Porto - Best team in Europe?

Are Porto the best team in Europe?

  • Total voters
    8
Pires7

Pires7

Jumpers For Goalposts
28 July 2003
London
Arsenal
Are Porto now the best team in Europe having won the UEFA Cup and the Champions League in successive seasons?
I say no.
 
the best team YES without doubt.
best players individually no.
But has a team in a whole porto offcourse is da best.
uefa cup and CL in a row offcourse this year porto is da best.
next year CL winner will be next years best team.
 
You could argue that they are the best after winning europe's best club footballing prize but if they played all the best clubs in europe e.g. Milan, Valencia, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Man Utd, Roma etc. could they beat them all?
 
Porto are a very decent team. They are able to absorb pressure and then hit teams on the counter and clinically punish them. Not just last night but the Lyon game in particular (2nd leg), the French also a highly capable & fluid team threw themselves at the Portuguese outfit but at crucial times were stung by quick incisive passing and excellent finishing.

Porto are much more in the mold of a Valencia than one of the real giants but what theyve achieved is highly impressive and like Monaco they wre underated and therefore misjudged by many people not to mention players and managers.

They are not overly attack minded nor the kind of team that will dominate possesion for long periods but they have a various threats, players with good technical ability and ball skills and most importantly superb organisation. Aparently Mourinho over a 5 day consecutive period before the final had them practising defending, attacking, turning defence into attack and turning attack into defence and finally penalties.

As evo says they would behighly unlikely to beat all the clubs mentioned above, but i dare say they would beat some and be a reasonable match for others.

bob
 
They are certainly a very organised team. Every player knows what they are doing and where they should be. Mourinho did will there imo. You don't win the UEFA Cup then the CL in succession by chance.
 
They won the champions league so they were the best team in europe this season.

You just can't argue with results, the so called better teams bottled it and porto produced the goods.

hence the best team. what the poll should be called is, do you think that because an unfashionable team won the CL it was a freak year?

lets put it into an english perspective, because man u usually win the premier league this year was a freak because arsenal won it. man u are a better team.
 
Porto couldn't beat the defensively weak Real madrid, they managed a draw from a side that had already won though (this during the group stages).

They also never got to play Milan which would of been more telling I think than Deportivo.

And more importantly they never got to face a truly robust side in the final - Monaco were awful on the night, some of their best players weren't even bothered!

I will agree with the whole arguement for Porto being a great team, but best in Europe? not in my opinion, no. And if Mourinho takes deco who is very valuable asset in attack for them - then maybe they never will be.
 
fenian said:
They won the champions league so they were the best team in europe this season.

You just can't argue with results, the so called better teams bottled it and porto produced the goods.

hence the best team. what the poll should be called is, do you think that because an unfashionable team won the CL it was a freak year?

lets put it into an english perspective, because man u usually win the premier league this year was a freak because arsenal won it. man u are a better team.
Click to expand...

Manchester United clearly aren't the better team though when you look at their games over the whole season - whereas Arsenal are (fact they are unbeaten says it all really in the premiership).

Milan are better than Porto, it's just they allowed themselves to get beat by Depor.

Manchester United beat Porto but their clear goal was disallowed.

I don't think it was a freak year, but I don't think the competition was as strong from the big sides as it should and COULD of been.

Arsenal wasn't a surprise - the surprise was it was against an English side, Real Madrid wasn't a surprise given their season, but Milan was and they should of knocked Porto out in the semis.
 
As much as i dont want to say it. They performed when it mattered. And they got themselves the prize of being the best team in Europe. Second best if Valencia beat them in the Super Cup. Best in the world if they win the Inter Continental cup against Boca probably, or the winner of the Copa Liberadores?
 
Yes, they are the best in Europe for this season, they won the competition that is the top prize in Europe so they deserve this mantle.

I can see the logic in some saying they're not, but they've picked up the top prize for European clubs and to win 2 European competitions in successive years is a great compliment to their team.



