FC Porto went to V. Guimarães on Sunday with a perfect league record intact and a chance to make it 11 wins from 11. Another victory would not just extend the run; it would match Sporting's 2024/25 opening sequence and keep Farioli's side on pace for a start few teams in Europe have managed.
That is why the match drew attention before a ball was kicked. Porto had already won its first 10 league games, and an 11th straight would place the club alongside Sporting's 2024/25 start, which finished as the fifth best among the 10 main European leagues since 2001. Only PSV Eindhoven in 2018/19 with 13, PSG in 2018/19 with 14, Olympiakos in 2015/16 with 17 and PSV again in 2023/24 with 17 did better.
The Sporting benchmark is part of the backdrop, not the ceiling. Sporting won its first 11 league matches under Ruben Amorim before the run ended with a 4-2 defeat of SC Braga in his last game in charge, and then Santa Clara beat Sporting in the next round after João Pereira took over. Porto is trying to reach the same number, but it is also chasing a harder line from its own history: 13 consecutive opening league wins, set in 1939/40 under Siska.
That is the friction in Porto's pursuit. Matching Sporting would be a headline on its own, yet it would still leave the club two wins short of its absolute opening mark. Farioli summed up the view from inside the camp with a brief, unsparing line: the game was one that would not be left behind.
Sunday's trip to Guimarães was also Porto's last match before the international break, which made the timing part of the appeal. A win would keep the perfect start alive, equal one of the strongest opening runs in recent league memory and bring the club one step closer to a record that has stood since 1939/40. If Porto falls short, the benchmark stays where it is and the chase resumes after the break.
