2007–08 FC Porto season

Porto

2007–08 season
Chairman	Pinto da Costa
Manager	Jesualdo Ferreira
Stadium	Estádio do Dragão
Primeira Liga	1st
Taça de Portugal	Runners-up
Taça da Liga	Third round
UEFA Champions League	First knockout round
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Lisandro López (24) All: Lisandro López (27)
Highest home attendance	50,199 vs Benfica (15 October 2006)
Lowest home attendance	12,117 vs Gil Vicente (24 February 2008)
Home colours Away colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Futebol Clube do Porto's 97th competitive season, 74th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football, and 114th year in existence as a football club.

Porto's season began on 11 August 2007 with the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. The Azuis e Brancos were defeated by Sporting CP, 1–0. Porto's league campaign began a week later on the 18. Going into the 2007–08 season, Porto were the holders of the Primeira Liga after claiming the league title on the last day of the season. The 2007–08 league campaign saw the Portistas claim a 23rd Portuguese top-flight title on 5 April 2008 over Estrela da Amadora.

Porto competed in the two domestic cups, the Taça de Portugal and the Taça da Liga. In the Taça de Portugal, the Dragões progressed through five rounds to reach the final, where they were defeated by Sporting CP at the Jamor. Porto entered the Taça da Liga in the third round, where they were eliminated by Liga de Honra side Fátima.

In Europe, Porto progressed through a group consisting of Liverpool, Marseille and Beşiktaş to reach the first knockout round. For a second consecutive season in a row, Porto were eliminated at the first knockout round stage as they would lose on penalties to German side Schalke after 1–1 scoreline over two legs.

Key events

File:Pepe Porto.jpg

Brazilian central defender Pepe was signed by Real Madrid for €30 million.

May

• 25: After five years at the club where he was primarily used as a back up in the full-back position to Nuno Valente, Pedro Emanuel and Ricardo Costa, César Peixoto leaves the Dragões to join Primeira Liga club Braga on a free transfer.
• 31: English club Manchester United sign Brazilian midfielder Anderson for €30 million.

June

• 2: Porto announce the signing of Brazilian defensive midfielder Fernando from Vila Nova as a replacement for Anderson.
• 15: Porto sign Polish midfielder Przemysław Kaźmierczak from Pogoń Szczecin for €1.3 million. Kaźmierczak had been on loan to Portuguese side Boavista during the 2006–07 season where his displays attracted interest from several European clubs.

Jorge Fucile (left) and Vieirinha (right) compete for the ball during the Porto–Leixões fixture on 29 October 2007.

July

• 7: Porto defeat third side division side Tourizense in their first pre-season game of the season. In a match which saw nine goals, the Portistas would six score of those. Porto's goals came from Adriano, Edgar, Hélder Postiga, Ricardo Quaresma and Luis Aguiar who scored twice.
• 10: Spanish club Real Madrid sign Pepe from Porto for €30 million.
• 11: In the first game of their Netherlands tour, Porto thrash amateur Dutch side Sportclub Irene 10–0.
• 14: Porto follow up their thrashing of Sportclub Irene, with a 4–0 victory over second division Den Bosch to claim their third consecutive pre-season win.
• 16: Argentine midfielder Mariano González signs for the Portistas from Italian side Palermo on a season-long loan.
• 18: Belgian side Genk inflict on the Azuis e Brancos their first defeat of the pre-season campaign.
• 19: Serbian defender Milan Stepanov signs from Trabzonspor for fee of €3.4 million.
• 21: In Porto's official presentation to its members of their 2007–08 squad, the Dragões defeat French side Monaco, 2–1. Lisandro López and Hélder Postiga scored Porto's goals.
• 26: Porto win the Centenarian Atlanta Tournament after claiming two 1–0 victories over Serbian side Red Star Belgrade and tournament hosts Atalanta.

File:Tarik e Luisão.jpg

Tarik Sektioui (left) in action for Porto against Benfica on 1 December 2007.

August

• 3: Porto start off their last tournament of the pre-season campaign with a 0–0 draw against Feyenoord in the Rotterdam Tournament.
• 5: Porto claim a 3–0 a victory over Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, to win the Rotterdam pre-season tournament.
• 11: The Dragões begin their season with a defeat to Sporting CP in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.
• 18: Porto start off their 2007–08 league campaign with a 2–1 win away to Braga. Ricardo Quaresma's late free kick provided the away side with the three points.
• 26: Just two weeks after losing the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira to Sporting CP, Porto defeat the Lisbon side 1–0. Raul Meireles scored Porto's only goal of the game.
• 30: Porto draws Beşiktaş, Liverpool and Marseille in the Champions League draw.

September

• 27: Porto suffer a shock third round exit at the hands of Fátima in the Taça da Liga. After the match ended 0–0 in normal time, the game proceeded to penalties where Fátima's Marinho scored the winning penalty to send his side through to the next round after Porto's Mariano González missed his spot kick.

October

• 29: The Azuis e Brancos defeat Leixões, 3–0 in game week 8 to win their eighth consecutive league game of the campaign.

December

• 1: Porto defeat Benfica on match day 12. Ricardo Quaresma's 42nd-minute strike gave Porto the victory over the Encarnados to give his team a seven-point lead over their Lisbon rivals.

