Portugal’s top flight, known as both the Primeira Liga and Liga NOS, is currently ranked as the seventh best in Europe by UEFA’s coefficients, but it’s often one of our favourites and easily among the most entertaining.
From Eusebio to Jose Aguas, some great strikers have graced Portugal’s top flight over the years, and today we’re taking a look at their last seven top scorers. As always, it is the last 7 top scorers, rather than the last seven seasons, and as one player has been top scorer twice and another three times recently, this seven takes us all the way back to the 2007-08 season – although every player is still active.
The last 7 Portuguese Primeira Liga Top Scorers: Where are they now?
7. Bas Dost – Sporting
We’ll rattle through the first couple in this seven as quickly as possible, as they’re both rather predictable and obvious. The top scorer in the Portuguese Primeira Liga last season was Sporting striker Bas Dost. A big, clinical centre-forward with excellent movement, Dost has previously played for Heerenveen and Wolfsburg, and he has scored goals throughout his career. Still at Sporting, he ended the 17/18 season as the division’s second highest scorer, trailing the man up next.
6. Jonas – Benfica
Benfica’s forward Jonas from Brasil with Portuguese Super Cup trophy after the match between SL Benfica and VSC Guimaraes at Estadio Municipal de Aveiro on August 05, 2017 in Lisbon,…
The winner of his second Liga NOS Golden Boot in 17/18, Brazilian striker Jonas has been absolutely prolific since signing for Benfica back in 2014. The experienced former Valencia man, who has won 12 caps for Brazil, can play in either attacking midfield or as a central striker. Technically excellent and so composed in front of goal, he scored 32 goals in 34 games for Benfica in the 2015-16 season, but has bettered that this term, with 33 goals in 27 outings, averaging a goal every 72 minutes.
5. Jackson Martinez – Free Agent
A three-time Portuguese Primeira Liga top scorer, Jackson Martinez was the division’s top scorer for every single season he played in Portugal. Quick, strong, brave and ruthless when bearing down on goal, Martinez had Europe’s elite on high alert. He joined Atletico Madrid in 2015 for 35 million euros, but his career has been on a downward trajectory ever since. He scored just 3 goals in 22 games for Atletico, before they somehow turned a profit on him when selling the Colombian to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2016. After just 4 goals in 16 games and one serious ankle ligament injury, his time in the Chinese Super League was brought to an end with his contract being terminated in January 2018. Now a free agent and aged 31, Martinez hasn’t played for Colombia since 2015, and his career is at a crossroads.
4. Oscar Cardozo – Club Libertad AND Lima – Free Agent
A dejected Oscar Cardozo of Benfica looks on during the UEFA Europa League Final between SL Benfica and Chelsea FC at Amsterdam Arena on May 15, 2013 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Tied at the top of the Liga NOS scoring charts back in the 2011-12 season, was Benfica talisman Oscar Cardozo, and Braga’s prolific Brazilian Lima. The two would link up that summer, as Benfica signed the latter and together they formed a formidable strike partnership in Lisbon. Along with Martinez, Cardozo is the other multiple top scorer in this seven, as he won that honour outright in the 2009-10 season, scoring 26 goals in 29 games. Cardozo left Benfica in 2014, enjoying spells in Turkey and Greece, before joining his current club Libertad in his native Paraguay in 2017.
Lima left the Eagles in 2015, heading to the Middle East, where he spent two years in Dubai with Al-Ahli. He has been a free agent since leaving the club last year.
3. Hulk – Shanghai SIPG
Recently included in our list of the seven best paid right wingers in world football, Brazilian international Hulk has done very well for himself financially since leaving Porto back in 2012. Such a powerful and explosive wide man with an absolute cannon of a left foot, Hulk was great to watch during his time in Portugal. Having arrived from Japan, he bagged 77 goals in 170 games for the Portuguese giants, including 23 in 26 in his most impressive league season. Linked with everyone from Manchester City to Barcelona and Real Madrid, he ended up at Zenit St Petersburg. After four years banging them in in Russia, Hulk is now doing likewise in China, lining his pockets and scoring goals for fun against second and third rate opposition.
2. Nene – Bari
Anderson Miguel Da Silva Nene of Cagliari Calcio competes for the ball with Mattia Cassani of Parma FC during the Serie A match between Parma FC and Cagliari Calcio at Stadio Ennio Tardini…
There’s a strong South American influence on this seven, and in second place is another Brazilian in the form of Nene. Nene’s time in Portugal was short but sweet. He spent just a single season in the division with Nacional, bagging 20 goals in 28 games to win the Golden Boot, before making a £4 million move to Cagliari in Serie A. The uncapped 34-year-old has been playing in Italy ever since, and he is currently playing his trade for Bari in Serie B.
1. Lisandro Lopez – Racing Club
It’s worth noting that there are seven South Americans in the video, one Dutchman and not a single Portuguese. In top spot is the first Argentinian, Lisandro Lopez. At his best, Lopez had searing pace, good technique and a really cool eye in front of goal. He made his name with Racing Club in Argentina, before making a 2.3 million euro move to Porto in 2005. That proved to be an inspired piece of business, as Lopez went on to score 63 goals in 143 games for the club, winning four league titles in four seasons, and being named as the divisions top scorer in the 2007-08 season. He went on to score equally prolifically for Lyon in France, followed by a couple of seasons in Qatar. Now aged 35, Lopez is back at boyhood club Racing, where he is still scoring.
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