Francesco Farioli Exclusive Interview: Porto Boss on Moments, Momentum, and Maturity

Francesco Farioli has impressed since taking over at Portuguese giants FC Porto in July 2025. Opta Analyst had the chance to sit down with the Italian coach for an exclusive interview to pick his brains over the rise of the Dragões.

Defending champions FC Porto, fresh off the back of winning their first league title since 2021-22 last season, have kicked off their campaign in scintillating fashion. They’ve won each of their first seven league matches, netting 18 goals and conceding just three.  

Under the tutelage of Italian coach Francesco Farioli, the man who has brought the Dragões back to the summit of Portuguese football, Porto, not content to celebrate the glories of the previous campaign, look hungrier and more determined than we’ve seen in a long, long time.  

Their flawless start to the campaign has served as a message to the rest of the league that under this bright, enthusiastic coach, Porto are just getting started.

Opta Analyst spoke with Farioli in an exclusive interview to discuss how he has managed to completely rejuvenate Porto, who are gunning to win back-to-back Primeira Liga titles for the first time since a run of three between 2010-11 and 2012-13, the importance of hard work and discipline, dealing with adversity, and aims for the future.

Francesco Farioli during his exclusive interview with Opta Analyst

Let’s rewind to the end of the 2024-25 campaign. Porto had just finished third for the second consecutive season, making it the first time they had finished outside the top two of the Primeira Liga in back-to-back campaigns since the mid-1970s, while their points tally of 71 was their lowest in a 34-game season since 2004-05 (62 points).

Three different managers took charge during the season in the form of two permanent coaches; Vítor Bruno and Martín Anselmi, as well as interim boss José Tavares.

This was a club in serious need of rejuvenation, and so they turned to former Nice and Ajax boss, Farioli.

“Since the first moment I spoke with the president [André Villas-Boas], for me, the decision to join the club was clear and now, I can say of course that it was the right decision,” Farioli tells Opta Analyst.

“I believe that we met in a very good moment for both of us. Both myself and the club, we felt the same level of desire, the same level of commitment in changing things and adapting ourselves in order to click, in order to work properly, to rebuild and to revamp the squad and this is what we tried to do.

“Last summer was a really important market, we had to bring in players with a certain mentality that could help us to bring the Porto DNA to the centre of everything that we were doing.”

The club brought in the likes of Victor Froholdt from Copenhagen, Gabri Veiga from Al-Ahli, and Borja Sainz from Norwich City to bolster the midfield and attack, players with an appetite who wanted to prove they could excel at the next level in a high-pressure environment and play for supporters that were desperate to taste glory once again.

At the back, Jan Bednarek came in from Southampton, Alberto Costa from Juventus and Jakub Kiwior from Arsenal, three players who contributed enormously to the team’s fantastic defensive numbers, with Porto’s 18 goals conceded the fewest of any team across Europe’s top 10 leagues last season, while their 21 clean sheets were also the most.

For Farioli though, those statistics are a testament to the whole team, not just the result of the brilliance of goalkeeper Diogo Costa and the back four in front of him.

“Of course, the defenders played a key role. If you look at individuals, having a goalkeeper like Diogo Costa is definitely an advantage, but I truly believe that these numbers come from a collective effort.

“Recently, I saw that William Gomes, one of our wingers, ranks as one of the best in terms of his defensive effort and this says a lot about the contribution of everybody.”

Gomes has won possession in the final third in the Primeira Liga nine times this season, the most of any Porto player.

“I believe that the game is an accumulation of moments and momentum within the game, and that’s why the competitive capacity of the team is the key,” Farioli adds. “We have a group of players starting from the striker all the way to the goalkeeper where everybody is absolutely committed in helping the team and in those moments where we lose the ball, the players are prepared to react to that moment.”

Throughout the history of the club, some of the greatest Porto sides have mixed flair with aggression, finely striking the balance between supreme talent on the ball with an incredible tenacity off it. The supporters demand it; they expect their players to battle for every ball and then be capable of creating magic when they win it. It’s a formula that has served the club well throughout history and it’s something Farioli is conscious of.

“I believe there are certain behaviours that are quite contagious. Running those extra meters, putting in the extra effort, the desire to run for my team-mate when it’s close to the end of the match is something that is a positive virus and this is what our team has,” he says.