January

• 15: After only two league starts during the first half of the 2007–08 season, Portuguese striker Hélder Postiga moves to Greek side Panathinaikos on a six-month loan.

February

• 10: Porto comfortably defeat fourth division side Sertanense 4–0 to progress to the quarter finals of the cup. Ernesto Farías, Tarik Sektioui and Przemysław Kaźmierczak scored Porto's goals.

April

• 30: Porto renews the contracts of Tarik Sektioui and Leandro Lima. The Moroccan's contract was renewed for another season, whilst Lima's was renewed until 2013.

Pre-season and friendlies

Legend

      Win       Draw       Loss

Matches

Porto v Tourizense

Irene v Porto

11 July 2007 Netherlands Tour	Irene	0–10	Porto	Tegelen, Netherlands
CET		(Report)	Adriano , B. Alves Edgar Postiga , López Quaresma , Rentería	Stadium: Sportpark De Bakenbos

Den Bosch v Porto

14 July 2007 Netherlands Tour	Den Bosch	0–4	Porto	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
CET	López  2' Postiga  50' (pen.) Rentería  72' Sektioui  80'	(Report)		Stadium: De Vliert

Genk v Porto

18 July 2007 Friendly	Genk	1–0	Porto	Genk, Belgium
20:00 CET	Barda  15'	(Report)		Stadium: Cristal Arena

Porto v Monaco

21 July 2007 Friendly	Porto	2–1	Monaco	Porto, Portugal
WEST	López  37' Postiga  52' (pen.)	(Report)	Pino  80'	Stadium: Estádio do Dragão

Porto v Red Star Belgrade

26 July 2007 Centenarian Atlanta Tournament	Porto	1–0	Red Star Belgrade	Bergamo, Italy
20:35 CET	Adriano  9'	(Report)		Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Referee: Emiliano Galione (Italy)

Atalanta v Porto

26 July 2007 Centenarian Atlanta Tournament	Atalanta	0–1	Porto	Bergamo, Italy
22:40 CET		(Report)	López  8'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Referee: Emiliano Galione (Italy)

Boavista v Porto

28 July 2007 Friendly	Boavista	0–3	Porto	Porto, Portugal
WEST		(Report)	Postiga  22' Sektioui  78', 88'	Stadium: Estádio do Bessa

Porto v Feyenoord

3 August 2007 Rotterdam Tournament	Porto	0–0	Feyenoord	Rotterdam, Netherlands
CET		(Report)		Stadium: De Kuip

Porto v Shanghai Shenhua

5 August 2007 Rotterdam Tournament	Porto	3–0	Shanghai Shenhua	Rotterdam, Netherlands
CET		(Report)	Sektioui  5' Lima  38', 41'	Stadium: De Kuip

Competitions

Legend

      Win       Draw       Loss

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Final	Runners-up	11 August 2007
Primeira Liga		1st	18 August 2007	10 May 2008
Taça de Portugal	Fourth round	Runners-up	7 December 2007	18 May 2008
Taça da Liga	Third round	Third round	26 September 2007
UEFA Champions League	Group stage	First knockout round	18 September 2007	5 March 2008

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Main article: 2007 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Porto v Sporting CP

11 August 2007	Porto	0–1	Sporting CP	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria
21:00 WEST		(Report)	Izmailov  75'	Attendance: 21,863 Referee: Bruno Paixão (Setúbal)

Taça de Portugal

Main article: 2007–08 Taça de Portugal

Chaves v Porto

7 December 2007 4	Chaves	0–2	Porto	Estádio Municipal de Chaves, Chaves
19:30 WET		(Report)	Postiga  53' Adriano  90+2'	Referee: Elmano Santos (Madeira)

Porto v Desportivo das Aves

19 January 2008 5	Porto	2–0	Desportivo das Aves	Estádio do Dragão, Porto
WET		(Report)	Farías  31' Quaresma  90+4'	Attendance: 20,319 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Porto)

Sertanense v Porto

10 February 2008 6	Sertanense	0–4	Porto	Campo de Jogos Doutor Marques dos Santos, Sertã
WET		(Report)	Sektioui  8' Farías  36', 49' Kaźmierczak  45'	Referee: Lucílio Batista (Setúbal)

Porto v Gil Vicente

27 February 2008 QF	Porto	1–0	Gil Vicente	Estádio do Dragão, Porto
WET	Sektioui  22'	(Report)		Attendance: 12,117 Referee: Paulo Pereira (Viana do Castelo)

Vitória de Setúbal v Porto

15 April 2008 SF	Vitória de Setúbal	0–3	Porto	Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal
20:30 WEST		(Report)	Jorginho  37' (o.g.) González  51', 60'	Referee: Pedro Proença

Porto v Sporting CP

18 May 2008 F	Porto	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Sporting CP	Estádio Nacional, Oeiras
17:00 WEST		(Report)	Tiuí  111', 117'	Attendance: 37,600 Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Leiria)

Taça da Liga

Main article: 2007–08 Taça da Liga

Fátima v Porto

26 September 2007 3	Fátima	0–0 (4–2 p)	Porto	Estádio Municipal de Fátima, Fátima
19:15 WET		(Report)		Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Carlos Xistra (Castelo Branco)
		Penalties
	Xavier Saleiro Moreira Marinho		João Paulo L. Lima Lino M. González