In the land of Mozart, William Gomes composed the most beautiful of symphonies: with just seconds left on the clock in Salzburg, the winger cut inside from the right in his trademark move and sealed FC Porto’s triumph with an unstoppable strike, after 90 minutes of fierce battling – against both the opponent and the pitch – in the opening round of the Europa League (0-1).

Zaidu started in place of Francisco Moura, the Porto fans made themselves heard in the stands, and the opening goal was almost celebrated inside two minutes. After a corner from the right, Borja Sainz rattled the crossbar before Salzburg responded and forced Kiwior to close the path to Diogo Costa’s goal.

In the 21st minute, Bednarek fired into the back of the net guarded by Schlager, but the goal was ruled out for a foul by Samu in the build-up. The Austrian keeper was, in fact, the common denominator in the two most dangerous moments before half-time: first, Rosario crossed from the right, Gabri Veiga’s rebound fell to Froholdt, and the number 1 denied the Dane’s powerful strike (32’); then, just before the break (44’), Pepê found Gabri unmarked in the box, but his header was also stopped by the goalkeeper, leaving the scoreline goalless at the interval.

Francesco Farioli made changes just five minutes into the second half. Martim Fernandes and Francisco Moura came on to strengthen the flanks, while Gabri Veiga left the midfield, a sector reinforced by Pablo Rosario, who had finished the first half filling in at right-back. FC Salzburg thought they had broken the deadlock in the 57th minute, but Ratkov’s strike was disallowed for offside.

Rodrigo Mora replaced Alan Varela (65’), and Deniz Gül came on for Samu (76’). As the minutes ticked by, Porto struggled to maintain balance on the pitch, and William Gomes came close to a wonder goal in the 87th minute. Schlager pushed his strike behind for a corner, but the Brazilian would not be denied: in the final seconds of stoppage time, he picked up the ball on the right, cut inside, and curled it past the far post before being mobbed by his teammates in front of hundreds of ecstatic Porto fans in the away end.