Santa Clara in war: the match against Sporting was marked by controversy and questionable decisions. The Azorean team lost 4-2, but the refereeing was criticized. The game started with a goal from Santa Clara, but the referee prevented the team from expanding the advantage with a foul marked on Ricardo Mangas. At 82 minutes, when Sporting was winning 3-1, Gonçalo Paciência scored a goal that could have relaunched the game, but the move was invalidated by the referee's decision, generating strong controversy. The Spanish press highlighted the 'war without quarter' climate in Portuguese football, citing the criticisms of rival clubs such as Benfica and FC Porto, which pointed out serious errors in the referee's work in the match. The AS newspaper wrote that 'Portugal is crying out for a scandal without precedents' and published the controversial plays from Alvalade. Sky Sports Italian was blunt in its description of the case, which classified it as 'without precedents'. The L'Equipe newspaper wrote that 'this episode occurs at a time when, since the start of the season, many situations have been favorable to Sporting'. This is not the first time that the confrontation between these teams has generated controversy. In December 2025, a game in the Azores had already been marked by extremely delayed VAR decisions (up to 12 minutes) and formal complaints from Santa Clara to the Arbitration Council. Another controversy occurred a month earlier, in November 2025, when a poorly marked corner in favor of Sporting ended with Hjulman's goal in the discounts, which gave the win to the lions.