Benfica miserable season just brings more lows

Benfica's horrendous season just continues as they are unable to hang onto a lead, then an advantage in their second leg Europa League encounter against Arsenal. Benfica fell behind to start the game but equalized on a fantastic free kick by Diogo Goncalves, they then took the lead on an Arsenal mishap as Rafa Silva put them in front 2-1 with thirty minutes left in the game. The lead latest all but six minutes as Arsenal brought the game level and with three minutes left in the game, Arsenal striker Aubameyang scored his second goal of the game to put the final nail in Benfica's coffin.

Jesus' poor move to strip club number one goalie Vlachodimos of his starting spot and replace him with Helton Leite, was never more evident then on Arsenal's second goal which many feel should have been stopped but seemed to catch Leite moving the wrong way. Leite almost then gifted the game to Arsenal when his clearance deflected off an Arsenal player and gave the London side a chance to take the lead but they missed the opportunity wide.

Benfica has a Taca de Portugal final to play for an by the looks of it, not much else after spending a record €100M+ this season on a busted tire. Tomorrow may bring the end of a painful run led by Jorge Jesus who's time at the club should be over but may not be due to his relationship with club President Luis Filipe Vieira. 

Benfica loan Yony Gonzalez to Ceara

Benfica have loaned Colombian winger Yony Gonzalez to Brazilian side Ceara until the end of 2021 as the club continues to move around the 26 year old winger who has a contract with the Lisbon side until the summer of 2024. Benfica acquired Yony on a free transfer from Fluminense during the winter transfer window of 2020 but he has yet to play a game for Benfica and has been loaned to Corinthians, L.A. Galaxy and now Ceara since the signing. Ceara will not pay Benfica any loan fee for the move but will pay the wingers full salary as part of the agreement.

When is enough, enough when it comes to Jorge Jesus

Benfica continue to struggle under the management of Jorge Jesus after being held to a scoreless draw this afternoon against Farense and it seems Jesus' magic was left at Flamengo and change should be upon us. Jorge Jesus return to Benfica, which was hailed by many as a master coup, has been nothing short of a colossal failure. The Jesus experiment should be all but over if Benfica fail to move on in Europa League action later this week, or will it? Luis Filipe Vieira went out of his way to spend an enormous amount of money this summer to appease the arrival of Jorge Jesus totaling over €100M, Jesus arrival has also caused a hit to Benfica's Seixal academy which has seen an exodus of the clubs younger players leave on loan or see minimal playing time due to Jesus' stubbornness to adapt to change.

Jesus overall record since returning to the club, sees him with 20 wins, 10 draws and 6 losses but what that record fails to tell you is that Jesus has FAILED to win what many would call "important games" this season against rivals or in Europe. Benfica have been unable to defeat FC Porto, Sporting and Braga in league and cup play, they also failed to defeat the Rangers twice in a battle for the top spot of their Europa group, they failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage after a loss to PAOK and we just witnessed the latest failure this past week when the club played Arsenal to a draw in the first leg of the round of 32 Europa League action. 

Jesus record is an unimpressive 0 (wins), 4 (draws) 4 (losses) in these contests. Would a manager of any other name who sits in fourth place in the league, fifteen points out of first, still be at the helm of Portugal's biggest and most popular club? Luis Filipe Vieira, Rui Costa and the clubs directors need to sit down and have a serious conversation about which direction this club is to take and when they get moving down that road, make sure to leave Jorge Jesus off at the bus stop, as his time with the club should be done.