Although both Benfica and Porto have won the Super Cup (or the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira to give it its full name) four times each in the last 10 years, that statistic hides Porto’s dominance of the event generally and their huge edge over Benfica.

In finals between the clubs, Porto have won eight to Benfica’s one, including a 6-0 aggregate win in 1996 which included a 5-0 Porto win at Benfica’s Estadio Da Luz. Porto have won 21 of the 41 Super Cups played since 1979 and those wins have come in just 30 finals, a 70 per cent success rate.

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Benfica are the current holders and have won eight Super Cups, the same as Sporting Lisbon, their crosstown rivals, in 20 appearances in the event. The Lisbon Eagles took last season’s Super Cup with a 5-0 demolition of Sporting at the Algarve Stadium.

Since the single-game format was introduced in 2001, all but five of the 19 games have been won by the league champions, the privileged position that Porto find themselves in this year.

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Benfica’s central midfielder Pizzi has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss the Super Cup. Pizzi, 31, has returned to Lisbon after leaving the team’s training camp in Ilhavo.

The pair tested positive in a recent round of tests at the club. Pizzi, an experienced player with three spells with Spanish clubs – Deportivo La Coruna, Espanyol and Atletico Madrid – to his name, has played almost 200 games for Benfica and has 17 national team caps to his name.

Tiago Pinto, the club’s general manager, also tested positive for the virus and will return to Lisbon, according to a statement from Benfica. Pinto, 36, is in the final days of his time at the Estadio da Luz, having agreed to take up a job at Roma in the New Year.

Image source, Getty Images

Tonight’s match between the two rival powerhouses of Portuguese football features numerous imports that European football experts will know well, including several names familiar to Premier League fans.

Benfica’s Belgium international centre-back Jan Vertonghen will be instantly recognisable for Spurs fans, the 33-year-old having played for the Londoners 232 times after joining the team in 2012, making the Premier League Team of the Year in his first season.

Also in the Benfica squad is another central defender, Nicolas Otamendi, an Argentinian who played for today’s opponents Porto early in his career before going on to win two Premier League titles with Manchester City.

Benfica also have former Spurs, QPR and Fulham midfielder Adel Taarabt on their squad. Taarabt, now 31, a Moroccan international, spent seven years in England after joining from French club Lens.

Porto have three Premier players on loan in Liverpool’s Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic (24) and Chelsea defender Malang Sarr (21) and West Ham's winger Felipe Anderson 27).

Forward Toni Martinez (23) will also be familiar to fans of West Ham, having represented the Hammers for three seasons while former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba (26), a Congo international who has also played for Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht, is also at the club.

BBC iPlayer

The BBC will show live coverage of the Portuguese Super Cup between Porto and Benfica taking place at the Estadio Municipal de Aveiro, Portugal across the Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer.

Wednesday, 23 December

Portuguese Super Cup - Porto v Benfica

20:35-22:50 - Red Button, Connected TVs, BBC Sport website and app plus BBC iPlayer

You can catch up on the game for 30 days on BBC iPlayer here.

BBC Sport

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