“The commitment needs to be at a certain level, the self-demands need to be really high and our environment needs to be one that recognises and appreciates this and I think this is why we have created a very strong bond within the club, with the city, with what the supporters love to see. We have mixed the desire for a certain style of football with my desire that I had in all of my previous clubs, where I want to have a team of workers, a team of people that want to fight for every single ball in every single match and this type of belief is something that I create, a unique chemistry between the players, us as a technical staff, the club and our supporters.”

Porto have shown themselves as a team who are able to adapt from game to game, a flexible side capable of showcasing different strengths depending on the competition, the opponent and the players they have at their disposal. But with nearly 16 months at the club, one feature of Farioli’s Porto team that is a constant is the importance of the wide players, who at times are expected to push high and wide in an effort to really stretch the pitch and who are challenged by the coach to consistently deliver goals and assists. 

“There are principles or certain behaviours that we love to see in terms of attitude and tactical demands,” Farioli says. “As you can imagine, playing so often, especially in different competitions with the level around that is constantly rising, it demands from our side a constant adaptation, a constant ability to be spot on in what we feel and what we believe could be the areas where we can create trouble for the opponent.

“Of course, the position of the winger, especially in the way that we play, is one of the main threats, not just for them to be wide, but sometimes further inside, according to what the game at that point needs. The threat from the wide positions is something that we really believe in for the way we play. It is something that helps a lot with our chance creation and our wingers offer a lot of offensive contributions.”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Farioli at Porto, though. 

Last season, with the team pushing for the Primeira Liga title and into the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, talisman Samu Aghehowa, who that season had netted 20 goals in 32 matches across all competitions, suffered a devastating ACL injury in February, ruling him out of action for the rest of the campaign. It was exactly the kind of setback that could have derailed the whole season, especially with so much football still to play.

“Last season the injury of Samu arrived at the beginning of February, at a point when we were in the thick of the title race, in the middle of the Europa League campaign, while we were also still involved in the domestic cup,” Farioli recalls. “It was a stone in the face for all of us, for the players, for the whole squad. 

“What was really special was the fact that all of the players felt a responsibility to step up, to share the goals that we were expecting from Samu. We had to gain some extra opportunities through other methods, for example from set-pieces. We had to find a different way to attack and to generate the right opportunities because, of course, losing a player that is so important and so impactful in the way that we attack was not easy.

“I have to say that the players that replaced him, of course, with their own characteristics and their different qualities, made a big effort. We increased the goals scored from our offensive midfielders, with those players becoming one of our main goalscoring threats. Then we had the contribution of the wingers and also the centre-backs, we improved with our set-pieces which allowed us to score goals this way.  What was great was the reaction of everybody and how everybody tried to help to minimise this massive injury in order for us to achieve what we wanted to achieve.”

Despite suffering such a loss in Samu, Porto’s underlying numbers stayed remarkably consistent. The Dragões had a points-per-game average of 2.65 prior to Samu’s injury, a figure that only marginally dropped to 2.63 in his absence, while their goals-per-game average in the Primeira Liga slightly improved from 2 to 2.1.

“We have a style of play, the way that we train, the way that we attack the box, the way that we use the width,” Farioli says. “Last season, let’s say we had four strikers, but unfortunately (Luuk) De Jong was out for almost all the season, Samu got injured in February, and we ended the season with just Terem Moffi and Deniz Gül as the players who shouldered the responsibility as number nines, and they are players that are very different.

“I would say Samu is probably the most complete profile. De Jong is a striker that needs to be in the box, who is fantastic in the air. Moffi is more of a player that is able to attack the space and then Gül, in terms of profile and characteristics is quite similar to Samu, very complete but he didn’t have that level of experience to carry everything on his shoulders. So, we had to find like small adaptations as with different players it is not the same. They are all different players. It’s not the same to attack the box with De Jong and to attack the box with Samu.  

“We have to plan according to the characteristics of the number nine, but also the characteristics of wingers and offensive midfielders, there are certain relationships between players that need to be respected, that need to be emphasised, that need to be worked on in training sessions in order to be ready for matches.”

In terms of Farioli himself, the young coach has been previously praised for his clear communication style, his man management and his ability to foster deep connections with his players, which is something that the Italian values highly. 

