Benfica exit Europa League on penalties after abysmal performance

Benfica arrived in Marseille with a 2-1 lead after defeating the French club just one week ago and decided to lay an egg in the second leg, with a performance that you would not expect to see from a club of Benfica's stature who got their game plan all wrong on this night.

Benfica's blueprint was simple: stay back and protect a lead and hope to possibly score a counterattack goal. This plan allowed an onslaught of Marseille chances that finally paid off in the 79th minute when they scored to equalize the aggregate and take this game to additional extra time.  

Benfica were the better of the two sides in AET since they actually decided to try to get the win but by then, Marseille's players made sure to lay all over the grass, cramping and wasting time, hoping to get to penalties. The French club's plan would actually pay off, as Benfica would succumb on penalties 4-2 thanks to misses by both Angel di Maria and Antonio Silva (Why?).

Benfica looks set to end the 2023-24 season by capturing only the Super Cup back in August. This amounts to a total failure of a season for a club that, on paper, has the best squad in Portugal but may be led by the worst manager among Portugal's top clubs.

Roger Schmidt has shown that his time at Benfica should be over, as to go into Marseille with a game plan as if they were facing Manchester City was idiotic. The French club dominated the contest thanks to the fact that they were the only team that decided to show up for the majority of the game.

Schmidt's substitute choices, although minimal again, had little effect on the game, but worse yet, his decision to remove David Neres over Rafa Silva or Angel di Maria was mind-boggling, with the Brazilian creating what little attack the club had.

Rui Costa needs to find a way out of the two remaining years of Schmidt's contract and if not, hand the German and his staff €22M to go away. The money lost by keeping Schmidt and company around at the club could become astronomical and cost the President his place on top of the club if he has not yet realized this is the move to make.

The 2023-24 season has a few weeks remaining and then we can all enjoy our summer months and hope that next season does not leave the taste of manure in our mouths once again. See ya Rafa, See ya Di Maria, See ya Schmidt, one can only hope.

Benfica, rested and ready for Europa League match

Benfica head to France for Thursday's second leg encounter against Marseille, having rested their regular starters this weekend as they look to advance to the final four of the Europa League, holding a current 2-1 advantage on aggregate.

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt actually did the unexpected and gave various starters the league game off on Sunday, with some players, playing as little as forty-five minutes before being substituted in the club's 3-0 victory over Moreirense.

Benfica are hoping the rest re-energizes their regular starters as they face the tough task of trying to escape the Velodrome unscathed and cementing their place in the competition's final four. The winner of the Benfica/Marsielle matchup will take on the winner of Liverpool/Atalanta, with Atalanta holding a surprising 3-0 advantage over the English based club.

Benfica need to rest players for Marseille rematch

Benfica go into tomorrow's league game against Moreirense needing to rest some of their key players, with a big second leg rematch against Marseille on the horizon on Thursday. 

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt has started the same XI the past three games with few substitutes used during these contests and will need to refocus the squad for a final four spot in the Europa League after falling seven points behind league leaders Sporting going into their game tomorrow.

Schmidt would be wise to rest players like Rafa Silva, Fredrik Aursnes, Otamendi, Antonio Silva, Joao Neves and Angel di Maria, all of whom have appeared in over 3,500 minutes of action this season. With the Portuguese League title looking more and more like a pipe dream with six games to go. 

Will the German bench boss do the smart thing and have his key players rested, or will he continue to show the fans that he can be as clueless as they come. We will all find out that answer in the next 16 hours.