020)
Benfica 4–3 Sporting CP
(15 May 2021)
Longest winning run7 matches
Porto
Longest unbeaten run32 matches (record)
Sporting CP
Longest winless run10 matches
Nacional
Longest losing run10 matches
Nacional
Highest attendance932
Santa Clara 1–2 Sporting CP
(24 October 2020)[note 1]
Lowest attendance0[note 2]
→

The 2020–21 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. The season started later than usual, on 18 September 2020, due to the delayed end of the previous season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it concluded on 19 May 2021.

This was the fourth Primeira Liga season to use video assistant referee (VAR). As was the case at the end of the previous season, there were limited or no attendance in the stadiums besides each team's staff and personnel.

Nacional and Farense were promoted from the second-tier 2019–20 LigaPro by decision of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, after the suspension of the 2019–20 LigaPro due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. They replaced Desportivo das Aves and Vitória de Setúbal, who were relegated to the 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal
.

On 11 May 2021,

Benfica or Porto.[1]

Since Portugal ascended from seventh to sixth place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of 2019–20 season, the three best-ranked teams could qualify for the UEFA Champions League (the champions and runners-up entered directly into the group stage, and the third placed team entered the third qualifying round). The fourth and fifth-placed teams would qualified respectively to the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off and third qualifying rounds.[2]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the

Ruben Amorim and another player tested positive for coronavirus, with both going into self-isolation.[6] On 17 September, it was announced that the Gil Vicente and Sporting fixture on matchday 1 would be postponed, following direct orders from the Portuguese Ministry of Health, after it was confirmed that Gil Vicente had four more positive cases of coronavirus.[7]

On 3 October, Santa Clara faced Gil Vicente on matchday 3 at the Estádio de São Miguel, in Ponta Delgada, Azores, in a match, which was the first one to allow spectators in Portugal, with the stadium being limited to 10% of its capacity (1,000 spectators).[8] Ten days later, it was announced that Paços de Ferreira's manager Pepa had tested positive for COVID-19, leading him and his staff being placed in quarantine as a preventive measure, forcing him to miss Paços de Ferreira's match against Santa Clara on October 18 at matchday 4.[9]

On matchday 5, played between 23 and 26 October, there were three matches in which spectatores were allowed: Tondela against Portimonense at Estádio João Cardoso, Santa Clara against Sporting at the Estádio de São Miguel (with spectators being allowed for the second consecutive match) and Farense against Rio Ave at Estádio Algarve, where Farense played their first three home matches, instead of their regular home stadium Estádio de São Luís, due to a turf change. Like the match against Gil Vicente, Santa Clara match was played with the stadium capacity limited to 10%,[10] as the other two matches were limited to 15% (approximately 750 and 4,500 spectators in Estádio João Cardoso and Estádio Algarve, respectively).[11]

Santa Clara announced on February 20 that spectators will be allowed in Estádio de São Miguel, for the third time this season, in the match against Paços de Ferreira on matchday 21, played one week later on 27 February. This time, one third of the stadium's maximum capacity was allowed.[12]

Teams

Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top sixteen teams from

Nacional and Farense were promoted on 5 May 2020 by decision of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, after the suspension of the 2019–20 LigaPro due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. This decision was made based on UEFA's recommendations, focusing on sporting merit, as these teams were in first and second place of the LigaPro, respectively, at the time of cancellation.[13]

Nacional came back to the top division one season after being relegated, while Farense secured their return after an 18-year absence. They replaced Desportivo das Aves and Vitória de Setúbal, who were relegated after three and sixteen seasons in the top flight, respectively.

