Top: 7 best players in the Primeira Liga In 2021?
Sporting dominated Liga NOS in 2020-21 and will face off against Porto in 2021, with both teams showcasing some of the best Portuguese football players. We’ve compiled a list of the best Primeira Liga players in 2021 as we reflect on the year’s events.
The Primeira Liga, formerly known as Liga NOS until the 2020-21 season and since then as Liga Portugal Bwin, is the top professional association football league in Portugal.
The league’s competition has intensified, with Sporting joining Porto and Benfica in the race to win the Primeira Liga title for the first time in nearly two decades in the 2020-21 season.
Sebastián Coates was named Primeira Liga Player of the Year for the 2016-17 season after the Sporting captain received the most votes from the league’s coaches and captains. Coates appeared in 33 of a possible 34 league games and anchored the league’s most solid defense, conceding just 20 goals all season.
In the voting, he defeated teammates Joo Palhinha and Pedro Gonçalves. Although he is vying to be Portugal League’s best player in 2021, Luis Diaz’s incredible start to the new season has brought him stiff competition, as he has formed a lethal duo with Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi. Diaz has 12 goals and three assists through 15 games this season.
Additionally, when discussing football, we cannot forget to mention Portugal, as the sport enjoys enormous popularity in the country. That is why this country has produced numerous all-time great football players. Portuguese players have made tremendous strides since winning the EURO 2016 championship.
In the best Primeira Liga players of 2021, we look at some players who are among the league’s best.
Everything You Need to Know About the Top: 7 best players in the Primeira Liga In 2021?
NO 7. Sérgio Oliveira
-
Nationality: Portugal
-
Club: Porto
-
Age: 29
-
Position: Centre-Midfielder
Scoring 13 goals and providing 5 assists in a total of 32 appearances for Porto, the centre-midfielder was a perfect candidate to be the
.Sergio Oliveira spent the majority of his career with Porto, appearing in nearly 300 competitive matches and winning two Primeira Liga titles, two Taça de Portugal titles, and two Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira titles.
On October 17, 2009, he became the club’s youngest player to make his first team debut. Sergio accomplished this amazing feat at the age of seventeen years, four months, and fifteen days. Despite his early senior career’s promise, FC Porto’s coach (Jesualdo Ferreira) did not believe he was a first-team player.
As a result, Sergio found himself on the verge of a lengthy loan stint. Sergio Oliveira spent the majority of his senior career as a youth at various clubs during his Porto exile. Even André Villas-Boas and a slew of other FC Porto managers who succeeded Jesualdo Ferreira kept loaning him out.
He joined Paços de Ferreira from FC Porto. The midfielder made his professional debut with his new team. FC Porto stated that they never lost sight of him despite the fact that he was considered surplus to requirements. Sergio Oliveira returned to his former team two years later. After joining FC Porto, he was instrumental in the club capturing the illustrious Primeira Liga championship.
NO 6. João Palhinha
-
Nationality: Portugal
-
Club: Sporting
-
Age: 26
-
Position: Defensive Midfielder
The next player on our list of the best Primeira Liga players in 2021 is Sporting’s Joo Palhinha, a defensive midfielder who was a key component of Rben Amorim’s league-winning side last season.
Palhinha was born in Lisbon and joined Sporting CP’s youth system in 2012 at the age of 17. He progressed through the youth ranks and several loan spells. Palhinha began the 2020–21 season training on his own while negotiations with Al Nassr and CSKA Moscow continued. He was eventually reintegrated into Sporting’s first team and made 32 appearances for the champions, scoring a goal in a 2–0 home victory over Paços de Ferreira. Along with five of his teammates, he was named to the Primeira Liga Team of the Year.
Pahlinha’s turnaround continued in March, when he was promoted to the first team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and made his international debut against Azerbaijan, replacing Rben Neves late in Turin’s 1–0 victory. He scored his first goal in the same phase, sealing Luxembourg’s 3–1 away victory.
The midfielder is a vital member of the Portuguese side, who appear unwilling to sell him. Tottenham also inquired about him, but Sporting insisted on a minimum 40 million euro offer.
NO 5. Pedro Gonçalves
-
Nationality: Portugal
-
Club: Sporting
-
Age: 23
-
Position: Centre-Midfielder
Pedro Gonçalves Finished with 23 goals in 32 appearances.
Last season, Pedro Gonçalves was the top scorer in the Portugal League 2021, followed by Haris Seferovic and Mehdi Taremi. This season, the midfielder has continued his excellent form, scoring four goals and providing four assists in 12 Primeira Liga appearances.
Pedro Gonçalves has developed a reputation as a technically accomplished performer. Although he is not typically a striker, he is an attacking midfielder capable of acting as the team’s sole creative force and a reliable goal scorer.
Due to his importance and leadership in the attack, he has already drawn comparisons to former player Bruno Fernandes.
The 23-year-old established himself immediately in the position left vacant by Bruno Fernandes, scoring a goal every 83 minutes this season, one more than the Old Trafford legend. Fernandes scored once every 191 minutes during his final season at Sporting.
On September 4, 2020, Gonçalves earned his first cap for Portugal at the under-21 level, scoring four goals in a 4–0 victory over Cyprus in the UEFA European Championship qualifying tournament for 2021. On October 13th, in another away match for the same competition, he scored twice against Gibraltar (3–0).
