Braga have final chance to prove Porto aren’t invincible

UEFA have billed it from the off as ‘Dublin 2011 — The Final Adventure’ but for anyone who had to get to the Aviva Stadium on eve of match business yesterday, just crossing the capital city was an adventure in itself.

The Queen’s visit might be hogging the headlines and clogging the streets but for Portuguese football a right royal occasion takes place in the capital tonight. Porto and Braga have never met before in European competition but they have faced each other no less than 131 times domestically and are the closest neighbours ever to contest a European final, their home grounds being just 47km apart.

While this is Braga’s first European final, Porto are old hands at this sort of thing, having racked up nine appearances in UEFA deciders. But of more relevance to tonight’s game is that Porto are unbeaten over the course of a whole Liga campaign which saw them claim a remarkable 84 points out of 90, a whopping 38 ahead of their opponents tonight who finished fourth. And with a domestic cup final still to come on Sunday, a remarkable treble beckons.