A Meaningless Derby?

Benfica will visit Sporting this Sunday in another Lisbon Derby. Both teams are still mathematically alive in the title race, but with the way Porto has been playing, it'll be very hard for Benfica or Sporting to win the league title.
The win will also have no bearing on the current standings of both club's(although Sporting could jump to third, assuming Guimaraes will lose their game), no matter what the result is, Benfica will continue to be second as the gap beteen the two is 5.
With the title far from reach, the battle between these two is for 2nd place, a spot that will give direct entry into the Champions League. But it goes much deeper than that, Benfica vs Sporting, is the original rivalry in Portugal, and it'll continue to be no matter how these teams are doing. Uou can throw away all the stats, league standings, and current moments of form, the derby has its own feel and its own set of circumstances. It is like no other game in Portugal, the two Lisbon rivals, play for bragging rights, it is neighboor against neighboor, brother against brother, father against son. There are very few rivalries in the world like this one.
The games between Benfica and Sporting are never meaningless.


Full preview coming as soon as the game roster is announced.