Salvador claims that refereeing ‘did not allow’ Sporting de Braga to win against FC Porto – SAPO Desporto

Questioned about what will be a great season in 2024/25, António Salvador said that ‘Sporting de Braga is used to winning, being on the podium, and fighting for the top positions’ and that is what they will try to do next season The president of Sporting de Braga stated on Saturday that the refereeing team led by Nuno Almeida ‘did not allow’ the team to win the match against FC Porto in the last round of the I League football. After the victory of the ‘dragons’ by 1-0 in the 34th round, António Salvador said that it was not possible for Sporting de Braga to win ‘because there was a refereeing team that did not allow it.’ ‘I wish this had been a great season and it would have been if we had won this final, as we did everything for it, but they did not allow us,’ he said in the mixed zone of the Estádio Municipal de Braga after the match. Regarding the most controversial plays – Victor Gómez’s expulsion in the 12th minute for two yellow cards and a possible penalty for a foul on Ricardo Horta in the first half – he left the opinion to the ‘analysts.’ ‘You guys should understand if it’s a penalty or not, if there was a foul on João Moutinho in the FC Porto goal, if there was a handball by a FC Porto player before, you guys are in front of the cameras zooming in or not,’ he said. Reflecting on the season, he also mentioned their participation in the Champions League in a group with ‘great teams’ such as Real Madrid and Napoli, where ‘unluckiness’ prevented them from advancing. The fourth place will require them to start the next season earlier to participate in the Europa League preliminary rounds, but António Salvador emphasized that the squad will not have fewer resources. ‘We will put together a squad to have a great season, but it will be much more difficult to prepare for the preliminary round matches because of the Euro2024 national team games,’ he said, noting that the squad, coached by Daniel Sousa, will also be assembled with that in mind. When asked about what will be a great season in 2024/25, António Salvador said that ‘Sporting de Braga is used to winning, being on the podium, and fighting for the top positions’ and that is what they will try to do next season. On Saturday, FC Porto secured third place in the I League with a 1-0 victory against Sporting de Braga, who finished in fourth place, in the 34th round match that officially closed the 2023/24 edition of the competition. Galeno scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute, confirming the ‘dragons’ in the third position of the competition with 72 points, four more than the ‘arsenalistas’ who finished in fourth place.