The triumph at home for the vimaranenses for the Cup, with a goal from Pepê in the 52nd minute, was the last achieved by the portistas, who are going through a crisis of results in the I League, in which they have not won in three games.

To mark its presence in its 34th Cup final, which it has already won 19 times and of which it is the holder, FC Porto will have to reverse a negative cycle against a Vitória on a high, given the recent results and the approach to third place in the I League.

After the triumph in the first leg at Vitória's home, FC Porto once again measured its strength against the vimaranense team for the championship, but this time lost at home by 2-1, on April 7, adding a second consecutive defeat, after the defeat in Estoril Praia (1-0).

Winning only one point in the last three games of the I League -- achieved on Saturday at home with Famalicão (2-2) - left the portistas in third position, with 59 points, tied with Sporting de Braga, and 15 behind the leader Sporting and 11 behind Benfica.

FC Porto and Vitória de Guimarães meet for the third time in a short space of time and the balance shows a triumph for each team, with the third game, on Wednesday, being worth a place in the Cup final, at the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras, with Sporting.

Caught on Sunday by Sporting de Braga in third place, FC Porto is looking for the necessary serenity to stamp its presence in the final and thus still be able to lift a trophy this season.

Sérgio Conceição, lately critical of refereeing errors, will not be able to count on Brazilian forward Evanilson for this game, who was sent off with a straight red card in the stoppage time of the game with Famalicão, for a header on Mihaj.

Evanilson, who is the top scorer in the Cup, with seven goals, thus weakens the portista team for a decisive game and increased to nine the number of times that the red card was shown to the 'dragons' this season in the I League.

FC Porto is still looking to redeem itself against Vitória for the results in recent games and make peace with its fans, who toasted the players and coach, last Saturday against Famalicão (2-2), with a chorus of whistles.

On the other hand, Vitória is in good spirits, still fighting to get closer to third place in the I League, which is two points away, and returns to Dragão, where it won two rounds ago by 2-1, further aggravating the portistas' crisis.

The draw in the last round at home with Farense (1-1), after a cycle of five consecutive triumphs in the I League, prevented the team led by Álvaro Pacheco from joining FC Porto and Sporting de Braga in third place, but does not affect the good moment of the minhotos.

FC Porto and Vitória will face each other on Wednesday, at 8:15 pm, at the Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, refereed by Artur Soares Dias, from the Porto association, in the second leg of the 'semi-finals', after the portistas' 1-0 triumph in Guimarães.