When it comes to the old university towns, the British speak of Oxbridge, the Spaniards speak of Salamanca, and the Portuguese proudly propose Coimbra. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

There is a well-known saying in Portugal: "Work in Porto, study in Coimbra, enjoy in Lisbon", which highly encapsulates the characteristics of Portugal's three major cities.

Coimbra is located on the right bank of the Mondegu River in the north of Lisbon, and is an important town in central Portugal. It is a mountain town like Shuangqing, but much smaller, having served as a royal capital in the Middle Ages until Alfonso III moved its capital to Lisbon.

There is no industry in the city, and most of the residents are engaged in teaching and research related to the University of Coimbra and in services such as rental houses and restaurants.

Known as the "Athens of Portugal", Coimbra has an elegant atmosphere and numerous monuments. It is also famous for having the oldest university in Portugal.

The University of Coimbra was founded in Lisbon in 1290 by King Dinis of Portugal. In 1308, the Portuguese king decided that Coimbra was more suitable for study and decided to move the university north here. The school moved from place to place several times until it finally settled in Coimbra in 1537.

As one of the important teaching and research centers in Portugal, the University of Coimbra today has a total of 8 faculties including liberal arts, law, medicine, pharmacy, science and engineering, economics, education, and physical education.

The main point here is the football club that bears the name of the University of Coimbra.

The University of Coimbra Football Club was founded by the University of Coimbra Student Union and is now an independent professional football club.

Founded in 1876, the team is influential throughout the country and is the oldest school sports organisation in Portugal due to its origins as the student union.

The team has the fourth largest number of fans in the country, behind Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica's traditional top three. Since the club is historically and emotionally linked to the life of the University of Coimbra, many university students, and even alumni of the previous generation, have become long-term supporters of the team at some age. In other words, the population of Ciudad Coimbra is closely related to the number of supporters of the club.

The home stadium of the University of Coimbra is the Stadio Coimbra, which is managed by the municipality and has 30,210 seats. Until 2003, the stadium was called the Municipal Stadium of Coimbra with only 15,000 seats, but it was later remodeled to host the 2004 European Championship.

For more than a decade, the University of Coimbra has been playing in the Portuguese Super League, although the strength is mediocre, but also the relegation is worry-free, in terms of honors, it has won the Portuguese Cup twice, but its first Portuguese Cup was the first winner of the 1938-39 season, when he won the first cup trophy in the team's history by beating Benfica, one of the traditional top three, 4-3. The second was a 1-0 win over another traditional top three in 2011-12.

However, the 100-year-old team was relegated from the bottom last season, and this season they were mixed in the Portuguese First Division.

In order to return to the Super League, the team brought in former Portugal international Francesco Costinha, the "Portugal's Makelele" midfielder, who has participated in two European Championships and one World Cup, and in terms of club honors, he has not only won the league title, but also won the UEFA Cup and the European Champions Cup, which can be said to be a champion player.

After embarking on the road of coaching, the first team in his career was the University of Coimbra, and after half a season in charge, he has already played the team in a strong Costinian style: weak in attack and strong in defense.

There are 22 teams in the Portuguese first division, the top two in the league are directly promoted, and the bottom four are directly relegated, which can be said to be the second tier league with the fewest promotion places and the most relegation places, and the competition is very cruel.

It has been half a year since he joined the century-old team with the fourth largest number of fans in the country in July to January 2017. From the elimination of Gilveson on penalties in the opening game of the Portuguese League Cup, to the loss to Portuguese Super League side Estoril in the quarterfinals of the Portuguese Cup, plus three friendlies, Costinha has completed a full 30 games, which is not bad, but it is not good, because the third place in the league Università Coimbra has only 36 points, far behind Portimonense at the top of the table with 55 points and Avis, who occupy second place in the league with 49 points.

Why is there a double-digit difference between the University of Coimbra in third place and the top two?

Looking at the data, Portimonense, who is at the top of the table, has 17 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, scoring 44 goals and conceding 12 goals, not only scoring the first goal in the league, but also conceding the fewest goals in the league.

Second-placed Avis, with 14 wins, 7 draws and 1 loss, has scored the second most goals and conceded 16, behind Portimonense and Universitatea Coimbra, and the goal difference is second only to the top team.

With only 10 wins, as many as the fourth and fifth wins in the league, and a whopping six defeats in addition to seven draws, the University of Coimbra has been able to retain third place in the league by a slight margin.

In addition to too many defeats, the biggest problem of the University of Coimbra is that the attack is too weak, 21 league goals are not only the fewest in the top 10 in the league, but also the third lowest in the league, the only shot is defense, 15 goals conceded second only to the top team, the second fewest in the league.

Università Coimbra this season is a typical home and away weak, since the second round of the league 1 goal home defeat to Santa Clara, home in all competitions unbeaten, especially from November to the present, a wave of 6 consecutive home wins, but only conceded one goal, which shows the power of the University of Coimbra's home dragon.

But once it comes to the away game, except for the first game and the two away wins in early October, the rest of the games are either draws or losses, especially from the draw with Covilha on October 5, the University of Coimbra has not won 9 away games in all competitions, and in the 6 defeats, the away side accounts for 4, which shows that the away results of the University of Coimbra have dragged the University of Coimbra to the back.

Although the defense wins the championship, but in the case of the University of Coimbra, only by winning can it be surpassed, because what is needed for promotion is the score.

However, the Portuguese league is already halfway through the schedule, and looking at the double-digit point difference between the University of Coimbra and the top and bottom of the table, if it cannot improve the winning rate on the road, the promotion goal of the University of Coimbra can only be placed next season.

Time: January 22, 2017, 3:55 a.m.

Location: San Miguel Stadium

The coach of the University of Coimbra, Costinha, stood on the sidelines, looking around and frowning.

Could it be that you really can't keep your palm?