Just two goals away from reaching the barrier of 100, FC Porto will be playing in Portimão tonight (20h15) with statistics on their side, and the guarantee that numbers mean nothing on the pitch. Still, we crossed 62 years of history, chasing the numbers, to set the scenario for the fourth match of the season between these two teams, and found the likes of Gomes, Teixeira, Hulk, Falcao, and Brahimi. Take notes.

The two teams will be facing each other for the fourth time this season, starting with the 5-1 victory in the pre-season match in Portimão, a friendly that counted on the goals of Soares, Aboubakar, Hernâni and Brahimi, with two.

The two official matches played, both at Estádio do Dragão, for different competitions, were won by the blue and whites, with eight goals scored and four conceded.

If they score two goals tonight, FC Porto will reach the 100 goals mark in 40 matches, something that hasn’t happened since season 1986/87, on the year of the European victory in Vienna, with a squad that counted on the likes of Madjer, Futre, Juary, Gomes, Sousa and Frasco.

The most recent match was for the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup, and had an epic ending, with Brahimi assuring the turnaround in stoppage time, in style. The Algerian winger also scored in matchday seven of the League, which means he scored three goals in two matches, a detail that makes him the top scorer in the squad against Portimonense.

Gomes, the winner of two Golden Shoes, is the top scorer ever for the Dragons against the team from Algarve. With 14 goals, twice as many as António Teixeira scored in a single match, on the very first time the teams faced each other. The year was 1956, and the match was for the Round of 32 of the Portuguese Cup (13-1), in a season that ended with the Dragons winning the Double.

In April 10, 2011, the last time FC Porto faced Portimonense in Algarve for official matches, Maicon closed the scoreboard opened by Hulk. Falcao scored between the two and the Dragons, then led by André Villas-Boas, won 3-2.

The history of the 32 matches holds a record favourable to the Dragons, with 24 victories, four ties and four defeats, scoring 81 goals and conceding 18, but the advantage is shorter if you look only at matches played in Portimão, for the Portuguese League: six victories, four ties, four defeats, with seventeen goals score and ten conceded.

The match opposing Portimonense and FC Porto, for matchday 24, will be previewed in Porto Canal, starting at 19h00, and can be followed live on Facebook, Twitter and the official FC Porto app. After the final whistle, the analysis of the match will be made in Porto Canal and www.fcporto.pt will have the report and statements from the coach and players.