Rio Ave Primera Liga
Rio Ave, Porto's third club after FC Porto and Boavista, were flying high for a time early this season. The tiny club based in Vila do Conde on the Atlantic Coast topped the Portuguese league and were still involved in the Europa League. In the last game of the previous season they reached the final of the Taça de Portugal - the Portuguese Cup - only to lose 1-0 to Lisbon's Benfica.
Mid-season and now Rio Ave are out of European competition though they still stand a creditable sixth in the Primeira Liga.
Rio Ave Futebol Clube play their home games at Estádio do Rio aka Estádio dos Arcos, a compact 12,000 capacity ground that rarely sees attendances of over 2,000 spectators.
Rio Ave FC were founded in 1939 and their present stadium was constructed in 1985.
We caught up with Rio Ave on 18 August, 2014 for a tempestuous 2-0 win over Setubal in front of 1,959 fans on a hot afternoon in northern Portugal. Two second half goals from Diego Lopes and Marcelo settled the game for the home side but not before the hosts had Brazilian Felipe Augusto sent off for an elbow just before the break. Setubal had two men dismissed in the second half in a thoroughly bad-tempered encounter, which left one Rio Ave player down on the far touchline receiving treatment long after the final whistle.
Estádio do Rio is a short walk from Porto Metro Line B station Vila do Conde about 1 hour from central Porto.
Portugal Football
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