Porto 2- Benfica 0 - Incapable

#Photo Credit MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images

"Incapabable" is the only word that comes to mind, after, and even while watching the game. The quality of futebol played by both teams couldn't be a better indicator of where they stand on the Bwin table. I have to be honest, and say that prior to the game, I had hoped Benfica could get a positive result out of this game. The team was coming off 2 embarrasing wins and could have very well pulled together an put on a decent performance and come away with some points, but that wasn't to be the case as they showed very little arguments to defeat Porto, who as yet to be beaten at home this year for the Bwin.


Despite only being able to dress 18 players, Chalana called all the players available to make the trip to Porto, in an effort to keep the squad together in a time where it's crucial for the team to be united.

For his starting 11, Chalana chose to use the same 11 he had chosen for the game against Sporting with one change, Binya for Petit. Petit who got injured in the game against Sporting, did not recuperate on time and Chalana was forced to used Binya in the defensive midfield slot.

Quim in goal, Nelson, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo in the back. Binya, Rui Costa, Rodriguez and Maxi composed the midfield diamond, while up front it was DiMaria supporting Nuno Gomes.
The other seven picked for the bench were: Butt, Luis Felipe, Sepsi, Assis, Makukula, Cardozo and Edcarlos. Once again Freddy Adu was left out in what it's starting to smell like, you know what.

It wasn't a very good start for Benfica who saw themselves down 1-0 at the 7th minute mark, when Lisandro took advantage of poor marking to find space to have a clear shot at Quim's goal, a move we have seen so many times this season.
It was early in the game, and Benfica hadn't even had time to straighten out their markings. Porto played a very compact game and pressured Benfica high often, Benfica showed difficulty in organizing any type of game, and were only able to get into Porto's midfield, when they would find Nelson on a long flank switch, but even then, there wasn't much danger to the Porto goal, as Nelson's crosses were often too long or too short. Nelson was able to find Rui Costa earlier in the game, but the ball hit Rui Costa in the chest and Helton was able to put a hand on the ball.
The last 15 minutes of the half, were perhaps Benfica's best period of the game, as they were able to take control of the game with posession, and put a little bit of a game flow together, but that posession could never penetrate the final third of Porto's defense, as the Porto men shut down the final pass lane and gave very few chances for Benfica to even attempt a shot from long range.
The half came to a close and Benfica left the impression that they could do a bit more, as they had stepped up their game in the last quarter of the half.

In the second half, Benfica was unable to give continuity to what they were doing at the end of the half, much because of how Porto came out.
Predicting an all out attack by Benfica in the beggining of the half, Porto came out aggressive themselves and put a damper on Benfica's plans, who were never able to get anything working offensively. Benfica had a hard time transitioning at times, resorting to the long ball, which would would end up in a change of posession. Chalana went to the bench for the first time at the 56th minute mark, when he subbed in Cardozo for Maxi. DiMaria dropped into the left midfield slot, while Rodriguez went to the right. While that might have been the right idea, it would have worked a lot better if Benfica could retain posession and get the ball to Cardozo in a playable way and not a long ball. Benfica continued to struggle to build up and much of it due to Porto's organized pressure.
With all the problems in transition play and build up, I thought it was kind of strange for Chalana to put Makukula into the game for Nuno Gomes(78'), after all, Makukula is the type of player that plays best in the opposing box, and for that Benfica already had Cardozo, so instead of having a link between the midfield and the attack, Benfica now had two players stranded up front. At that point i though how nice it would be to have Adu in the game, as he would have been perfect for that role.
Porto would put the game away for good (not that it was ever at risk) in the 80th minute, when Lisandro, once again, received the ball unmarked and fired a shot past Quim. Nuno Assis came into the game for DiMaria at the 86th minute, but didn't bring anything into the game, as a matter of fact all three substitutions made by Chalana had no affect on the game.
Benfica played an unimaginative game, slow and without ever showing a sign that they could win this game. Incapable to bother a Porto team who proved why there is a 20 something point gap between the 2 teams.
Simply put, Benfica just didn't have more to give, no solutions, no methods, nothing.

It's easy to criticize after a loss, but Chalana's substitution decisions are puzzling to me.
His continued decision to leave Freddy Adu out of uniform is alarming.
There are 3 games left in the season, this weekend, Benfica had an opportunity to improve their table position, but failed to take advantage of it, and while i can't get down on the players for their attitude, one thing is certain, Porto was just too strong, and has been all season.

With 3 straight losses and the season winding down, what can we expect from this Benfica team for the 3 ramining games?