Benfica lose first leg of Taca to city rivals Sporting

Benfica took until the second half and the 65th minute of the game to actually wake up as Sporting controlled the game handily up, until that point. It took an Aursnes strike to cut the club's deficit in half to 2-1 before the club started to make the hosts sweat for the final 35 minutes of the game.

That would be the only marker that Benfica would get on this night, as they would go down to their cross town rivals in the first leg of their Taca de Portugal semi-final encounter, with the second leg set to take place at the Luz in early April.

The game did not end without its controversies as Benfica had an Angel di Maria equalizer waived off when the officials ruled that striker Tengstedt was in an offside position and hampered the keepers chance to stop Di Maria's shot even though he had no part in the build up to the play. 

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt decided to go with a false nine once again, but it would have the opposite effect he was hoping, instead nullifying Rafa Silva up front and the club looked much better with the entrance of striker Tengstedt in the 61st minute.

Benfica will not have much time to dwell on the contest as they get set to travel north to Dragao to take on FC Porto in the O Classico in league action on Sunday.

Angel di Maria to have Netflix special

Angel di Maria will be the next football star to have his own documentary on streaming giant Netflix. Di Maria's documentary is said to be set for release later this year or in early 2025. Filming has already started in Rosario, Argentina. With actors set to play many of the characters in the documentary, including Di Maria's mother and siblings.

Di Maria will provide his voice to the memories of him working in a charcoal factory along side his father and when his mother took him to training on a bicycle in the heavy rain. The Di Maria special looks to immortalize a player who has a knack for scoring big goals in many finals for his nation, from the Under 20 World Cup win in 2007 to the World Cup victory in 2022. 

Benfica next opponents in Europa League will be Rangers

Benfica learned their round of 16 Europa League opponents earlier today when they were drawn against Scottish side Rangers. The two legged affair will start off at the Estadio da Luz on March 7th, with the return leg at Ibrox one week later, on the 14th.

The two clubs are no strangers in the Europa League, having been paired together during the 2020-21 group stage. The club's played a pair of very entertaining games during the competition, both ending in draws, 2-2 and 3-3, respectively.