The 2018 Taça da Liga final was the final match of the 2017–18 Taça da Liga, the 11th season of the Taça da Liga. It was played on 27 January 2018 at Estádio Municipal de Braga.

The competition involved the 33 clubs playing in the top two tiers of the Portuguese football league system – 18 from Primeira Liga and 15 from Segunda Liga – during the 2017–18 season. Reserve sides of Primeira Liga teams that played in the 2017–18 Segunda Liga were excluded from the competition.

Vitória de Setúbal and Sporting CP faced off in a repeat of the competition's first final, held 10 years previously. Sporting CP won 5–4 on a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of 90 minutes, winning the competition for the first time in their history.

Background For the second consecutive season, this competition featured a final four format with both the semi-finals and the final being played over a space of a few days in the same venue. The Estádio Municipal de Braga hosted all matches. The two teams had played in the inaugural final in 2008 with Vitória de Setúbal winning on penalty kicks. Sporting CP had the chance to win their first Taça da Liga while Vitória de Setúbal could be the first team, other than Benfica, to win the competition multiple times. Both teams were aiming for their first title of the season.

Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; N: neutral). Vitória de SetúbalRoundSporting CPOpponentResultStadiumFirst roundOpponentResultStadiumByeByeOpponentResultStadiumSecond roundOpponentResultStadiumTondela1–0 (H)Estádio do BonfimByeOpponentResultStadiumThird roundOpponentResultStadiumPortimonense2–1 (A)Estádio Municipal de PortimãoMatchday 1Marítimo0–0 (H)Estádio de AlvaladeBraga2–1 (H)Estádio do BonfimMatchday 2União da Madeira6–0 (H)Estádio de AlvaladeBenfica2–2 (H)Estádio do BonfimMatchday 3Belenenses0–0 (A)Estádio do ResteloGroup A winners TeamVitória de Setúbal321064+27Benfica30305503Braga302145−12Portimonense302156−12Final standingsGroup B winners TeamSporting CP312071+65Marítimo312032+15Belenenses30302203União da Madeira3012310−71OpponentResultStadiumKnockout phaseOpponentResultStadiumOliveirense2–0 (N)Estádio Municipal de BragaSemi-finalsPorto0–0 (4–3p) (N)Estádio Municipal de Braga

Match

Summary Gonçalo Paciência opened the scoreline with an early goal after disputing the ball with Uruguayan Sebastián Coates, a left-foot strike on the turn to the bottom left corner from just outside the box. Both teams had clear chances to score throughout the match, with Sporting CP trying a breakthrough heading to the final third of the match. Sporting CP managed to equalise late in the game when it was determined, with the help of the video assistant referee, Vitória de Setúbal midfielder Tomás Podstawski had handballed inside his area after a series of saves by their goalkeeper Pedro Trigueira. Dutch forward Bas Dost scored the subsequent penalty low to the middle. After the 90 minutes, the match was settled by a penalty shoot-out. Sporting CP won as Podstawski was the only player to miss his penalty after he hit the crossbar. The match had one of the highest amounts of yellow cards in the competition's final, a total of nine, six for Vitória de Setúbal, including Edinho, who was booked after taking his penalty.

Details

GK 88 Pedro Trigueira RB 7 Arnold Issoko CB 29 José Semedo CB 14 Pedro PintoCB 13 Vasco Fernandes (c) LB 21 Nuno PintoRM 24 João Amaral CM 10 João Teixeira CM 6 Tomás Podstawski LM 11 Costinha FW 9 Gonçalo Paciência Substitutes:GK 1 CristianoDF 91 Patrick Vieira MF 86 Jacob AdebanjoMF 16 André SousaMF 27 André Pedrosa FW 33 AllefFW 36 Edinho Manager: José Couceiro GK 1 Rui Patrício (c)RB 92 Cristiano PicciniCB 4 Sebastián Coates CB 22 Jérémy MathieuLB 5 Fábio CoentrãoDM 14 William Carvalho RM 8 Bruno FernandesCM 7 Rúben Ribeiro LM 20 Bryan Ruiz CF 28 Bas DostCF 40 Fredy Montero Substitutes:GK 18 Romain SalinDF 6 André PintoDF 13 Stefan RistovskiMF 11 Bruno CésarMF 16 Rodrigo Battaglia FW 9 Marcos Acuña FW 88 Seydou Doumbia Manager: Jorge Jesus

Assistant referees: Nuno Manso Tiago Costa Fourth official: Manuel Oliveira Video assistant referee: João Pinheira Assistant video assistant referee: Nuno EirasMatch rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

See also 2017–18 Sporting CP season 2018 Taça de Portugal final

References