[8] He made his Primeira Liga debut on 19 November 2006, in a 1–0 away win against Marítimo in the tenth round: standing in for habitual club and country first-choice Ricardo, he saved a penalty kick 15 minutes before the end of the game.

[9] In the 2007–08 season, after Ricardo's departure to Real Betis, Patrício beat competition from Sporting veteran Tiago and new signing Vladimir Stojković to become the undisputed starter.

[11] Nothing came of it, however, and in that year's Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, against Porto, he stopped a Lucho González penalty in a 2–0 final success,[12] also being an everpresent fixture in the league.

In the qualifying rounds of the 2009–10 Champions League, at Twente, Sporting were trailing 0–1 in the 94th minute, after a 0–0 tie in the first leg: Patrício rushed to the opposing area for a corner kick, where he went up for a header with Nikita Rukavytsya.

Both players seemed to make contact with the ball, and it was helped into the net for an own goal via the boot of Peter Wisgerhof as the latter side qualified for the last games prior to the group stage.

[14] On 18 October 2014, with the score at 2–1 for his team, he saved a penalty by Jackson Martínez to help oust Porto from the Taça de Portugal with a 3–1 win at the Estádio do Dragão.

[30] He made his debut on 19 August in the first game under compatriot José Mourinho, a 2–1 win away to Trabzonspor in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs.

[31] Three days later he made his first Serie A appearance, a 3–1 victory at home to Fiorentina;[32] he was one of seven players to feature in every game of the season, while only Empoli counterpart Guglielmo Vicario matched him for playing every minute.

On 29 January of the following year, senior team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called him up for a 1–3 friendly defeat against Italy in Zürich,[37] although he did not leave the bench; on 12 May he was picked to the squad for UEFA Euro 2008,[38] but did not play in the tournament.

[43] Patrício was included in Bento's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup as first-choice,[44] and made his debut in the competition in the first encounter against Germany, which ended with a 0–4 loss.

[46] Patrício appeared in his 50th international on 30 June 2016, during Euro 2016: after the 1–1 draw to Poland at the Stade Vélodrome during the first 120 minutes, he saved Jakub Błaszczykowski's attempt in a 5–3 penalty shootout win that qualified his team to the semi-finals.