Benfica - P.Ferreira - Preview

Benfica returns to action this sunday for the Bwin against P.Ferreira, exactly two weeks since their last game for the Bwin. P Ferreira is currently 15th(next to last)in the Bwin, with an away record of no wins, 1 tie and 10 losses. On the other side, Benfica has had their home woes this season, losing 15pts in all of their home games this season, certainly something that will be one of the main reasons why Benfica wasn't more competitive for the top spot in the Bwin.

So, what can be expected from benfica after this 2 week hiatus?
For one thing, this time has allowed for many Benfica players to fully recuperate from their injuries, and with the exception of David Luiz, who had successful metatarsal surgery this past week, all of Benfica's squad will be at the disposable of Fernando Chalana. Freddy Adu returns from his 4 game absence, after successfully helping the US qualify for the Beijing Olympics. With the squad practically at full strength, these two weeks have also given Fernando Chalana a chance to put into effect some of his coaching methods, it has allowed him to settle into the coaching position and create new training routines for the players. A valuable two weeks for a coach who was just given the interim position.

Here's Chalana's 3rd game roster:

Keepers: Quim and Butt
Defenders: Luís Filipe, Nelson, Léo, Edcarlos and Sepsi
Midfielders: Petit, Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Rodriguez, Maxi Pereira, Binya and Di María
Forwards: Mantorras, Cardozo, Makukula and Nuno Gomes

Chalana has opted to leave both Zoro and Luisao out, two players who only started to fully train towards the end of the week, and might not be ready to play the full 90. Freddy Adu has also been left out of the game roster, as far as i know, Freddy is not hurt, which indicates that his exclusion is a technical option, an option that is questionable, being that Freddy comes off a great moment of form. It would make sense for Chalana to take advantage of Freddy's positive momentum and confidence at this point and use Freddy, at least off the bench.

Having called that many forwards, it's obvious that Chalana will play with 2 up front, with that in mind here's my projected line up:

Quim in goal, Nelson, Edcarlos, Katsouranis and Leo in the back.
Petit will be the defensive midfielder while Rui Costa, Binya and Rodriguez will be in the midfield. Up front will be Benfica's best goal scorer, Cardozo and Nuno Gomes.

After having played this past wednesday for the National team and scoring, Nuno Gomes will be Chalana's choice to start along side Cardozo. Chalana will try to give continuity to Nuno Gomes, as he will be an important part of the season ending push, not only as a leader but also for the level of experience brings to the team, a level which will be important in the final moments of the season.
In the midfield, it's hard to leave out Binya, but his positioning on the field will have a lot to do with his productivity. He will most likely be a little more to the right side than his usual central positioning, but will be involved in closing down the middle and helping to build, by playing in close proximity of Petit and Rui Costa, a style Chalana has been presenting, supported play in the middle of the park, which allows for the side defenders to use their lateral corridors more often. Rodriguez will play his usual left wing position.

The only objective left in the Bwin is second place, a second place that Benfica shares with Guimaraes despite Benfica having the advantage on the tie breaker. With Guimaraes having already won their game this weekend, Benfica will now have to mantain that small advantage in second place, winning their game also.
Only a win will do for Benfica, as they will need to be consistent, if they are to lock up second place.

In the first round it was like this:

Zerozero.pt - Game board

Highlights

How i saw it

Historically
10/02/20 Benfica 4-1 P. Ferreira Taça de Portugal 07/08
03/11/2007 P. Ferreira 1-2 Benfica bwin LIGA 07/08
26/02/2007 Benfica 3-1 P. Ferreira bwin LIGA 06/07
22/09/2006 P. Ferreira 1-1 Benfica bwin LIGA 06/07
07/05/2006 P. Ferreira 3-1 Benfica Liga betandwin.com 05/06
08/01/2006 Benfica 2-0 P. Ferreira Liga betandwin.com 05/06
10/04/2004 Benfica 2-1 P. Ferreira SuperLiga 2003/2004
07/12/2003 P. Ferreira 0-3 Benfica SuperLiga 2003/2004
06/04/2003 P. Ferreira 1-3 Benfica SuperLiga 2002/2003
10/11/2002 Benfica 7-0 P. Ferreira SuperLiga 2002/2003
01/08/2001 Benfica 4-0 P. Ferreira Liga Portuguesa 2001/02