Boavista 0 - Benfica 0 - A Wasted Opportunity

The title of this post could have very easily been "Unlucky", as Benfica, could have won the game easily with a tiny bit of luck. But I chose "A Wasted Opportunity" instead. The reason for that is very simple, how can Benfica afford to leave out a player that in 305 minutes has scored 5 goals? I'm talking about Freddy Adu and his sudden omission of the past two game rosters. When you look at a game like tonight's, it would have been nice for Chalana to have Freddy Adu on the bench, as the 18 year old has often times produced for Benfica. So, for that reason i much rather refer to the result as a wasted opportunity rather then blame it on lack of luck, because that is exactly what Chalana is doing, wasting. Wasting Adu's talent.

I don't want to undermine tonight's massive team effort, by all means, but when you see yourself purposely deprived of a player that can, and has, provided you with goals in crucial times I have to leave luck off the table.
I'll tell you one thing though, tonight's Benfica was, in my opinion, the best of the season by far, and for that i must applaud the players.


Chalana started the following players:
Quim in goal; Nelson, Edcarlos, Katsouranis and Leo composed the back 4.
Petit played in the defensive midfield, while Rui Costa, Rodriguez and Maxi formed the rest of the diamond in midfield. Up Front, Cardozo and Nuno Gomes repeated last weeks start.

Luisao who is at 100%, and was anticipated by many to start, did not play, as Chalana opted to keep the Katsouranis/Edcarlos tandem in the middle of the midfield.

Benfica started strong, against a Boavista team that defended in a "hard zone" and initially pressured Benfica high. Benfica maintained posession, playing the short pass game with the players from midfield being very mobile and supportive of the player that had the ball. Up front Nuno Gomes made the difference helping Benfica's transition into the final third, by checking back to the midfielders to create mismatches. Rui Costa and Rodriguez often changed positions and that proved to also be something that Boavista had difficulties with. Benfica created several chances but nothing too significant. In the 23rd minute, Edcarlos committed an unnecessary foul right inside the edge of the box, which gave the home team a penalty, Quim made the save, which seemed to shake Benfica into action a little bit more. It was Boavista's best moment of the game, but Benfica quickly answered with more chances, but still couldn't put anything up on the board.

The second half brought more of the same, with Benfica attacking and creating chances, but lacking efficiency, some of it unlucky, some of it by merit of the Boavista keeper, Peter Jehle, even the crossbar joined the party.
Chalana subbed in DiMaria at the hour mark, for Maxi, in attempt to give a more attacking tendency to the right side of the midfield. With DiMaria's entrance, Benfica added width to their game and was able to get away from the middle where the Boavista men seemed more of a prevalent presence.
Benfica completely suffocated Boavista, which could not get out of their own midfield, yet they couldn't put one away, even though the chances were there, but the lack of a final blow, kept Benfica scoreless. Chalana subbed in the original talisman, Mantorras, in the 77th minute, for Nuno Gomes, in an effort to refresh the attacking front, but Benfica still couldn't come away with the winner, even after Boavista was reduced to 10 men with the straight red shown to Rissuto after a "killer" tackle on Rui Costa.
The players fought until the end, but it wasn't meant to be, it was one of those games, in which Benfica could have played another hour to no avail. A few dubious calls could have changed the storyline of the game, but Benfica's misfortune can't be blamed on the referee.

Individually:

Quim - 7 , not so much for the work, but for the saved penalty that could have altered the face of the game.

Nelson - 6

Edcarlos - 6

Katsouranis - 7

Leo - 8

Petit - 7

Rui Costa - 7

Rodriguez - 8

Maxi - 6

Nuno Gomes - 7

Cardozo - 7

DiMaria - 7

Mantorras - 5

MOM- Rodriguez

This is the best i have seen the team play all year, You don't have to be an expert to notice how much Benfica has improved since Camacho left. Tactically, Chalana prefers the 4-4-2 to the 4-2-3-1 used by Camacho. It's true that Camacho occasionally went with the 4-4-2, but he never had the success that Chalana is currently having, and much of that has to do with the positioning and roles Chalana has given the players in the midfield. By the way, this was the tactical system that Fernando Santos used. The midfield plays in a clear diamond in which all 4 players support each other, providing for more possession time. The dynamic between Rodriguez and Rui Costa is something that confuses opposing the defenders but it takes Rui Costa out of the organizing role, even though Rodriguez is no slouch, but from his feet comes a different type of game, then what we're used to seeing from the maestro.

It's back to the fight to maintain second place, with today's tie Benfica missed out on the opportunity to go 2 points up on Guimaraes, not to mention that Sporting is now only 2 points from the fight.

With the progress the team has shown in these past 2 games, there is no doubt in my mind that the team will be able to secure second place. The only doubt i have is if Freddy Adu will play again this season.

Let's hope so.

Extended Highlights