FC Porto’s spiteful rivalry with Sporting continued before their Taca de Portugal semi-final even kicked off.
The pair of Primeira Liga giants have seen their rivalry become even more tense than usual this season with distasteful scenes on and off the pitch.
Things were no different in Porto for their cup clash, and things even got awkward entering the stadium.
Last time out for Sporting some of their VIP’s abused the Benfica team who entered the stadium, drawing an angry reaction from president Rui Costa.
To avoid a similar slip-up in Porto, Sporting requested that they’d enter the Dragao through a side entrance to avoid any tension with home fans.
Sporting clash with FC Porto staff
Record claim the request was approved by the Portuguese Football Federation, yet when Sporting arrived, Porto staff tried to funnel them to the main entrance.
There were some tense scenes captured on the broadcast as Luis Suarez and Pedro Goncalves laughed at the gamesmanship, while coach Rui Borges looked annoyed.
Eventually, the local police, the Public Security Police, had to intervene to escort the players through the blockage.
FC Porto vs Sporting
This is just the latest of a number of incidents between the two teams this season, with the first derby of the campaign seeing Sporting fans showered in broken glass.
More recently in February, Sporting made a number of complaints against their title rivals during their league clash.
The claimed the dressing room was made up to intimidate them, while speakers were placed over the away end to drown out the traveling fans.
Ball boys were also seen holding onto balls to try and stop a comeback.
Later, the rivalry extended to handball where two Sporting staff required medical treatment over a noxious smell in the away dressing room.
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