Benfica celebrate 20 years at the Luz with mural

On the day the Estadio da Luz celebrated 20 years, Benfica unveiled a new mural celebrating their most outstanding 20 players from the first two decades of the stadium opening as selected by the club's fans. 

Ederson, Jan Oblak, Nelson Semedo, Andre Almeida, Ezequiel Garay, Luisao, Ruben Dias, Nico Otamendi, Alex Grimaldo, Pablo Aimar, Rui Costa, Angel di Maria, Nico Gaitan, Eduardo Salvio, Simao Sabrosa, Rafa Silva, Oscar Cardozo, Nuno Gomes, Joao Felix and Jonas were the players chosen by the fans.

Ten players were present for the unveiling of the mural led by club President Rui Costa. Benfica's Estadio da Luz was opened on October 25, 2003 and was built from scratch as the main stadium of the Euro 2024 tournament being held in Portugal.

 

What is wrong with Benfica in Champions League?

Benfica's struggles in the Champions League this season hit an all-time high when they lost for the second time at home in the competition to keep a perfect record that no one wants to have. Benfica will now be known as the only club to be drawn from pot one in the Champions League to have gone with zero goals and zero points in their first three games of the group stage.

Benfica's chances to advance out of the group stage are currently slim and could be none when they face Real Sociedad away in Spain after suffering a flattering 1-0 loss at home to them just yesterday. Benfica have looked like a shell of last season's club that made a run to the quarterfinals, which some would say that a series of unfortunate events saw the club exit to last years finalists.

But what has happened to the club that has looked terrible in the competition? Looking at the players that currently remain with the club, you have Joao Mario and Rafa Silva, who are a shell of the players that put fright into clubs last season. The pair scored 11 goals between them.

The lack of usage of a true defensive midfielder has also proved costly, as the pair of Orkun Kokcu and Joao Neves are a far cry from last seasons generals Enzo Fernandez and Florentino, who commanded the middle of the field.

For all the accolades that Kokcu and Neves get for their league play, one needs to sit in place of Florentino, who, for reasons unknown, has fallen out of favour with his pig-headed bench boss Roger Schmidt.

Benfica have also failed to replace departing striker Goncalo Ramos, as the trio of Petar Musa, Casper Tengstedt, and Arthur Cabral have yet to step up and provide the pressure up front that Ramos became famous for.

The left back position is also a glaring hole in the squad, as the exit of Alex Grimaldo has cost the club some attacking flare, and the free kick specialist was also known for timely goals, which current replacements Juan Bernat and David Jurasek provide neither.

Benfica have three games to correct the ship, but an advancement from group play may be out of the club's hands at this point in the competition, they can only take it one game at a time and hope for a return to form quickly, but I won't hold my breathe, and neither should you at this juncture.

Benfica awaiting response on trio of injured players

Benfica have a very important Champions League encounter on Tuesday when they host Spanish club Real Sociedad, Benfica are still looking for their first points of this seasons campaign in a game that has turned into a must win for the Eagles.

Benfica looks set to go into the game missing three of their regular starters with Angel di Maria, Orkun Kokcu and Alexander Bah all recovery from injuries, the trio have yet to complete a full training with the club since before the international break.

Benfica's medical department will re-evaluate the players today in Seixal but manager Roger Schmidt is in no hurry to use the trio unless they are given the green light to play as he looks to avoid a relapse in their injuries.

The club knows the importance of Tuesday's game and will look for others on the squad to step up in their absences.