Monday, November 29, 2021

Barcelona still locked on Benfica left back Grimaldo

Benfica Blog
Barcelona have locked onto Benfica left back Alex Grimaldo as the heir apparent to long time starting left back Jordi Alba who will be 33 before seasons end. Barcelona had been linked previously with their former home grown talent when Ronald Koeman was at the helm but the change in manager to Xavi has only intensified the clubs desire to land Grimaldo for next season after his display against the club in Champions League action.

Grimaldo left Barcelona's B team in the winter of 2016 for a mere €2.1M and has been Benfica's regular starting left back since the 2017/18 season. Grimaldo has appeared in 223 career games with the club across all competitions, scoring 16 goals while setting up an additional 45. Benfica are intent on holding onto the 26 year old Spaniard as they await a minimum bid of €25M-€30M to consider letting him depart.

 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Benfica and FC Porto set to clash in Taca de Portugal

Benfica Blog
Benfica and FC Porto will take their rivalry to the Taca de Portugal after both clubs were drawn together yesterday for the round of 16. The game will take place at Porto's Estadio do Dragao with a firm date yet to be set but the encounter will happen just before the holiday season kicks in, anywhere from December 21st to the 23rd.

Benfica and FC Porto will be facing off in the Taca for the 37th time with Benfica leading the head to head encounters 21-10, with 5 games ending in a draw. The last time the two clubs met in the competition was in the Final two seasons back a 2-1 FC Porto victory. The two clubs last encounter in the round of 16 happened way back in 2000-01 edition which was also a victory for FC Porto.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Benfica need help to advance to round of 16

Benfica Blog

It has now been more then 24 hours since the miss heard around the world in yesterdays Champions League group stage as Swiss striker Haris Seferovic missed a sure winner in injury time that would have seen Benfica leap over Barcelona and into second spot of their Champions League group going into their last group game in December at home against Dynamo Kiev. The miss was so upsetting that I could not even write about the game yesterday as like many Benfica fans I required a cool off period.

The good news for Benfica, Seferovic and the fans is that Benfica still have a shot at second place for a spot in the round of 16 but will require a little help from German giants Bayern Munich. The simple equation for qualification is that Benfica need a win against Dynamo Kiev and require a loss or draw by Barcelona in Munich, if Benfica fail to win they will head over to the Europa League. Benfica does hold the tiebreaker over Barcelona from their head to head encounters if the two clubs are to finish tied in points.