Portuguese contender?

The Superliga is now 7 games old this season and leading the way is the familiar name of Porto but they have company at the top, and no it's not Benfica.
Instead sitting in second place level on points with Porto is Sporting Club de Portugal (Sporting CP to most). Now those who knows their Portugese football know that Sporting are one of the "Os Três Grandes" in Portugal which means they are historically one of the dominant three I'm sure you don't need me to tell you the other two. However in the last decade they have fallen quiet a bit behind their rivals Porto and Benfica. So far in fact that in 2012-13 Sporting finished 7th and missed out on Europe altogether.
That 2012-13 season was a disaster for Sporting. They were at one point actually flirting with relegation but for a revival in the second half of the season to push them to 7th. What is surprising is that the previous season Sporting were outdone in the Europa league semi-finals by Athletic Bilbao.

Proud winners of the Superliga on 18 occasions throughout history their last title was back in 2001-02 when they finished five points ahead of Boavista. What helped them win the league that season was probably star striker Mário Jardel. The Brazilian hit-man struck a phenomenal 42 league goals that season which was long before Messi and Ronaldo started posting such figures. However the league wasn't as highly ranked as it is now and so Sporting entered the following seasons' champions league at the 3rd qualifying round stage which they lost to Inter Milan. They missed out on the riches the group stage had to offer and fell in round 1 of the UEFA cup to Partizan.
The challenged for the league title in 2006-07 which they missed out on by an agonizing point to Porto. Again in 2008-09 they finished 2nd to Porto but four points off in the end. They fell away after that and didn't finish in the top 2 until 2013-14. Last season Sporting were never in the title equation but this season they could be.

Why the sudden surge up the table? well during the summer the club completed one of the most fascinating yet controversial moves in Portuguese football in recent history. They managed to get Jorge Jesus installed as manager. Jesus had turned around Benfica's fortunes in a six year spell which ended with him winning Benfica's 34th league title, which is a record. A former Sporting player Jorge Jesus' move across town was controversial given the intense rivalry between Sporting and Benfica but it is his winning mentality that seems to have got Sporting on the rise into contention.
Goalkeeper Rui Patricío is still about as is midfield general William Carvalho who has recently returned from injury. Algerian striker Islam Slimani is their top scorer with five so far and his form will also be key, as will Adrien Silva's goals from midfield. Sporting are also able to call upon some familiar names from abroad. The likes of Bryan Ruíz and Alberto Aquilani are about as is Colombian Teofilio Gutierrez so the depth seems to be there to juggle both league and Europa league this season. In Europe they are in group H with Lokomotiv Moskva, Besiktas and Skenderbeu Korce with one point from two games thus far.

With the two week international break now upon us, fans of Sporting are eager to see what will happen in their first game back. Sporting are away to Benfica in the Lisbon derby. A massive test to their title credentials. Should Sporting emerge with a victory then that could give them the confidence to go ahead and push Porto and Benfica for that first title since 2002.