Belenenses 0 - Benfica 0 - At The Halfway Mark

With half the season completed, we see ourselves once again in a trailing position, as the tie against Belenenses this past weekend allowed for porto to leapfrog us in the standings and take over first place. It was the second time we faced Belenenses in a week's time and this second time around we couldn't be more fortunate than the first time when we beat them 1-0.


For this game Quique called on the following players :

Keepers: Quim and Moreira

Defenders: Luisão, David Luiz, Jorge Ribeiro, Miguel Vítor, Maxi Pereira

Midfielders: Reyes, Katsouranis, Yebda, Aimar, Ruben Amorim, Binya, Carlos Martins

Forwards: Cardozo, Di Maria, Nuno Gomes and Suazo.

Quim was back in the league game roster as Moretto is injured. Sidnei was also left out by option, and apparently there seems to be some kind of a poor showing by the young center back in practice, which caused Quique to leave him out.

Out of this list came a very close 11 to the one we had seen in the previous game against Belenenses. With the exception of Moreira being in goal, the back line remained the same, with Maxi, Luisao, Miguel Vitor and David Luiz. In the midfield, Yebda, Katsouranis , DiMaria and Amorim were also repeaters. Up front, Aimar joined Suazo.

Having played Belenenses just a week ago in a game that had some controversy, It wasn't going to be a easy game for Benfica, especially taking into consideration playing away and under very wet conditions.
Benfica saw a few chances slip them by in the first half, Aimar and Suazo both had very good chances to change the scoreboard, but the conditions of the field didn;t allow for more. Belelnenses on the other hand showed to be a team concerned about not giving up the big play, and were much more active in defense than in the attack, with some of their chances coming from dead ball situations and long distance attempts.
Half time rolled around and Benfica could have very well been up, but the very sloppy and wet conditions didn't allow for more, but a finger also needs to be pointed at Suazo and Aimar for not being able to do better in the great looks they had.
In the second half Benfica came out looking for the goal, the team pressured higher but could not put the ball into the opposing goal. A lot of missed passes and wrong decisions by Benfica players all over the pitch. Benfica is a much more techinical team from the midfield forward, and seemed to be affected by the soaked pitch.
Quique's 3 changes in the second half were - Reyes for Amorim(58'), Nuno Gomes for Aimar (67') and Martins for DiMaria(72'), three changes that, with the exception of Reyes, brought very little to the team. Benfica had their difficulties, but by the same token, from watching the game and how they were playing, i got the feeling that Belenenses did not present any type of risk to Benfica, even after Miguel Vitor's ejection(2 yellows)in the 83rd minute.
The game ended and more frustration for Benfica, who having played before their direct rivals, knew that they could very well lose the lead this weekend.
For one, just like in previous game the attitude was a lot better than the performance itself, and that seems to be the theme for this year's Benfica.

15 rounds in the books and still everything open, however, from watching the team throughout these 15 rounds I have to say that there is a very important piece missing, in order for this team to take it to the next level. In my opinion, what this team is missing is a game conductor in the midfield. There's a definite deficiency in Benfica's transition game, and when I write about transition game I talk about someone who can connect the defense with the attack. Someone that organizes Benfica's build up, the player that gets more touch on the ball than anytone else, no matter how insignificant they are. That is what i see as missing in this team. off course I think that Martins is that type of player, but at this time he doesn't seem to be going through the best periods of form. Besides, it doesn't seem like Quique is using him in that position. I think with the acquisition of such a player, Benfica can have a real chance at winning the league. Without such a player, you can get ready for a very long and suffered 15 games ahead.

A very important month and half is ahead, 45 days that can very well be the indication of where this team stands in May.


Photo - Getty