"It's good that there are different champions, even so that we're not always in that situation where the title is only disputed between FC Porto and Benfica. Sporting is already there and Sporting de Braga is getting closer, but it still doesn't have the necessary experience to fight for first place", said to the Lusa agency one of the 11 Portuguese champions as a player and coach. Sporting won the 20th title in 90 editions of the I League, and the second in the last four years under the technical guidance of Rúben Amorim, setting new records for points (90) and victories (29) to dethrone Benfica, the record holder for titles (38), which finished 10 points ahead, in the biggest difference between first and second place since 2010/11. "Sporting quickly stood out, was always the best team and hit the nail on the head with two acquisitions: they had a goalscorer [Viktor Gyökeres], who gave a distinct depth to the attack and who is clearly the man of this championship, but we can't forget Morten Hjulmand, who fit in perfectly and is intelligent in occupying space. As the season progressed, he grew so much and practically became the boss of the midfield and the player who balanced the team defensively and offensively", he highlighted. Champion as a player (1979/80 and 1981/82) and coach (1999/00, after an 18-year 'fast') for the 'lions', Augusto Inácio sees the "most stable team" in Alvalade, in contrast with the internal turmoil and the intermittent results and performances of Benfica and FC Porto. "Benfica sold well, but spent very badly. At the beginning of the season, it was said that they would give no chance to anyone in this championship and had a team of another dimension, but we didn't see that. Benfica was never that powerful team that could lead us to say that, wherever they played, they would win with more or less difficulty", he said. If the 'eagles' missed the first 'bi' since 2016/17, FC Porto had the worst of the seven seasons with Sérgio Conceição, finishing third, with 72 points, four more than Sporting de Braga, fourth, to directly access the group stage of the Europa League. "I expected more fight in the first places, but, honestly, FC Porto stood out from all this. They had an atypical season, not at all in line with the club's history, and had a very unbalanced team, which quickly played good games as well as not-so-good games. They lost many points at home and the classification reflects what they played", analysed Augusto Inácio, three-time champion with the 'dragons' (1984/85, 1985/86 and 1987/88). FC Porto's season was also marked off the pitch by the expressive and historic success of former 'blue and white' coach André Villas-Boas over Pinto da Costa, president for 42 years and 15 terms, in the club's most participated suffrage ever. "Villas-Boas has already said that he wants a competitive team and will have to spend some money. What will become of FC Porto next season with these changes of president and, probably, coach, but without so much money? Everyone is waiting to see", he said. Augusto Inácio, 69, sees similar pending decisions in Luz, where German coach Roger Schmidt has faced successive criticism, after having only won the Super Cup (2-0 against FC Porto, in Aveiro) in his second season at the helm of Benfica. "Rui Costa had already renewed the coach's contract for another two years, but he has a 'hot potato' in his hand to solve now. If he keeps Roger Schmidt and things don't start going well next season, it will be left to the coach and the president. If things go well, it may mitigate a little more this decision to be made", he pointed out. In the "front line" for 2024/25 is Sporting, "as long as they can keep Rúben Amorim and other key players", with a view to the first two-time championship since 1953/54, a scenario that would end the alternation of champions in force for eight consecutive seasons. "The video referee (VAR) contributes a lot to this happening. It may be controversial, but it's my opinion. It came to give some [sporting] truth, but not all, because it also failed in some situations. Now, there have already been situations in which, if there had been no VAR intervention, things might have gone the other way", he considered.