Benfica to face Sporting in Taca da Liga Final

Benfica are set to face cross town rivals Sporting in the Taca da Liga final this upcoming Saturday after both clubs won their semi-final games this week. Benfica will be making a return to the final of a competition that they have won on seven occasions but not since the 2015-16 season. While Sporting have won the competition three times and have captured titles, three out of the last four years and are the current defending champions.

Benfica goes into the competition missing some key players who are away on international duty or in COVID protocols. Benfica will be without leading scorer Darwin Nunez and starting center back and vice captain Nico Otamendi who are both on international duty. Benfica will also be out winger Rafa Silva who tested positive for COVID on Tuesday and will miss the final after already missing the semi-final game.

Benfica who arrived in the final after a penalty kick victory over Boavista on Tuesday night, will be hard pressed to come out of the competition as champions if their poor form continues going into the game on Saturday. The managerial change seems to have done little to snap the club out of their funk and their city rivals Sporting would be quite content to add to the misery of the club and it's fans.

Benfica working on bringing back Florentino

The times have changed at Benfica with the departure of Jorge Jesus, as the club under intern manager Nelson Verissimo seems ready to give more of their youth a chance to show what they can do as we have seen so far with Goncalo Ramos, Paulo Bernardo and Morato all getting more minutes under Verissimo. 

The next youngster that the club looks ready to give some playing time to is defensive midfielder Florentino Luis who is currently on loan with Spanish side Getafe until the end of the season. The club is in talks to end the loan spell early and have Florentino return to Lisbon. Florentino who is still only 22 years old was a key piece in Benfica's last league title who stepped in to fill an injury voud in the clubs final ten games of that season.

Five players could say good-bye to Benfica this month

Benfica are looking to slim down the squad as intern manager Nelson Verissimo looks to work with a smaller group of players as he finishes off the season on the clubs sideline. Reports from Portugal have named five current squad players as the more likely to depart before the winter transfer window closes on the 31st of this month.

The five players reported to be set to move on from the club is sparingly used loanee Nemanja Radonjic, youngsters Ferro and Gedson Fernandes who both look set to be loaned to other clubs for some playing time. The final two names are players Benfica hope to sell during the window with both Moroccan midfielder Taarabt and Swiss striker Haris Seferovic available, the latter should have been sold during the summer when his value was at an all time high after a good Euro 2020 performance.