“As a coach, priority one is to build a group and a squad, knowing, of course, that in the squad there are several different characters, several different players that are at a different level of their career, some are more experienced, some are younger and more inexperienced, players that are used to working with certain demands and some that need to be educated. Every four or five months there is a transfer market that is constantly manipulating and shaping the team in different ways, sometimes bringing the opportunity to bring in a player with attributes that you are really looking for, other times you lose players that are really important for you and you then need to adjust and to find a new solution.  

“What I try to do is to set very clear standards, to have a very direct, open, and fair communication with everybody, even though at some point this can of course create conflicts. When conflict does appear, I try to face it immediately or as soon as possible because from my short experience, delaying or skipping these kinds of difficult conversations doesn’t help at all, because it’s usually something that you then carry into the future which can spiral into something that you can’t manage. 

“I like to be very fair with my players, for example when new potential signings come into the building and I have a conversation with them, I like to be very direct with them, even if it means it could risk a deal not happening, but I really want the player to be aware about what I’m expecting, what we as a club expect, what type of demands they are going to be under day in, day out, on the pitch, off the pitch, which behaviour is acceptable for us and which isn’t. I believe having this clarity helps a lot. 

“In the end, these demands I place upon the players become normal and part of our reality. Here in our group for example, any misbehaviour or attitude that isn’t at the right level or standard, most of the time I don’t even need to step in personally because it’s usually a fellow teammate that will intervene to stop it going any further. This is something that honestly makes me really proud.

“I am working with a group that in this sense, is really mature and it makes me feel really proud to work with them every single day.”

Porto went on to win the Primeira Liga last season with two games to spare, picking up 88 points, their best return since the 2021-22 season (91).

Three seasons without a title just isn’t good enough for a club like Porto, while finishing outside the top two, something they did in both 2023-24 (3^rd) and 2024-25 (3^rd) is even worse. Porto, who are in much better shape now than before Farioli’s arrival, have now got their targets set on defending their crown for the first time since a run of three titles between 2010-11 and 2012-13.

“Last season when we met at the beginning of July and we decided to start to work together and to build towards the new campaign,” Farioli says. “Of course, we both wanted to win, we both had the anger and the desire to be successful, whilst knowing how difficult this league can be. Last season we won the league with two games to spare, but in this league, you need to win a lot of matches to put yourself in a position to be champions.

“We won 28 matches out of 34 and there is a feeling of pressure in every single match that you cannot drop a single point because it will be crucial at the end. It creates an obsession of the small details, knowing that in the end those small details will prove to be beneficial. It’s very demanding, it’s very heavy and it can be very difficult to cope with but at the end of it all, being at a club like Porto, a club with such dimension and tradition, it couldn’t be any other way.  

“So, putting all these things together, my hunger for results, the history of this club as well as the spirit that this group has had since my first day with them, this helps us to build a connection, a strong bond where if one person is down, there is another teammate ready to step in to help keep the level and the standards at a certain point.

“This has been a key part in what we have already done together but the past is the past, the trophies are already in the museum and now it’s time to move on and go for more. This season is going to be a very long marathon, and we have to be ready for everything that is going to appear in the road.”

Porto have won all of their first seven Primeira Liga matches this season, making Farioli the first manager in Portuguese top-flight history to win each of his first seven matches in consecutive campaigns. Rather than be content with their work from the previous season, the Dragões are not resting on their laurels and look set to put together another memorable campaign.

“Unfortunately, the good memories [from last season] are already far away from our reality,” Farioli adds. “We all came back in the summer with an empty stomach, with a desire to go again.

“At the entrance of our training ground, I wanted to put up a photograph of our title celebrations, split into two. So, one half is Aliados [an area of Porto] where we celebrated our title, and the other half is empty, because I wanted everybody to be clear that, of course we are coming off the back of a season with very nice memories, but when we first step back into the building a new story is going to be written with new difficulties and new challenges. 

“We can go again with the same hunger and the same desire, with the same standards that we set the year before with the level of expectation that we all have. All of the players came back from the summer even fitter than they were when they left.

“In reality, the 25 or 30 days that they had off, of course they had time to spend moments with their families, but a lot of them really sweated during the summer to be even more ready to face a season where in the league we start from zero once again, we will face new demands in a different beast like the UEFA Champions League and, of course, the two domestic cups, on top of the Supertaça that we won in August.

“There are a lot of things to play for this season and here [at Porto], working like this is very easy, there is no other way than this for us than to work and to try to work harder than all of the others.” 

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