Benfica ready to chase Utrecht left back El Karouani

Benfica and rivals FC Porto are said to have reached out to Utrecht about the availability of Moroccan left back Souffian El Karouani, according to reports out of Spain and has caught the attention of many squads with his fine first half of the season performance in the Netherlands.

El Karouani currently leads the Eredivisie with eight assists and has provided thirteen helpers across all competitions while chipping in three goals in over 2,000 minutes of action. El Karouani who was born in the Netherlands decided to join Morocco's national program debuting with the African side in 2021.

The 25 year old joined Utrecht in the summer of 2023 from NEC Nijmegen on a free transfer and with his current contract set to expire in the summer of 2026. Utrecht are hoping to cash during the winter window with a club that wants the player this season before he walks away for free.

With attack is El Karouani's hallmark, he does provide solid defensive coverage and ranks highly in duels won in the Eredivisie. This is the type of player that Benfica bench boss Mourinho covets and will be pushing the club's hierarchy to make the move.

 

Benfica get first Champions League win of the season

It took five games into the League Phase of the Champions League but Benfica finally got their first win of the competition, when they traveled to the Netherlands and defeated fellow cellar dweller Ajax 2-0.

The win provides the club with a sliver of hope of moving into the playoffs of the competition but with Napoli, Juventus and Real Madrid remaining on their schedule, the club will be in tough to advance again into the knockout rounds.

Benfica got a first half goal from Samuel Dahl, the club's first goal since the first half of their opening game and an injury time goal from Leandro Barreiro in the second half to seal the victory for the Lisbon side.

Jose Mourinho earned his first competitive victory in the competition not including qualifiers since he was on the sideline of Manchester United in December of 2017. 

Benfica will next host Napoli at the Luz on December 10. 

Benfica's Mourinho meltdowns continue after Taca victory

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho expressed strong frustration with his club after their 2-0 victory over third division side Atletico in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal.

Mourinho was particularly upset with his clubs first half performance as they went into the half in a scoreless draw, stating that the club was not mentally present on the field and displayed an unacceptable attitude and lack of professionalism.

The club manager made four substitutions at the half but wish he was able to sub nine of his players off if it was possible. Instead he yanked out Franjo Ivanovic, Enzo Barrenenchea, Tomas Araujo and Joao Rego, replacing them with Ricardo Rios, Leandro Barreiro, Samuel Dahl and Andreas Schjelderup.

The changes seemed to spark the club who scored a pair of goals in the middle of the half with Ricardo Rios getting his head on a Fredrik Aursnes corner and Vangelis Pavlidis scoring from the penalty spot.

These type of lackluster performances do not bode well with the club looking for their first Champions League points of the season as they travel to Amsterdam to take on Ajax in a battle of cellar dwellers on Tuesday.

Mourinho will be hoping for a better overall performance from the club going forward with a couple of important Champions League games coming up and a Lisbon derby against Sporting sandwiched between the two.