Benfica 1 - Braga 1 - Home Woes Continue.

Benfica couldn't do more than come away with a tie against Braga this Sunday night. Benfica's home record is now 4 wins, 1 loss and 5 ties. For a team who is usually a dominant force at home, this stat can not be taken lightly. Looking further at this stat, Benfica has not won a game at home in the second half of the season for the Bwin. Last time Benfica won at home was back on 20th of December of last year, and
looking atthe teams below Benfica on the table, from 3rd place to 8th place, all have more wins at home than Benfica. With such poor productivity at home, one has to wonder how the team can't find a way to win column at home, especially when they are playing in front of the support of their fans, it should be considerably easier than playing away, but that is not the case for 07/08's Benfica.


Camacho started the following 11:
Quim, Nelson, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo; Bynia and Petit; Rui costa, Dimaria and Assis supporting Cardozo.

It was back to the 4-2-3-1 for Camacho, and I have to wonder if it was a forced change. After the game, Camacho briefly spoke about Makukula not being in conditions to play this morning, as a result Freddy Adu was called last minute. Freddy was not on the game roster for this match, and spent the night at home away from Benfica's pre-game concentration.
In the midfield, the change was the inclusion of DiMaria, who relegated Maxi to the bench as he played on the left flank, with Assis occupying the right.

Benfica started well, and despite suffering a goal in the fourth minute, Benfica came out showing that they wanted to take control of the game. Benfica stringed passes together and both wingers gave Benfica's transition players different options. Braga's goal in the fourth minute, came from a save rebound which seemed to have caught Benfica's defense out of position, as the goal scorer was able to appear unmarked behind the defense to push the ball in.
Braga didn't do much else for the half, as Benfica was the clearly the team with all the initiative, Benfica's midfield controlled the game at that point, and for most of the half, but some erratic passes and forced balls, broke up Benfica's game flow. When that game flow worked, it was the final third play that lacked decisiveness and accuracy, Benfica could not make the final pass or put the final shot on a well placed through ball.
Benfica's goal came off a set play with Rui Costa finding Luisao just inside the penalty spot, the Brazilian did not give the keeper any chances, as he buried a strong header into the back of the net. It was clearly Benfica's best moment and Benfica seemed on their way to turning around the score, but wouldn't be able to, as the final third deficiencies continued to exist, as well as intermittent periods of good game flow and not so great periods of play, mostly caused by missed passes and lost balls in the midfield. Nonetheless, going into the locker room, Benfica had to feel that they could very well be capable of turning things around.

In the second half, Benfica once again came out with the initiative, while Braga limited themselves to defend and to target their wing men, in hopes they could create danger on the quick counter. More inconsistent game play from Benfica seemed to prevent Benfica to really put it into another gear and go ahead.
Camacho's first substitution came in the 66 minute when he subbed in Sepsi for Petit. Sepsi went to the left wing, moving DiMaria to the right while Assis was now the supporting man, behind Cardozo. From this point on Benfica's game became more objective and direct, but without consequence as the Braga defense closed itself very well, and gave the idea of playing for the tie.
In the 78th minute Camacho subbed in Mantorras for DiMaria, Mantorras joined Cardozo, as Assis returned to the right wing. Mantorras entrance didn't bring much of a change as the early inabilities to penetrate continued to affect Benfica and their desire to turn the scoreboard in their favor. Assis had the clearest chance of the half, when he found himself inside the box blasting a low shot, that found the legs of a Braga defender very close to the goal line.
Freddy Adu came in on the 84th minute and seemed to bring Benfica new hope, Freddy's freshness and quickness, caused a few mismatches and gave new hope to Benfica fans, Freddy was able to find himself in a good position to let one fly, but the Braga defense threw bodies at every shot. Benfica practically lived in Braga's midfield at this point, with Bynia defending and launching balls into the final third, Benfica seemed to suffocate Braga but cound not find that last touch, to put the ball in.

Individually:

Quim - 6 (a few moments of nervousness in the first half. couple incomplete saves).
Nelson - 7
Luisao - 8
Katsouranis - 7
Leo - 7
Binya -8 MOM
Petit - 6
Assis- 7
Rui Costa - 7
DiMaria - 6
Cardozo - 6

Sepsi - 6
Mantorras - 5
Adu - 6

A win in this game would have really helped the team. Performance wise, i thought the team played much better than their past 4-5 outings, although they still have quite a ways to go and for that they will need to be consistent.
Another 2 points lost to leaders Porto, who are now 12 clear at the top. Benfica's slip, was matched with Sporting's own slip, who lost to Setubal. Benfica will play Sporting in the next round, 5 points separate the 2 teams. Before Benfica plays Sporting this coming weekend, Benfica will have a Portuguese Cup match, a game in which Camacho will definitely make some changes to the line up, as he will look to rest some of the more used players ahead of the Sporting game.