Europa + Liga Sagres
It has been a busy couple of weeks for the Eagles. Last Thursday saw the Europa league game between Benfica and Marseille. While the team played well, it wasn’t their best game of the season. They scored through Maxi Pereira yet conceded a 90th minute goal from Hatem Ben Arfa. This is good for Marseille having scored an away goal but this does not guarantee anything. With the next leg of the game on Thursday Jorge Jesus has already announced his squad list. Cesar Peixoto has not been called up which raises a few eyebrows, but it was also noted that Peixoto had suffered a left knee injury. Though with the Carlsberg Cup on Sunday it is possible that Jorge Jesus is waiting to see if Peixoto will be fully fit for that. I am fully confident of the teams ability to beat Marseille. Having the second highest goal tally in the Europa league with 19, they are very clearly able to score. I am expecting a well balanced game with attacks from both sides. Hopefully they can pull together and break out a win and continue on towards another trophy. The squad is still strong with almost everyone else available. If Benfica can turn up and start straight off to the point and score early then the team can put away the game early on and rest the starters which would give them a break and a chance to take a break before Sunday.
Team list for Thursday:
Guarda-redes: Júlio César, Moreira e Quim;
Defesas: Maxi Pereira, Luisão, David Luiz, Miguel Vítor e Sidnei;
Médios: Airton, Ramires, Ruben Amorim, Javi Garcia, Carlos Martins, Pablo Aimar, Felipe Menezes, Di María, Fábio Coentrão e Éder Luís;
Avançados: Saviola, Cardozo, Nuno Gomes, Kardec e Weldon.
Two weeks ago Benfica captured their 22nd win of the season over Pacos Ferreira with goals from Ruben Amorim (13th minute), Javier Saviola (17th minute), and Oscar Cardozo (58th minute). While the possession may have been fairly even, Benfica completely dominated the game. They were better able to control the ball and take the shots that needed to be taken and score. It was clear that Pacos Ferreira had no real chance of getting back into the game, even with scoring a goal. Substitutes were Felipe Menezes in the 71st minute for Airton, Sidnei for Carlos Martins (80th minute), and Cesar Peixoto for Javier Saviola (82nd minute). Benfica continued to pressure and held out for the win. They would once again be in the lead for top spot, 3 points ahead of Braga in the league standings.
The next weekend saw the game against Nacional. At this point in the weekend Benfica were tied again with Braga on 55 points. A lose would of course mean being back neck and neck so a win was vital. The first half of Benfica was not pretty. They posed no real threat and never managed to look like they would score or even make a splash. Many Benfica fans probably were starting to sweat a little bit knowing that Braga were once again so close. However that would all end in the second half with a 58th minute goal by none other than Oscar Cardozo. You could tell how much the team needed it, with Jorge Jesus and Rui Costa getting in on the celebrations. While Benfica did not score again they managed to look a little more convincing for the rest of the game. They were not their 100% but they still managed to pull out the win. They had a chance for two goals with a penalty miss by Oscar Cardozo some minutes before he scored, another reason why the team was elated for the goal. Substitutes for this game were Maxi Pereira for Pablo Aimar (70th minute), Cesar Peixoto for Javier Saviola (81st minute), and Alan Kardec for Angel Di Maria (87h minute). So this once again puts Benfica ahead of Braga with 58 points, 3 above Braga, 11 above Porto, and a full 20 above Sporting. The week of the 27th is the big game against Braga which could either make it one more step further towards the title or a step back in which would be a blow to the team though they would still have chances to break free once again.
But before then there is the Carlsberg Cup final against Porto on Sunday March 21st. I’ll be posting the preview tomorrow or Thursday for that. Jas, who does Porto, may be unavailable to do hers with internet problems so I may end up doing both point of views. Stayed tuned for that.