Stadia and locations

Belenenses SAD
Tondela
Portimonense
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Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Mainland)
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Madeira)
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Azores)
Team Location Stadium Capacity [14] 2019–20
Belenenses SAD
 Oeiras Estádio Nacional 37,593 15th
Benfica Lisbon Estádio da Luz 64,642 2nd
Boavista Porto Estádio do Bessa 28,263 12th
Braga Braga Estádio Municipal de Braga 30,286 3rd
Famalicão
Vila Nova de Famalicão
 Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho 5,307 6th
Farense Faro Estádio de São Luís 7,000 2nd (LP)
Gil Vicente Barcelos Estádio Cidade de Barcelos 12,504 10th
Marítimo Funchal Estádio do Marítimo 10,932 11th
Nacional Funchal Estádio da Madeira 5,132 1st (LP)
Moreirense Moreira de Cónegos Parque de Jogos Comendador
Joaquim de Almeida Freitas 		6,153 8th
Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira Estádio Capital do Móvel 9,076 13th
Portimonense Portimão Estádio Municipal de Portimão 6,204 17th
Porto Porto Estádio do Dragão 50,033 1st
Rio Ave Vila do Conde Estádio dos Arcos 9,065 5th
Santa Clara Ponta Delgada Estádio de São Miguel 13,277 9th
Sporting CP Lisbon Estádio José Alvalade 50,095 4th
Tondela Tondela Estádio João Cardoso 5,000 14th
Vitória de Guimarães Guimarães Estádio D. Afonso Henriques 30,000 7th

Personnel and sponsors

Team Manager Captain Kit
Manufacturer 		Main Sponsor
Belenenses SAD
 Portugal Petit Portugal Silvestre Varela Portugal Lacatoni United Kingdom Betway Group
Benfica Portugal Jorge Jesus Brazil Jardel Germany Adidas United Arab Emirates Emirates
Boavista Portugal Jesualdo Ferreira Spain Javi García Spain Kelme Portugal VITO Tools
Braga Portugal Carlos Carvalhal
Fransérgio
 Denmark Hummel Greece Betano
Famalicão Portugal Ivo Vieira Brazil Gustavo Assunção Italy Macron Portugal Porminho
Farense
Jorge Costa
 Brazil Cássio Scheid Germany Adidas Portugal McDonald's
Gil Vicente Portugal Ricardo Soares Portugal Rúben Fernandes Portugal Lacatoni Portugal Las Kasas
Marítimo Spain Julio Velázquez Portugal Edgar Costa United States Nike Greece Betano
Nacional Portugal Manuel Machado Portugal Rúben Micael Denmark Hummel Spain Santander
Moreirense Portugal Vasco Seabra Portugal João Aurélio Portugal CDT
Paços de Ferreira Portugal Pepa Brazil Marcelo Spain Joma Spain Aldro Energy Archived 9 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Portimonense Portugal Paulo Sérgio
Dener
Mizuno
 Portugal McDonald's
Porto Portugal Sérgio Conceição Portugal Pepe United States New Balance
MEO
Rio Ave Portugal Miguel Cardoso Portugal Tarantini United States Nike
MEO
Santa Clara Portugal Daniel Ramos Iraq Osama Rashid Spain Kelme Spain Santander
Sporting CP Portugal Rúben Amorim Uruguay Sebastián Coates United States Nike Greece Betano
Tondela Spain Pako Ayestarán Portugal Ricardo Alves Portugal CDT Portugal Cabriz
Vitória de Guimarães Portugal Moreno Portugal André André Italy Macron

