Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Pedro Pereira returns to Italy on loan

Benfica Blog
Benfica right back Pedro Pereira will be returning to Italy to join Serie B side Monza on loan with a mandatory option to make the move permanent in January for €3M. The 25 year old has a tonne of experience playing in Italy already having appeared with Sampdoria, Genoa and last season as a member of Crotone. 

Benfica acquired Pereira in the winter of 2017 from Sampdoria for €2.66M but he has appeared in only one league game with the club, spending the majority of his time as member away on loan. Pereira joins U21 international Danny Mota at Monza as the Italian side looks to earn promotion to Serie A.

Monday, July 19, 2021

Rui Vitoria's Spartak first test in Champions League qualification

Benfica Blog
Benfica's quest to land in the Champions League group stage and all the millions that are involved for qualifying for UEFA's premier club event is set to kick off against former bench boss Rui Vitoria's Spartak Moscow. Benfica found out their opponents in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League earlier today in Nyon, Switzerland and are set to face the Russian side on either August 3/4 in Moscow and August 10 in Lisbon.

A win by Benfica will move them into the final playoff which will put them one tie away from the group stage while a loss will see the club fall into the Europa League group stage for a second straight season. Rui Vitoria managed Benfica from the summer of 2015 until he was let go midway through the 2018/19 season. Vitoria won two Portuguese League titles along with a Taca de Portugal, League Cup and Super Cup in his time at the helm.

Benfica and Spartak's only other encounter in UEFA action came in the Group Stage of the 2012/13 Champions League which saw both clubs win at home in their two games played. Benfica finished 3rd in the group that year and went all the way to the Europa League finals were they lost 2-1 to Chelsea on a heartbreaking additional time goal.

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Benfica linked to yet another midfielder

Benfica Blog
With the struggle in obtaining Braga midfielder Al Musrati, Benfica are looking for alternatives to add to their midfield and are now linked to Torino midfielder Soualiho Meite who spent the second half of last season on loan at AC Milan. Having secured Joao Mario earlier in the week, Benfica are hoping to land one more midfielder for Jorge Jesus' squad who can play in the number 6 position.

Meite is just another name on a long list of midfielders linked to the club this summer which has included Willian Arao, Steven Nzonzi along with Musrati. Meite has been a member of Torino since the summer of 2018 when he joined from Monaco for €11.5M. Meite appeared in 37 games across all competitions last season between Torino and AC Milan, scoring once while setting up four goals.