Benfica return to action in the Portuguese League and get set to take on Maritimo as they look to continue atop Portugal. Benfica last played a league game on November 9 against Santa Clara. Benfica
play Maritimo at home today at 6pm WEST.
Keepers- Vlachodimos, Ivan Zlobin
Defenders- Ferro, Alex Grimaldo, Jardel, Tomas Tavares, Andre Almeida, Nuno Tavares, Ruben Dias
Midfielders- Pizzi, Franco Cervi, Gedson Fernandes, Gabriel, Florentino, Taarabt Chiquinho, Caio Lucas
Forwards- Jota, Carlos Vinicius, Raul de Tomas
Former Benfica player Joao Felix has been awarded the 2019 Golden Boy Award following in the footsteps of Renato Sanches who won the award in 2016 as the second Benfica academy player and second Portuguese player to have been given the honour.
The Golden Boy award commenced in 2003 by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport and is now voted on by 11 other newspapers across Europe, in total 40 journalists vote on the award. The Golden Boy award is given to a young footballer under the age of 21 who plays in Europe and who is perceived to have been the most impressive during the calendar year. The journalists vote on the Top 5 players with 10 points being awarded to the top vote getter, 7 points for second, 5 points for third, 3 for fourth and 1 for fifth. Joao Felix who made a move from Benfica to Atletico Madrid this summer for a club record €126M scored 18 goals for Benfica last season in all competitions and has chipped in two goals for Atletico this season before suffering an ankle injury. Felix was also a member of Portugal's 2019 League of Nations title.
Voting Results for the 2019 Golden Boy Award:
1- Joao Felix (Benfica/Atletico Madrid) 332 points
Country - Portugal
2- Jadon Sancho (B. Dortmund) 175 points
Country - England
3- Kai Havertz (B. Leverkusen) 75 points
Country - Germany
4- Erling Haaland (Red Bull Salzburg) 74 points
Country - Norway
5- Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus) 71 points
Country - Netherlands
Benfica coughed up a two goal lead after the 89th minute to German side RB Leipzig ending any hopes of advancing to the round of 16 in Champions League action. The draw in Germany eliminated Benfica from progressing and the club will now need to win their last home game against Zenit to have any hope of remaining in UEFA this season and moving into the Europa League as the third place team in the group. The final round of games could result in many tie breaker scenarios which we will review at the end of the blog after the game recap.
Benfica came into the game knowing they needed a road win to keep their Champions League hopes alive after Zenit defeated Lyon in the earlier game. Benfica started the game on the right foot as Chiquinho tried his luck from range but his volley just went over the net two minutes in. Leipzig captain Forsberg then would get a break when Benfica midfielder Taarabt lost possession in a poor position but his effort sliced over the bar. The clubs continued to exchange chances in the first twenty minutes but it would be Benfica who would open the scoring when Pizzi would drill his shot into the bottom right corner to give Benfica a 1-0 lead. Leipzig would then look for the equalizer after a Benfica defensive error but Vlachodimos would be up for the challenge making the stop on Nkunku. Vlachodimos would be tested again within minutes first stopping a Forsberg low strike, he would follow that up with a spectacular palm save on Sabitzer from the center of the box as Leipzig took control of the game. Benfica though would come close to scoring before the half when a Pizzi curled shot would clip the post and go wide. The half would end with Benfica up 1-0 even though Leipzig controlled large portions of the first half.
