Benfica - Belenenses - Preview

3 games left, 3 chances of finishing the season on a high note. Coming off 3 straight losses in which they allowed 10 goals, Benfica will look to avoid dropping another spot on the table when they face the team that is the one bitting at their heels, Belenenses.
Belenenses has already beaten Benfica once this season, Benfica's second loss of the season at the time.
Belenenses comes into this game in 5th place, 3 points behind Benfica, with an away record of 6 wins, 2 losses, and 6 ties. Benfica on the other hand, brings their limp home record of 5 wins, 2 losses and 6 ties into this game. If you were to add the home and away points of the 2, Belenenses has 24 points while Benfica has 21 points, a clear indicator of what playing at the Inferno has been like for Benfica this year a true Inferno.


For this game, Chalana called the following players:

Keepers: Quim, Moreira;
Defenders: Nélson, Luís Filipe, Luisão, Edcarlos, Zoro, andLéo;
Midfielders: Katsouranis, Nuno Assis, Rui Costa, Rodriguez, Sepsi, and Dí Maria; Forwards: Makukula, Cardozo, Nuno Gomes and Mantorras.

Maxi and Binya are both serving suspensions, while Petit continues to fight injury and can not give his contribute to the team. Adu continues to be a card out of the deck for Chalana, while the German keeper, Butt, sees himself left out for the first time while being at 100%. Assis and Zoro have come in to fill the gaps left by the 2 suspended players.

Your possible starters will be:
Quim in goal. Nelson, Luisao, Edcarlos and Leo in the back. Katsouranis, Rodriguez, Rui Costa and Assis will make up the midfield diamond. Up Front, Chalana will repeat DiMaria supporting Nuno Gomes.

Katsouranis is the only defensive midfielder allowed, he will be in the position he has played very little this season. On the right side of the midfield, Assis will get a chance to change Chalana's mind about starting Maxi. Up Front will most likely not change, as Chalana told the media today that he enjoys seeing DiMaria in the supporting role, he will be supporting Nuno Gomes, who has scored a measly 6 goals for the Bwin this year.

Cardozo will most likely ride the pine, as Chalana will continue to inexplicably leave Benfica's 20 goal man on the bench.

There's not much else to say about the game, the players know exactly what they have to do, as they run the risk of dropping to 5th place with a loss. Guimaraes plays Porto, in what many are saying will be a game which Porto will only play at half speed. Sporting plays Maritimo who is fighting for a place in Europe.

Belenenses has a very decent team, and have had an excellent league so far.


Last round it was like this:


ZeroZero.pt - Game Card
How I saw it