NO 4. Mehdi Taremi
-
Nationality: Iran
-
Club: Porto
-
Age: 29
-
Position: Striker
Next on our list is the
top scorer in Portugal League 2021
Mehdi Taremi, who scored 20 goals in the Portuguese league last season. Haris Seferovic of Benfica finished second with 19 goals, while Sporting attacking midfielder Pedro Gonçalves finished third with 17 goals.
The Iranian, who joined Porto for a reported €4.7 million from Rio Ave, is completing his showcase as a full-fledged player. He scored 16 goals and added 11 assists in 34 Primeira Liga appearances last season and has already scored eight goals this season. Along with his incredible stats,
Taremi is an expert at luring defenders into giving him a penalty. He terrorizes opposing teams with his incredible speed, and his headers and strong shots are unmatched.
Taremi became the first Iranian to score in the competition’s first knockout phase on 17 February 2021, when he opened the scoring for Porto against Juventus.
On 13 April, he scored the game-winning bicycle kick in a 1–0 away victory over Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals, but his club lost 1–2 on aggregate.
Ultimately, his goal against Chelsea was voted the best of the Champions League season. Additionally, the goal was named the “UEFA.com Goal of the Season” and was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award.
NO 3. Rafa Silva
-
Nationality: Brazil/Portugal
-
Club: Benfica
-
Age: 28
-
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Continuing through our list of the
Rafa Silva, who contributed five goals and five assists last season, has seven goals and thirteen assists so far this season.
Silva is adept at finishing from a variety of positions. He conveys an air of leisure in his setup, taking the time necessary to adjust for the type of shot required. This tranquillity extends to more pressing offensive situations, such as late dashes into the box and split-second opportunities.
His shooting prowess carries over into his passing game as well. They’re well-balanced and executed with a calmness and urgency that his teammates admire, and they’re guided down a path that allows them to advance without hesitation whenever possible.
He’s a fantastic runner, and his lightning-fast sprinting ability can work against him, as it invites late challenges from opponents who are a beat or two behind. However, in numerous instances,
Silva can evade detection with his dizzying dribbling abilities.
Close control, which is used in narrower channels throughout the pitch to move the ball away from a challenger’s feet while applying concentrated pressure, is an example of this. He even occasionally impresses by being forced to quickly defeat another man.
On February 28, 2014, the midfielder was promoted to the senior team for the first time, in preparation for an exhibition match against Cameroon on March 5, 2014.
In a 5–1 victory over Leiria. Silva was named to the final 23-man FIFA World Cup roster. He was recalled to the full squad for UEFA Euro 2016, making his campaign debut as an 89th-minute substitute for Nani in a 0–0 draw with Austria at the Parc des Princes on 18 June.
NO 2. Luis Díaz
-
Nationality: Colombia
-
Club: Porto
-
Age: 24
-
Position: Left Winger
Continuing our list of the best Primeira Liga players in 2021, Luis Diaz has lit up the Primeira Liga in the first half of this season with a number of outstanding performances. Diaz has outperformed nearly every player in the league thus far this season, scoring 12 goals and assisting on three occasions in 15 appearances.
Diaz has aided Porto in their ascension to the top of the Premeira Liga, where they are unbeaten with 12 wins and two draws, level on points with Sporting Lisbon. He finished the season with six goals and five assists in 30 appearances.
Luis Diaz is primarily a left-sided midfielder, but he can also play on the right or in support of the attack. He joined FC Porto in 2019 on a €7.2 million deal from Junior FC.
The 24-year-old also put in an impressive performance at last summer’s Copa America. The Colombian winger established himself firmly on the map this summer at Copa America, where he was tied for the Golden Boot with Lionel Messi.
He is most often used as a wide left winger in Porto’s compact 4-4-2 formation, but he is also capable of playing in the front three in a 4-3-3. He drew interest from Premier League clubs during the summer transfer window, but Porto’s asking price deterred suitors.
NO 1. Sebastián Coates
-
Nationality: Uruguay
-
Club: Sporting
-
Age: 31
-
Position: Centre-Back
We’ll end our list of the
best Primeira Liga players in 2021
with the former
Sebastian Coates, defender for Liverpool and LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year. For the third season in a row, a Sporting player has won the award.
Coates is also the first defensive recipient in over a decade, surpassing David Luiz. Coates scored five goals and led a defense that allowed just 20 goals during the Lions’ near two-decade wait to be crowned Portuguese champions in 2020/21 (he missed just one game).
Coates is a towering figure at 1.99 meters. Despite his lack of width in comparison to his height, Sebastian is a strong defender who will not be outmuscled easily.
Coates instills fear in the veins of the majority of opposing strikers by combining his physical attributes with an aggressive style of defending, both in the air and on the floor.
Despite occasionally poor performances, such as in August 2019 when he committed three penalty kicks in a 3-2 home defeat to Rio Ave, the appointment of Amorim, a 36-year-old former Benfica midfielder, as Sporting’s manager altered both Coates’ and Sporting’s fortunes.
His impact at Estadio Jose Alvalade was immediate, and with Amorim on the bench, Sporting has developed into an extremely solid unit of self-assured players, with Coates just one of the players who has improved beyond recognition.
Amorim’s tactical switch has also been critical, with the young tactician implementing a 3-4-2-1 system that allows Coates to operate as a traditional libero between two other central defenders.
Conclusion:
Hope you enjoyed this article? Top: 7 best players in the Primeira Liga In 2021?
Рleаse shаre it with us in the соmments bоx belоw. Thаnk yоu fоr yоur time.
