Espinho hosted the last weekend of the Portuguese season from August 29-31st as Braga topped Sporting for the title and Nacional defeated Leixões for 3rd
Portugal has one of the best National teams in the world so as should be expected, their best and brightest stars shined in Espinho for the culmination of their National League season. The defending champions from 2013, SC Braga, successfully defended their title and right to play in the Euro Winners Cup 2015, by beating rivals Sporting Portugal by a score of 4-2. CD Nacional exploded for eight goals in a 14 goal thriller over Leixões.
That was not the beginning of the action so like a Quentin Tarantino film, we will now rewind and tell you how the finals were set. On the opening day of the final weekend there were some surprises but it set the stage for the grand finale. Sporting justified their claim as favourites to win the league, especially after their 6-2 win over Belenenses. The victory assured Sporting a shot in the final. Leixões secured their first victory of the season with a great overall effort in a 4-1 win over Vitória. Nacional earned their first points on the season at the expense of GR Amigos de Paz, behind the artistic finishings of Lúcio Carmo, which gave them the right to keep playing meaningful matches into Saturday. The final match of the day was emotional as the difference came down to the final period between SC Braga and ACD Sótão, which Braga owned, to win 4-3. Braga assured themselves a spot in the semi-finals set to take place on Saturday.
Sporting Portugal rode goals from National legends Madjer and Belchior to a 5-2 victory over Leixões to put the club in the deciding match on Sunday. SC Braga also took care of business in a dominant 9-2 win over CD Nacional, which finalized the final and 3rd place matches. On the consolation side, Vitória FC could not overtake Belenenses in a 4-1 loss. GR Amigos da Paz found themselves on the right side of a shoot-out against ACD Sótão, finishing 8-6.
Fast forward to Sunday with the finals and 3rd Place playoff solidified, as all the Portuguese powerhouses were on display. Who else but Belchior and Madjer would carry Sporting on their backs, scoring their only two goals in the loss. Bruno Novo scored twice for Braga to help put his team in up for good in the 4-2 win. Trifling with CD Nacional or Leixões is not something many teams would want to do as they put on a show in the 8-6 win for CD Nacional, giving them 3rd place.
