Benfica's season is over.... now what?

Benfica's 2023-24 campaign is all but done with two meaningless games remaining in league action as the club settles for second spot this season after their humiliating loss to Famalicao over the weekend handed the Portuguese League crown to cross-town rivals Sporting. 

President Rui Costa will have some serious decisions to make this summer, with the most hotly debated being whether manager Roger Schmidt should return for a third season after a disappointing campaign that saw the club only capture the Super Cup to kick off the football season.

Schmidt still has two years remaining on his contract and his departure from the club with his staff could prove quite costly. The other decisions that Costa will need to make is which players will remain with the club next season and which will see their time end.

The club has free agents in Angel di Maria and Rafa Silva. The thought is that both would be open to remaining with the club, but Costa would be best to save those potential big salaries that both players would command and go in a different direction next season.

Benfica also has a striker issue, with only Marcos Leonardo, who arrived in January, likely to continue at the club next season. So look for the club to move on from low scoring strike options Arthur Cabral and Casper Tengstedt when the summer window opens.

Look for Benfica to also cash in on some of their more valuable youngsters, with Antonio Silva and Joao Neves' names the most mentioned moving on, but I can only see the club moving on from one of the two, with the most likely candidate being Antonio Silva.

Benfica should also make some smaller moves with the likes of Joao Mario, Florentino and Morato potentially donning new club jerseys next season. This will be an interesting summer and Benfica fans hope that the next set of departures and arrivals will bring silverware next season.