One of those years was spent at Old Trafford, but his £59.7m move made him an expensive flop with United cutting their losses after just 12 months. With so much riding on the game it wasn’t a surprise to see tempers frayed, with Di Maria and Goncalves clashing a little over half an hour into the game. VAR was in operation for the game, but it was not decided that the offence warranted a red card. Thankfully for Sporting, it ultimately didn’t stop them from winning, with Geny Catamo delivering a last-gasp winner.

“Di Maria gets away with so much in this league man,” one viewer wrote on social media. “He punched Goncalves and not even a yellow – what a joke.” “Di Maria is so sneaky,” wrote another, while a third called the former Paris Saint-Germain star “lucky”. Others, however, felt a yellow card would have been fair punishment rather than a red.

Sporting led 1-0 at the time of the incident, with Mozambique international Catamo opening the scoring inside a minute. Alexander Bah sent Benfica in level at the break, but Catamo got his second of the game – and the winner – when he found the top corner in the first minute of stoppage-time. Sporting’s win saw them end the evening four points clear of Benfica with a game in hand. They have 11 wins and a draw from their 12 league outings in 2024 to close in on a second league title under in-demand manager Ruben Amorim.

The 39-year-old could yet end the season with a domestic double, with Sporting also overcoming Benfica in the cup semi-finals, but did not commit his longer-term future to the club when invited to do so. “I gave my word and I can’t go back on it. If we don’t win titles, I’ll leave Sporting. It was clear from the start, it was the bet I passed on to the players.

We have to win titles.”