Benfica badge selected as one of the best in the world

Football magazine Four Four Two has selected Benfica's emblem as the 15th greatest ever badge in the world in their recently released article of the Top 100 Greatest Football Badges. Benfica's current badge has been in use since 2000 and Four Four Two had this to say about the clubs badge;

"Such is the ostentatious golden eagle in the background of Benfica’s crest that for years, no one has noticed the sodding bicycle wheel behind the crest. Well, did you see it?

The cursed Lisbonites have sported this badge since 2000, though the combination of all these parts goes back as far as 1906. What’s unusual is that blue, green and white heavily feature in the design - colours of Porto and Sporting, Benfica’s biggest rivals. Somehow despite the weird bike wheel, it doesn’t feel anything other than stately and majestic."

FC Porto also made Four Four Two's list selected as the 74th best badge ever.

Benfica tops Portuguese clubs in IFFHS decade rankings

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics released their best teams of the last decade (2011-2020) in European football and Benfica was tops among Portuguese clubs on their released list. Benfica earned 1762 points to finish 20th amongst all European clubs and were closely followed by FC Porto who totaled 1758 points for 21st spot on the list. Sporting with 1371.5 points sat 59th while Braga ranked 69th with 1287 points. The outcome of the IFFHS list is decided by taking into account every teams continental points earned per season over the ten years and adding them together. Barcelona topped the IFFHS list, followed by rivals Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG and Atletico Madrid.

 

Milan make contact with Benfica for striker Nunez

Italian side AC Milan have been in contact with Benfica representatives about their interest in acquiring striker Darwin Nunez for next season as the Milan club looks to bolster their attack. Milan currently have two strikers soon to be over the age of 35 in Ibrahimovic and Mandzukic and with both strikers more prone to injuries, they prefer a youngster  to link up with Portuguese striker Rafael Leao. Milan wants a more reliable striker as they look set to make a return to Champions League action.

Nunez who was acquired by Benfica over the summer from Almeria for a club record €24M has appeared in 34 games across all competitions scoring twelve goals while setting up another nine but has been hampered by an injury over the last month or so. AC Milan are said to have opened the bidding at €50M for Nunez but Benfica value the 21 year old at a more hefty price based on his €150M buy out clause. The negotiations are at their infancy and you can expect the price to go up higher if Milan are serious in acquiring the Uruguayan international.