The defender reached the milestone on his first game back

João Pereira is one of Sporting Clube de Portugal's recent reinforcements, and the first game of his third stint at the club was a special match for more than one reason. The game against CS Marítimo allowed him to reach 150 official matches for Os Leões.

To mark the milestone, this past week Sporting CP president Frederico Varandas presented Pereira with a personalised shirt, a trophy and a commemorative bottle of Super Bock, one of the club's partners

Before signing for the club for a third time, the Portuguese international had already accumulated four years playing in green and white, between 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 and 2015/2016 and 2016/2017.

Pereira arrived at Sporting CP for the first time in the 2009/2010 winter transfer market, joining from SC Braga. After more than 100 games spread over two and a half seasons, he headed to Spain's LaLiga to represent Valencia CF. This was followed by a spell at German side Hannover 96, and in 2015 he returned to Portugal. Another year and a half at Sporting CP followed, during which he won a Portuguese Supertaça (2015). After leaving in January of the 2016/2017 season Trabzonspor, the right back is back in Lisbon on a free, with a contract until the end of the current season.