2020–21_Primeira_Liga

2020–21 Primeira Liga

2020–21 Primeira Liga

87th season of top-tier Portuguese football

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.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

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.

Porto were the defending champions. 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, Sporting CP secured a 19th title after a 1–0 home win against Boavista, their first title since the 2001–02 season. It was also the first title since that season not being won by either 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 COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, since March 2020, in contrast with various European leagues, the Primeira Liga began playing matches behind closed doors. On 13 September, Sporting confirmed that three players had tested positive for coronavirus, leading their pre-season match against Napoli to be cancelled due to the orders of the Portuguese Ministry of Health.[3] The following day, Sporting confirmed that four players and a member of their staff had tested positive for coronavirus.[4] Meanwhile, Gil Vicente confirmed that fifteen players had tested positive for coronavirus, leading also their pre-season match against Vitória de Guimarães to be cancelled.[5] Three days later, Sporting confirmed that their manager 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 the previous season and two teams promoted from the LigaPro. 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

Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Mainland)
Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Madeira)
Location of teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga (Azores)
More information Team, Location ...

    Personnel and sponsors

    More information Team, Manager ...

    Managerial changes

    More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

    League table

    More information Pos, Pld ...
    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. 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. Vitória de Guimarães are ranked ahead of Moreirense on head-to-head points: Vitória de Guimarães 4, Moreirense 1.
    3. Famalicão are ranked ahead of Belenenses SAD on head-to-head points: Famalicão 4, Belenenses SAD 1.
    4. Tondela are ranked ahead of Boavista on head-to-head points: Tondela 4, Boavista 1.
    5. 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).

    More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
    More information Arouca, 3–0 ...
    Attendance: 0
    More information Rio Ave, 0–2 ...
    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

    More information Home \ Away, BEL ...
    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.

    More information Team ╲ Round, Sporting CP ...
    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)

    Statistics

    Top goalscorers

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Hat-tricks

    Main article: List of Primeira Liga hat-tricks
    More information Player, For ...
    Notes

    (H) – Home team
    (A) – Away team

    Top assists

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Clean sheets

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Discipline

    Player

    Club

    Awards

    Monthly awards

    For the 2020–21 season, there were seven monthly awards in the Primeira Liga: best player, goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward, manager and goal of the month.[49][50]

    More information Month, Player of the Month ...

    Annual awards

    Annual awards were announced on 8 July 2021.[51]

    More information Award, Winner ...
    Team of the Year[52]
    More information Team of the Year ...

    Number of teams by district

    More information Rank, District Football Associations ...

    Notes

    1. [N 1]
      Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, the matches that were not played behind closed doors, were allowed to be played with limited attendance.
    2. [N 2]
      All league matches played were played behind closed doors without any spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, with the exception being four Santa Clara's home matches, Tondela against Portimonense and Farense against Rio Ave

    References

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      Cotovio, Vasco (12 May 2021). "Sporting Lisbon's bittersweet title win after 19 years of hurt". CNN. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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    4. [4]
      "Tribuna". Expresso.
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    6. [6]
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    7. [7]
      "Sporting-Gil Vicente foi adiado: leões têm 10 infetados, equipa de Barcelos tem 19 casos. Decisão foi tomada pela ARS Norte – Observador". observador.pt.
    8. [8]
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    10. [10]
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    11. [11]
      "Tondela-Portimonense e Farense-Rio Ave vão ter público".
    12. [12]
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      "Tudo concluído: Jorge Jesus assina depois do dérbi" [Deal closed: Jorge Jesus signs after derby]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 25 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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      Andrade, Tomaz; Casaca, Manuel (8 October 2020). "Tiago deixa comando técnico do Vitória: números de um curto percurso" [Tiago leaves helm of Vitória: numbers of a short spell]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 October 2020.
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      "Ricardo Soares deixa o comando técnico do Moreirense" [Ricardo Soares leaves the technical command of Moreirense]. Record (in Portuguese). 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
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      "Ricardo Soares substitui Rui Almeida no comando técnico do Gil Vicente" [Ricardo Soares replaces Rui Almeida at the helm of Gil Vicente]. Observador (in Portuguese). 13 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
    27. [27]
      "Marítimo oficializa saída de Lito Vidigal do comando técnico" [Marítimo confirm exit of Lito Vidigal from managerial position]. Observador (in Portuguese). 15 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
    28. [28]
      "Vasco Seabra é o quarto treinador a sair em equipas da I Liga" [Vasco Seabra is the fourth manager to leave an I League team] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
    29. [29]
      "Jesualdo Ferreira oficializado como novo técnico do Boavista" [Jesualdo Ferreira confirmed as new Boavista manager] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
    30. [30]
      Cunha, Pedro (30 December 2020). "Rio Ave oficializa saída de Mário Silva e anuncia sucessor imediato" [Rio Ave confirm Mário Silva's exit and announce immediate successor]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
    31. [31]
      "César Peixoto deixa o Moreirense por vontade própria" [César Peixoto leaves Moreirense by his own will] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
    32. [32]
      Freitas, Bruno; Malacó, Pedro (7 January 2021). "Vasco Seabra oficial no Moreirense até junho de 2022" [Vasco Seabra confirmed at Moreirense until June 2022]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 January 2021.
    33. [33]
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    34. [34]
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    35. [35]
      Encarnação, Carlos (31 January 2021). "Sérgio Vieira deixa o Farense e há três nomes apontados ao lugar" [Sérgio Vieira leaves Farense and there are three names pointed to the place]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
    36. [36]
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    38. [38]
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    40. [40]
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    42. [42]
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    48. [48]
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    52. [52]
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