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manager Date of vacancy Pos in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Ref.
Santa Clara Portugal João Henriques Mutual consent 24 July 2020 Pre-season Portugal Daniel Ramos 28 July 2020 [15]
Vitória de Guimarães Portugal Ivo Vieira 24 July 2020 Portugal Tiago Mendes 28 July 2020 [16]
Boavista Portugal Daniel Ramos 25 July 2020 Portugal Vasco Seabra 30 July 2020 [17]
Rio Ave Portugal Carlos Carvalhal 25 July 2020 Portugal Mário Silva 30 July 2020 [18]
Marítimo
José Gomes
 Signed for Almería 27 July 2020 Angola Lito Vidigal 30 July 2020 [19]
Braga Portugal Artur Jorge End of caretaker role 28 July 2020 Portugal Carlos Carvalhal 28 July 2020 [20]
Benfica Portugal Nélson Veríssimo 1 August 2020 Portugal Jorge Jesus 3 August 2020 [21][22]
Tondela Spain Natxo González Mutual Consent 5 August 2020 Spain Pako Ayestarán 9 August 2020 [23]
Vitória de Guimarães Portugal Tiago Mendes 8 October 2020 11th Portugal João Henriques 13 October 2020 [24]
Moreirense Portugal Ricardo Soares Resigned 9 November 2020 9th Portugal César Peixoto 10 November 2020 [25]
Gil Vicente Portugal Rui Almeida Sacked 11 November 2020 17th Portugal Ricardo Soares 13 November 2020 [26]
Marítimo Angola Lito Vidigal 4 December 2020 Brazil Milton Mendes 5 December 2020 [27]
Boavista Portugal Vasco Seabra 8 December 2020 15th Portugal Daniel Gonçalves (Caretaker) 8 December 2020 [28]
Portugal Daniel Gonçalves (Caretaker) End of caretaker role 13 December 2020 Portugal Jesualdo Ferreira 13 December 2020 [29]
Rio Ave Portugal Mário Silva Sacked 30 December 2020 13th Portugal Pedro Cunha (Caretaker) 30 December 2020 [30]
Moreirense Portugal César Peixoto Resigned 2 January 2021 8th Portugal Leandro Mendes (Caretaker) 2 January 2021 [31]
Portugal Leandro Mendes (Caretaker) End of caretaker role 5 January 2021 Portugal Vasco Seabra 5 January 2021 [32]
Rio Ave Portugal Pedro Cunha (Caretaker) 29 January 2021 10th Portugal Miguel Cardoso 29 January 2021 [33]
Famalicão Portugal João Pedro Sousa Sacked 31 January 2021 16th Portugal Silas 1 February 2021 [34]
Farense Portugal Sérgio Vieira Mutual Consent 1 February 2021 17th
Jorge Costa
 4 February 2021 [35]
Famalicão Portugal Silas 8 March 2021 Portugal Ivo Vieira 8 March 2021 [36][37]
Marítimo Brazil Milton Mendes Resigned 5 March 2021 18th Spain Julio Velázquez 11 March 2021 [38][39]
Nacional Portugal Luís Freire Sacked 21 March 2021 17th Portugal Manuel Machado 22 March 2021 [40]
Vitória de Guimarães Portugal João Henriques 5 April 2021 6th Portugal Bino (Caretaker) 5 April 2021 [41]
Portugal Bino (Caretaker) End of caretaker role 13 May 2021 8th Portugal Moreno (Caretaker) 13 May 2021 [42]

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sporting CP (C) 34 26 7 1 65 20 +45 85 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Porto 34 24 8 2 74 29 +45 80
3 Benfica 34 23 7 4 69 27 +42 76 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4 Braga 34 19 7 8 53 33 +20 64 Qualification for the Europa League group stage[a]
5 Paços de Ferreira 34 15 8 11 40 41 −1 53 Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round[a]
6 Santa Clara 34 13 7 14 44 36 +8 46 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round[a]
7 Vitória de Guimarães 34 12 7 15 37 44 −7 43[b]
8 Moreirense 34 10 13 11 37 43 −6 43[b]
9 Famalicão 34 10 10 14 40 48 −8 40[c]
10
Belenenses SAD
 34 9 13 12 25 35 −10 40[c]
11 Gil Vicente 34 11 6 17 33 42 −9 39
12 Tondela 34 10 6 18 36 57 −21 36[d]
13 Boavista 34 8 12 14 39 49 −10 36[d]
14 Portimonense 34 9 8 17 34 41 −7 35[e]
15 Marítimo 34 10 5 19 27 47 −20 35[e]
16 Rio Ave (R) 34 7 13 14 25 40 −15 34 Qualification for the Relegation play-offs
17 Farense (R) 34 7 10 17 31 48 −17 31 Relegation to Liga Portugal 2
18 Nacional (R) 34 6 7 21 30 59 −29 25
Source: Liga Portugal
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Matches won; 7) Goals scored; 8) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Braga qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2020–21 Taça de Portugal. Since they would have qualified for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round by finishing fourth, the berth was awarded to the fifth-placed team (Paços de Ferreira), and the Europa Conference League second qualifying round berth reserved to the fifth-placed team was awarded to the sixth-placed team (Santa Clara).
  2. ^ a b Vitória de Guimarães are ranked ahead of Moreirense on head-to-head points: Vitória de Guimarães 4, Moreirense 1.
  3. ^ a b Famalicão are ranked ahead of Belenenses SAD on head-to-head points: Famalicão 4, Belenenses SAD 1.
  4. ^ a b Tondela are ranked ahead of Boavista on head-to-head points: Tondela 4, Boavista 1.
  5. ^ a b Portimonense are ranked ahead of Marítimo on head-to-head points: Portimonense 4, Marítimo 1.

Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs took place on 26 and 30 May 2021.

All times are WEST (UTC+1).

Team 1
Agg.
Tooltip Aggregate score 		Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rio Ave 0–5 Arouca 0–3 0–2
Arouca3–0Rio Ave
 Report
Attendance: 0
Rio Ave0–2Arouca
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Hugo Miguel

Arouca won 5–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2021–22 Primeira Liga; Rio Ave were relegated to 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2.

Results

Home \ Away
BEL
 BEN BOA BRA FAM FAR GIL MAR MOR NAC PAC PTM POR RAV STA SPO TON VSC
Belenenses SAD
 — 0–3 0–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–1
Benfica 2–0 — 2–0 2–3 2–0 3–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–3 2–0 0–0
Boavista 0–0 3–0 — 1–4 3–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–5 3–3 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1
Braga 1–1 0–2 2–1 — 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 0–1 0–1 4–2 3–0
Famalicão 0–0 1–5 2–2 2–2 — 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–2 3–0 2–0 0–1 1–4 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 0–1
Farense 0–1 0–0 3–1 1–2 3–3 — 3–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–2
Gil Vicente 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–3 0–0 — 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–2
Marítimo 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–4 1–0 0–1 — 0–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–2 2–1 0–0
Moreirense 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–4 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 — 2–2 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–3 2–2
Nacional 0–0 1–3 3–3 1–2 2–1 2–3 2–1 1–2 0–1 — 1–1 1–5 0–1 1–2 1–3 0–2 2–0 1–0
Paços de Ferreira 1–0 0–5 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 — 0–0 3–2 2–0 2–1 0–2 2–1 2–1
Portimonense 1–0 1–5 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–0 4–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 — 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–2 3–0 3–0
Porto 4–0 1–1 2–2 3–1 3–2 5–1 1–0 2–3 3–0 2–0 2–0 3–1 — 2–0 2–1 0–0 4–3 1–0
Rio Ave 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–3 2–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 0–3 — 1–2 0–2 2–1 0–0
Santa Clara 2–0 1–1 3–3 0–1 1–2 4–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 5–1 3–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 — 1–2 1–1 0–4
Sporting CP 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 5–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 — 4–0 1–0
Tondela 1–3 0–2 3–1 0–4 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–3 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–1 — 0–2
Vitória de Guimarães 0–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–2 2–4 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–3 1–0 0–4 1–2 —
Source: Liga Portugal
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
Belenenses SAD
61088151413138101412141711141313131010121010131312111011991010
Gil Vicente1581012131617121215111112161718121416141516131110101012131311121111
Tondela1214171612151211151416131591291011111291011129121199910111212
Boavista7161417171315161616171717181815181817171814151715151415161616161513
Portimonense111316141617181517181816181213131515121313111213129910111012131414
Marítimo1794711111417181310888910111215181718161818161616151214141315
Rio Ave9111315876999131591010121410991199911111314141515151616
Farense16181818181816181417151813151617161614151415181516171717171717171717
Nacional105610101087101299111414119910111213141617181818181818181818
Leader and Champions League group stage
Champions League group stage
Champions League third qualifying round
Europa League group stage
Europa Conference League third qualifying round
Europa Conference League second qualifying round
Relegation Play-off
Relegation to Liga Portugal 2
Source: Liga Portugal
(in Portuguese)