Benfica need second half to get going in win over Auckland City

Benfica delivered a convincing 6-0 win over amateur club Auckland City at the Club World Cup but the game was far from straight forward thanks to a terrible first half by the Lisbon side and a lengthy weather delay that didn't see the second half commence after a two and a half hour delay.

Benfica showcased their superiority in the end, led by Angel di Maria but Auckland City's first half resilience was the talk of the first forty-five minutes of this contest. Benfica were fortunate to take a 1-0 lead to the half with a late penalty given to the club and Angel di Maria once gain coming up aces from the penalty spot.

When the second half did begin, Benfica capitalized on the fading energy of the Auckland players, Vangelis Pavlidis would score a pretty goal set up by Orkun Kokcu just eight minutes into the second half. Renato Sanches would then make it three after just entering the game, when his shot was deflected past Auckland's university keeper.

Leandro Barreiro would score a quick brace within two minutes to take the score up to 5-0 with both goals set up by striker Pavlidis. Angel di Maria would seal Benfica's 6-0 victory with his second goal from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

The scoreline was flattering to Benfica who struggled at times to break down the a semi-professional squad, especially in the first half. Lage's substitutions in the second half looked to spark the club's attack led by Sanches who could have added to his tally if not for some key misses and some key saves from the Auckland keeper.

Benfica will now finish off their group stage against Bayern Munich on Tuesday in Charlotte, with advancement to the knockout stages still up in the air, the club will be happy that they where able to boost their goal differential which may be the deciding factor if the club's participation is to continue in the tournament after Tuesday. 

Benfica set to land RB Salzburg right back

According to reports from sports journalist Fabrizio Romano, Benfica are set to secure a move for RB Salzburg right back Amar Dedic, as the club looks to shore up a position that has lacked depth over the past two seasons.

The 22 year old Bosnian would cost the Lisbon club around €10M to secure his services and would be given the green light to battle current starting and often injured right back Alexander Bah for a regular spot in the club's starting XI as he looks to bring an attacking flair that the club lacked from the right back position for most of the season.

Dedic spent the second half of last season on loan away from Salzburg with French side Marseille. The Bosnian international appeared in 35 combined games for both clubs across all competitions, failing to score a goal but providing seven assists in 2,234 minutes of action.

Look for this to be one of a few moves that Benfica will look to make this summer, as the club looks to add another central midfielder, winger, striker and a likely left back before the start of their season.

Benfica battle back to earn draw in Club World Cup opener

The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was rocking, as Benfica and Boca Juniors delivered the most exciting and controversial game of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup thus far, with the game ending in a 2-2 draw. This clash was a spectacle to watch, turning from a football game to a WWE Royal Rumble by the time the game concluded. There where three red cards, four yellows, and 22 fouls committed in the contest that had fans on the edge of their seats in joy and anger.

Benfica started the game strong, controlling over 60% of possession early on and creating chances through the likes of Renato Sanches and Angel Di María, while Bruma clanked one of the post before being called off side. However, it was Boca Juniors, who struck first in the 21st minute with Lautaro Blanco’s incisive run and low cross path finding its way to Miguel Merentiel, who finished with a clinically goal to give Boca a 1-0 lead.

 

Boca would strike again just six minutes later, when Rodrigo Battaglia's header off of a corner found it's way into the back of the net. The Argentine side capitalized on a pair of mistakes by Benfica, who then struggled to regain their composure for much of the half until just before the break, when Otamendi went down under contact inside the box, a VAR review would award a kick from the penalty spot.

 

Angel di Maria stepped up to the spot and coolly placed the ball into the lower left corner of the net, beating his former international teammate Agustin Marchesin and cutting the lead to 2-1 before the half time whistle would sound, reigniting Benfica's hopes. 

 

The second half would see tensions boil over, queuing the circus music, Benfica did their best to try to equalize but Boca made sure to slow the tempo to a point where the first 25 minutes of the second half actually saw as little as 9 minutes of action. The frustration got the best of the Portuguese club as at the 70th minute mark Andrea Belotti who was just brought in at the half would see a straight red card from a high foot that caught the Boca defender in the head.

 

But Benfica unlike the officials in this match, were relentless and scored the equalizer from a corner set piece as Orkun Kokcu's ball whipped into the box found the head of captain Otamendi who would bring the game level at the 84th minute of the game. Boca would then see a straight red as Jorge Fical went in with a reckless challenge on Florentino at the 88 minute mark leaving both clubs with ten men on the pitch.

 

The final whistle would come quicker then most fans would have expected with the match officials only adding five minutes of injury time to the clock, infuriating hardcore and casual fans alike, who expected at minimum to see double digits from the officials for the time wasting that brought most of the second half to a stand still.

 

Benfica fans can be happy that the club played right to the end and earned a draw but they can also be disappointed with the poor starting XI chosen by Bruno Lage to commence this contest. The officiating was some of the worse seen in sometime and the match crew lost control of this game when they chose to withhold obvious card infractions from the start of the game.

 

Benfica will next face amateur club Auckland City on Friday and know very well that advancement to the next round of the competition may come down to goal differential and they would be wise to hit the New Zealanders with everything they have and pad the scoresheet before they face Bayern Munich next week.