Friday, May 21, 2021

Benfica ready for Taca de Portugal Final

Benfica Blog

Benfica go into Sunday's season ending game against Braga looking to hoist their 30th Taca de Portugal title and first trophy win since the 2019 Super Cup as they look to salvage something in what amounted to a disappointing season for the Lisbon giants.

Benfica and Braga will meet for the first time ever in a Taca de Portugal final and go into the game on different runs. Benfica finished the season unbeaten in seven games and have suffered just one defeat in their last fifteen. While Braga have won only three of their last ten games.

Benfica will be without central defender Verissimo who suffered an injury in the final season game but are otherwise relatively healthy going into the game. Benfica defeated Paredes, Vilafranquense, Amadora, Belenenses and Estoril in their run to the final Sunday.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Benfica's Seferovic just misses winning golden boot again

Benfica Blog
Benfica's Seferovic did all he could to try and capture his second golden boot in league play in an exciting final day of football in Portugal. Seferovic entered the final game of the season tied with Sporting's Pote at 20 goals a piece when they day commenced. Benfica would play before Sporting and defeated Guimaraes 3-1, a game in which Seferovic scored a brace to take over the lead in the golden boot race and finish with 22 goals.

Sporting would then play in the final game of the season against Maritimo, a game they handily won 5-1 but unfortunately for Seferovic, Sporting midfielder Pote would score a hat trick in this game and surpass Seferovic by one goal capturing the golden boot. The Swiss International had a terrific second half of the season scoring 16 of his 22 goals after the midway point as he earned regular playing minutes.

The 29 year old appeared in 31 league games and played a total of 2,265 minutes, he also chipped in seven assists to go along with his 22 goals. Sporting's Pote also appeared in 31 games but played 2,645 minutes which is a full four games more then Seferovic. Pote chipped in four assists to go with his league leading 23 goals. Seferovic won the golden boot during the 2018/19 season when he scored 23 goals playing along side Joao Felix before his move to Atletico Madrid in the summer.

Benfica would be wise to cash in on Seferovic during the summer transfer window as his value has never been higher. The club already has Darwin Nunez, Luca Waldschmidt, the possible return of 2019/20 golden boot winner Carlos Vinicius and recent signing Rodrigo Pinho in a crowded striker position. This group may also include youngster Goncalo Ramos especially if Jorge Jesus is sent packing during the summer months.

Monday, May 17, 2021

Benfica looking at return of David Luiz

Benfica Blog
Benfica are being linked once again with former defender David Luiz who will become a free agent in the summer after his contract with Arsenal expires. Luiz was linked with a return to Benfica last summer but re-signed for another year with the London based club. The 34 year old was with Benfica last, in the winter of the 2010/11 before being sold to Chelsea for €25M.

Luiz spent three and half seasons with Chelsea before moving to PSG for two seasons and then returning to Chelsea for three more years before settling with Arsenal in the summer of 2019. Benfica is rumoured to have offered Luiz a salary of €33,000 a week to join the club which would be a major pay cut from his current €100,000 a week he currently earns.

A move to a crowded Benfica back end is not the best resources of funds that the team could spend considering the club needs to shore up it's midfield for next season. Luiz appeared in 130 games across all competitions while at Benfica were he scored six goals while setting up nine. The ball would be in Luiz's court if he would be open to take a massive pay cut to join a club he still loves.