When we decided to make this move, I don’t think that any of realized how many tough decisions we would have to make. Taking the leap and deciding to make the move was perhaps the hardest decision we made. Some decisions seemed small – like where to live in Lisbon – but truly have an incredible impact on our day-to-day life. We know that there will be many more decisions along the way: Should we buy a car even though most of our large Ikea runs are a thing of the past? Will we move when our lease is up because we need more electricity (#lisbonlife)? If we stay here five years, will we pursue citizenship or will permanent residency be enough for our needs?

However, we faced our most difficult decision this past Friday night… Which football club would earn our undying (just kidding, totally fickle) loyalities – Sporting or Benfica?

In all seriousness, this is a super tough decision (and also one that falls wholly within the category of #firstworldproblems). Football here is such an important sport and there are two major teams that play in Lisbon – S.L. Benfica and Sporting CP. We attended our first Benfica late last year with our friends David and Jay, who did a whirlwind tour of western Europe in an attempt to see as many games as possible. We saw Sporting play last Friday, with a 5-1 win over Estoril Praia. We can all agree on one thing: European football is in a league of its own. The games are vibrant, interesting, engaging, and so, so much fun to watch. But we have to make a decision… so here is a side-by-side comparison:

Uniforms (see, we are starting with the important stuff):

• Sporting wins this hands down. Their home kit includes a green and white striped jersey with green and white striped socks. The Benfica home kit is red. No contest – Sporting just looks better on the field.

Location (and here, I really mean transport to and from the stadium):

• Both stadiums are located within Lisbon and both are accessible by public transit, which is amazing. For us, at least with regards to getting to the stadium, Sporting is slightly easier because we do not have to change metro lines. But both are still easy to get to.
• Getting home is another story. The return trip from Benfica was a flipping nightmare. In fact, I swore off attending any more Benfica games because of how difficult it was to get home. I have since calmed down a little but still feel traumatized by that evening. Sporting, on the other hand, is at the end of the green line. There were no crowds at the station and we didn’t have to deal with an already slammed train making our way to us. We were able to get on, sit down, and not feel squished. Sporting again for the win.

Stadium:

• Benfica wins in this category. Their stadium is much newer*, and much nicer. The Sporting stadium feels like it was built in the 70s and then just left to whittle away. The Benfica stadium is also where the major concerts are held (looking at you T.S. come May!) so maybe that’s why it looks much nicer?

_{* interesting fact – I was curious about the age of the stadiums. They were both built in 2003. Mind. Blown.}

Fans:

• This is another tough category because the crowds were much different from each other. As a side note, the Benfica game we went to was a championship game so we do recognize that the crowd might have been more riled up than usual. But in general, we preferred the Sporting crowd. The spectators seemed much calmer, more respectful. People weren’t crowding the aisles as they had been at the Benfica game. It just felt like a more mature audience. And at my age, that’s what you are going for.
• A funny note about security. First, security guards aren’t a thing in Lisbon, at least not outside the electronic and jewelry stores. Except at football games. And given that we live in a city with few security measures, the amount of security guards at football games is comical. At the Sporting stadium, the pitch is surrounded by a moat type gap and you can only access it via a bridge that has a gate on one end. A locked gate at that. But each of the bridges to the pitch were guarded by no less than 4 security guards. And with every goal, all the security guards moved forward to guard the bridge, the gate, and the pitch. For whatever reason, we found it funny.

Overall vibe:

• Yeah, this wasn’t a contest either. The vibe at the Benfica game was electric. It starts outside the game in the pavillion with loads of food trucks and beer carts (no alcohol is allowed in European football games). The (drunk) crowd spills in to the game and it becomes a carnival. It was so, so loud and there were colored flairs going off in nearly every corner. At times, it felt less like a football game and more like a revolution.

_{Again, this is a Benfica game. NOT a revolution. Photo credit: Ron Smith}

So where did we all land? Here are the final loyalities (subject to change at anyone’s complete whim):

Edie: Sporting (because they sang more songs and there was more action)

Lydia: Sporting (because the jersey is better, they played well together, and there were a lot of assists)

Emily: Sporting

Ron: Sporting

Jaime: Benfica (so this shocked me more than anyone! On paper, Sporting wins hands down in the categories I care about most: uniforms, ease of getting to and from the stadium, mature crowd, etc. But the vibe at Benfica was lightning and just impossible to beat).

In truth, we will continue to go to games for both teams (I mean, we already have all the scarves). As Ron puts it, the games are on different levels. Going to a Sporting game is like going to a neighborhood bar – you do it more regularly, it’s easy, you are comfortable there, it isn’t loud or crowded. Going to a Benfica is like hitting the most popular nightclub in town – it’s loud, crazy, and so much fun… but only every once in a while.

Next up?? A Porto FC game!