FD
 
Simply congratulations FC Porto. No fans on evo web are there?

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
 
I dont believe by winning this season champions league makes them the best in europe...nah,not by a mile...its just that,they made the most out of it and got lucky..congrats to them anyways cos I love Paolo Ferreira and Nuno Valente,superb fullbacks!!!!
 
That'll practically always be the case then. I think they should be respected as the No. 1 team in Europe for their achievement. If it was an English team everyone here would be proclaiming them the greatest.

I guess you feel Man Utd weren't the best in Europe in 99 then?


FD
 
I knew this was coming, and i knew i would come from Arsenal fans.
Arsenal is a tremedous team, the yp^layed a fantastic season in the EPL.
But they failed in Europe, i would say more, they failed when it mattered most to them...the one trophy the wanted desperately to win was out of their reach...
Porto was the best team this year because they won the one competition that compares all European top teams.
Maybe Arsenal plays better football but that's subjective.
I don't know what is with Arsenal fans on this forum, but lots of them are not very fair...They show litle generosity in both victory and defeat.
 
it's not just Arsenal fans Gerd.
However, as I pointed out - they never beat Real Madrid, and if they faced a side such as Madrid, Milan etc in the knock out stages I'm sure it'll of been a different story.

They were fortunate in that sense each of the big clubs got knocked out and Manchester United got cheated by the referees.

Are they the best club? what does it matter now, they won't be winning anything after it breaks up with Mourinho leaving.
 
well, i dont know if porto is the best, but i believe they are in top 5

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phrase said:
Icos I love Paolo Ferreira and Nuno Valente,superb fullbacks!!!!
Click to expand...

hmm.. Paulo Ferreira yes, creme de lá creme of europe at this point, but Nuno Valente? Pay a second close look at Porto's game last night and you'll see how he was the main source of danger to his own defense, failing in more than 4,5 ocasions. It's one of those players that works wonders with mourino, in porto, in this context but would not deliver in outher situations. Paulo Ferreira no, that is a modern, all round full back.

But the real gem in Porto's defense is Ricardo Carvalho, a player that only cautious soccer viewers note in all his class: he is a top center back at this point, and I rate him in world top 5 at this point. The way in which he not only sweeps and clears with awsome positioning but also the quality of his footwork on the ball is simply amazing. Check last night's game again and see how Carvalho was a key man in clearing all changes against what was the most prolific striking force of this years CL, in terms of goals.

fab player.
 
congrats to porto but imo they only reason why they won it was because there simply, had to be a winner. it could have been anyone from a number of teams in the end. the truth is there not significantly better that most of the other top european teams, its just been a really poor year for the (normally) decent sides.
 
I second that about Ricardo Carvalho...he is like the unsung hero of porto,a no nonsense fullback,made the job for Jorge Costa so much easier.
 
NO WAY, THEY ARE NOT THE BEST TEAM IN EUROPE!

The one factor that seems to be overlooked is the low quality of the portuguese league. There are several leagues that are better and teams from Serie a, la liga, premier league, ligue 1, and bundesliga had to play very difficult matches on a weekly basis. Mentally and physically it is an easier task to win the champions league when you are not challenged on a weekly basis. THEY WERE THE BEST TOURNAMENT TEAM. An argument against this theory would be to suggest that some of the larger clubs had deeper teams. This might be said of AC Milan, Inter and Chelsea but they are exceptions. If you suggest that Porto is the best european team I would say that the french league is the best league due to the fact that they had two teams in the final of the two biggest club competitions and we all know that this would not be a logical decision.
 
they may not have the best individuals in europe but they have the best team in europe they just proved that
 
Porto may not be the most attractive footballing team, nor do they have all the superstars, but as a team they play effective football that won them
two european titles in succession, something none of the so-called big teams in europe have done for a long while.

So, in that respect, yes they are the best team in europe.
 
Simple fact is that they won the cup which means they are the best team in europe at the moment and for atleast another year.
 
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