Monday, September 30, 2019

Benfica struggle to play their style without Felix

Benfica Blog
Benfica have struggled up front to find their form of last season as the move by Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid this summer has left a big hole in the secondary striker spot which has yet to be filled by another player on the current squad. The season is 7 games old but the striker partnership of Seferovic and Raul de Tomas has been a gigantic failure all season, with last seasons leading scorer Seferovic scoring twice in league play and the €20M signing RDT yet to find the back of the net for the Eagles. Bruno Lage has acknowledged as much putting in midfielder Gedson Fernandes in RDT's spot in their last league game against Setubal, hoping that Gedson would provide some Joao Felix magic. Gedson though is not known as a prolific scorer in the way Felix was, so this move could be short lived and Benfica could experiment further with an assortment of players at its disposal.

Carlos Vinicius is one that could be given a longer look in the role along Seferovic, Vinicius has scored twice for Benfica this season while appearing in only 68 minutes of action. Benfica could also look at starting Chiquinho up front in the secondary striker role, once the attacking midfielder returns from injury in October. Benfica manager Bruno Lage has recently admitted that the last few games have been hard for him to watch and knows that the clubs fans expect and deserve better but Lage's style of play requires a mobile moving second striker which the club at this time has yet to find. RDT is more suitable as a central striker and although the club has yet to lose faith in the Spaniard, he may be better suited coming off the bench to substitute a Lage favourite in Seferovic. The season is a long and grueling process but Benfica's title hopes could linger on finding the guy who can play up front along Seferovic and Bruno Lage knows this.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Benfica continue poor play but still win over Setubal

Benfica Blog
Benfica squeak out another victory in the Portuguese League with their 1-0 defeat over Setubal at the Estadio da Luz. It took substitute Carlos Vinicius' goal at the 64th minute for Benfica to earn all three points. Benfica decided to move from a failing strike partnership and started just Seferovic up front with youngster Gedson Fernandes acting as the secondary striker. The first half did not see much action from both clubs with the first and only real scoring chance of the half going to Pizzi at the 35 minute mark when his left footed shot from a difficult angle was stopped by Setubal keeper Makaridze. The second half opened with a Setubal break out were Mansilla was partially in alone on Vlachodimos but his shot went wide off the side netting.
Benfica would then score from a mad scramble off a Grimaldo corner. The teams first shot was stopped by Makaridze off a Ferro kick but Benfica would gain position again after a poor Setubal clear and Rafa Silva's cross was tipped by Makaridze right to striker Carlos Vinicius who's first touch put him in scoring position at the center of the box and he made no mistake to give Benfica the 1-0 lead. Benfica then were reduced to ten men when midfielder Taarabt was handed a straight red card for a hard challenge on Zequinha at the 80th minute. Benfica would then tighten their defensive game as they hung on to defeat Setubal. Next up for Benfica is a Champions League encounter in Russia versus Zenit

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Benfica announce squad for Setubal game

Benfica Blog
Benfica have released their squad for their Week 7 upcoming game against Setubal, Benfuca will look to get back to their winning ways after a scoreless league cup draw midweek against Guimaraes. The game is September 28 at 7pm WEST. They will select 18 players from the list below at game time to dress.

Keepers- Vlachodimos, Ivan Zlobin

Defenders- Ruben Dias, Ferro, Alex Grimaldo, Jardel, Andre Almeida, Tomas Tavares

Midfielders- Pizzi, Rafa Silva, Caio Lucas, Taarabt, Franco Cervi, Fejsa, Gedson Fernandes, Gabriel

Forwards- Seferovic, Raul de Tomas, Jota, Carlos Vinicius