Reconstruction. The ambush on FC Porto fans

In a reflection of the entire tie, the surprise result remained until the end and forced the teams to go to penalties, after an equally balanced extra time, to decide the winner of the match. There, Gonçalo Alves' mastery overcame a farewell Ângelo Girão, who threw his stick in the air as soon as he realized that he was putting an end to his career with a defeat against his rival.

The celebrations of the blue and whites in the ring were interrupted by the farewell speech of the Sporting goalkeeper, who thanked the club and asked for “more respect” from the dozens of Porto fans who booed him in the stands — in one of the most tense moments of the usual verbal altercations during this type of game.

“Unfortunately, in response (super inappropriate, shameful and much worse) to the behavior of around 20 Porto fans, there was an attack that could have had much more serious consequences,” wrote a Sporting fan on social media, recalling the insults to Girão during the speech as a possible explanation for the attack.

After the match, which lasted more than two and a half hours, the five FC Porto fans who had travelled to Lisbon began their journey home at around 6:30 pm. But just five minutes from the João Rocha Pavilion, on Alameda das Linhas de Torres and shortly before the intersection with Estrada da Torre, the dark Ford was attacked.

It was when they stopped at a traffic light that the five Porto fans were attacked. A website specialising in fan clubs says that 30 Sporting fans were involved, while the authorities admit that dozens were involved. Images circulating on social media show at least 15 people throwing themselves at the Porto fans' car, breaking the windows, attacking the occupants and throwing flammable material inside. In a flash, the car was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

A few dozen meters away, some people watch the attack unfold. “Oh my God, look at this. Oh my God! Jesus Christ! Oh my God! Someone call the police,” shouts a woman who watches the violence that takes over a city avenue, less busy at that time because it is a national holiday.

In the background of a video recorded from the back of a car, some movement can be seen on the road: several cars pass by the Ford that was the target of the attack and, shortly after, a bus. Near one of the bus stops near the scene, several people watch the ambush. Amid the chaos, the pleas of the woman recording the video become louder: “The car is on fire, get out of there,” she shouts.

From another plane, it is possible to see another car that was travelling in the same direction, in front of the Ford where the Porto fans were travelling, but which was not targeted by the attackers. Although FC Porto refers to the “vehicles”, in the plural, that were heading towards Invicta and that were “stoned and targeted with pyrotechnic devices”, the PJ explained to Observador that it is not aware of any other cars that were hit.