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The Porto Brief, Week of 27 September 2026: FC Porto Beat Benfica to Go Five Points Clear, No Exceptions on the VCI, and the Medical School's Director Is Suspended

FC Porto beat Benfica 3-1 and lead by five going into the break, Pedro Duarte refuses the port of Leixões an exception to the VCI lorry ban, and the University of Porto suspends its medical school director. Plus the Gondomar metro line, Campanhã's demolitions and what's on.

Welcome to the Porto Brief, your weekly view from the banks of the Douro. FC Porto won the clássico and head into the international break five points clear, the mayor told the port of Leixões there will be no exceptions to the lorry ban, and the University of Porto suspended the director of its medical school. Your roundup for 20 to 27 September.

At the Dragão: 3-1

Benfica started the better side last Sunday night, and it still ended FC Porto 3, Benfica 1 in a sold-out Dragão. Gabri Veiga opened the scoring on 31 minutes, then went off injured seven minutes later; scans on Monday ruled out anything serious. Clément Lenglet was sent off on 35 minutes for two yellow cards in ten minutes. Alex Bah levelled for Benfica on 51 minutes, and the lead lasted three: Froholdt, back from concussion, made it 2-1 on 54, and Hwang In-beom turned in André Silva's low cross for 3-1 on the hour.

That is seven league wins from seven for Francesco Farioli's side, five points ahead of Benfica and six ahead of Sporting. It also ended Benfica's run of 55 league matches without defeat, four short of the Primeira Liga record. There is now no league football for three weeks while the national teams play. Elsewhere in the club, the basketball team came from behind at half-time to beat Sporting 80-76 in Albufeira and win the Supertaça for the ninth time.

No exceptions on the VCI

Pedro Duarte called the first full week of the lorry ban on the Via de Cintura Interna "extraordinarily positive" and "above expectations" on Thursday, though official figures are not in yet. On Friday the Leixões port community asked for lorries travelling to and from the port in Matosinhos to be exempted. The mayor, who also chairs the metropolitan council, said no: "We cannot start opening exceptions, because they are all legitimate." His argument to hauliers is that a 10 to 15 kilometre detour on the CREP ring road costs less fuel than stop-start traffic on the VCI.

The medical school director is suspended

The University of Porto has suspended Altamiro da Costa Pereira, director of the Faculty of Medicine (FMUP), for 45 days, and one of its professors for 20 days. Both suspensions are deferred for a year. The inquiry opened after the former rector, António de Sousa Pereira, said last September that he had come under pressure from "influential" people to admit 30 candidates to the special medicine entry route for graduates. Only seven of the 50 applicants had reached the minimum mark of 14. The selection committee then proposed an exceptional minimum of 10, which let in 30 more, and the rector refused to sign the list. Eleven disciplinary cases were opened: five were closed and four professors received written reprimands. Roberto Roncon de Albuquerque has been elected as the next director.

Fake leases for residence papers

The Judicial Police arrested a 36-year-old foreign national in Greater Porto. He is suspected of drawing up hundreds of fake rental contracts so that people could get residence certificates from parish councils in Porto and the surrounding area, and use them to open a case with AIMA. It is the second arrest in an inquiry into aiding illegal immigration for profit and document forgery.

Metro, rail and the Campanhã demolitions

The public consultation on the new metro line from the Estádio do Dragão to Souto, in central Gondomar, closed with 84 submissions. The Environment Agency now has to assess the project before Metro do Porto can tender it. The environmental study describes a 6.9 kilometre line with nine new stations, a 20-minute journey, up to 533 trees removed and 10.3 million passengers in the first full year. The government has already put up the money for the Gondomar and Trofa lines.

In Campanhã, residents, the Vida Justa movement and the A Soalheira association sent Duarte an open letter asking the council to speak for them to Infraestruturas de Portugal and the builders of the high-speed line. The route is expected to affect 44 homes, seven businesses and three other buildings, including houses on the Rua da China. The residents want to know whether the council plans to rehouse them on its land at Noêda. And the 20 euro green rail pass is now law for Porto's commuter trains, although CP still has to switch it on.

At the Câmara

On Tuesday the council votes to start revising the tourist tax; the mayor has already named 4 euros a night. It also cleared a viaduct where 30 to 40 homeless people lived, pointing them to the new 120-bed shelter. The Criatório programme is sharing 495,000 euros between 17 artistic projects, at 15,000 euros each, and 12 venues, including Porta-Jazz, Sonoscopia and Rampa, at 20,000 euros each. From Thursday, family doctors in Porto, Maia and Valongo can prescribe pilates or a cooking class.

Around the north

The Federação Académica do Porto opened its third student residence, an 11-bed house in Póvoa de Varzim, paid for with profits from the Queima das Fitas. Residents get a free transport pass, and the federation now has 75 beds in all. From October, Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto will visit about 120 state schools across the 17 councils, where some 70,000 pupils in years 7 to 12 can pick up their free Andante pass at a pop-up shop. A fire at Água Longa, Santo Tirso, was brought under control before dawn on Wednesday; one firefighter was hurt in a fall.

What's on, and the weather

Today is the last chance to see the heart of D. Pedro IV at the Igreja da Lapa: entry is free, until 16:00. On Monday Placebo open their 30th anniversary tour at the Super Bock Arena (42 to 55 euros). Simone Mendes plays the same arena on 3 October, and Rui Veloso brings his trio on 9 October (30 to 75 euros). Up the Douro, the Teatro de Vila Real opens its autumn season with the Douro Jazz festival on 1 October. There are more dates on our events calendar. Pack an umbrella: rain returns on Monday, heavy at times on Tuesday and Wednesday, and temperatures fall back to normal for the season.