Tirsense's choice of stadium is about 35 minutes by car from their actual home stadium in Santo Tirso and is better suited for what is expected to be a boisterous Benfica crowd.
The first leg game is scheduled to take place on April 9 with the return leg at the Luz on April 23. The winner of this two leg affair will take on the winner of Sporting/Rio Ave in the Finals on May 25.
It was a strange starting XI for Benfica who once again decided to go conservative on the attack from the wing back position, starting Tomas Araujo at right back and Samuel Dahl in for suspended Alvaro in his first start at left back in months.
Barcelona where relentless in their attack especially in the first half and Bruno Lage showed that he clearly could still not find the proper recipe against Barca in their third encounter of the competition this season.
Benfica killer Raphinha opened the scoring just eleven minutes into the contest before Benfica got an equalizer from Otamendi just two minutes later. 17 year old wonderkid Yamal would give Barca the lead once again just fourteen minutes later and Raphinha would get his second of the contest and fifth of the competition against Benfica just before the half.
The second half saw no changes from Lage to start the half, which left many scratching their heads and made you think if Lage actually knew the club needed to score three goals, just get into additional time.
Benfica had an Aursnes goal called back for an offside in the build up to the play, one of nine offsides the club would see called against them on this night.
Benfica in the end lived to regret not pulling off a victory over ten man Barcelona in the first leg, where they could just not get the ball past Barcelona keeper Szczesny. Benfica should receive in the vicinity of €65M total for making it to this stage of the competition.
The club will not turn their attention to capturing the Portuguese League title and are still in the Taca de Portugal competition.
Luisao stated that once he asked for help for the depression, things started to turn around for him, from someone that was becoming isolated and felt helpless to someone that is now looking to help others that are battling their own mental health issues.
Luisao says the move back to Sao Paulo had it's adjustment period with the city's population bigger then all of Portugal but feels that the move was well thought out and has helped with his recovery. Luisao is still signed with Benfica until the end of the year but remains on a leave of absence.
Luisao joined Benfica in the summer of 2003, playing in 15 seasons with the club before taking on a director role the past six. Luisao captured 20 titles and cups with Benfica during his playing days at the club with six of those being Portuguese League titles.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, remember that help is available. Please reach out to a medical professional in your area for help or contact the local crisis line, you are not alone although it may feel that way.
