Benfica 1 - Belenenses 0 - League Cup Recap

With practically one foot in the semis, Benfica hosted Belenenses needing only one point to go through to the final four. Belenenses, second place in the group could have ruined the competition for Benfica had they been able to beat Benfica at Estadio da Luz.

A rare afternoon game for Benfica, who took advantage of this competition to attract more families to the stadium. 30 thousand and change were in attendance, in what will most likely be one of the highest single game attendance figures of the competition.

In a time in which TV broadcasters have "taken over" game scheduling, Benfica has recently manifested their interest in bringing back afternoon games.
Most of my childhood Benfica memories, are of going to the old Estadio da Luz with my father and his friends, to watch Benfica play, watching those games and feeling that afternoon sun on my face while the game was going on, is something that is etched in my memory banks regardless of my tender age at the time. I think that it would be a great thing for all Benfica fans to be able to attend the games at a time which is not inconvenient, such as a Sunday night 8 pm game.

On to the game...

Quique wasn't going to mess to much with the team, as a matter of fact, i predicted that the line up would be very close to what he usually fields for the Liga Sagres.
Moretto, Maxi, Luisao, Miguel Vitor and David Luiz, made up the defense. Katsouranis and Yebda were in the middle. DiMaria and Amorim were on the flanks. Aimar supported Cardozo up front.
With the exception of Moretto, the other 10 can very well be a starting team on any given weekend.

The game itself wasn't a very good game, it was slow and not very exciting, but Benfica looked cohesive defensively, and well organized positionally.
From the midfield forward, Benfica did very little, as the speed in which the game was being played at, allowed for Belenenses to close up passing lanes and get back behind the ball. Offensively, Belenenses didn't do much either and didn't even seem like they were a team needing a win. The only time that Benfica sped up the game they were able to find the back of the net, as they executed a perfect build up which finished with DiMaria serving Katsouranis in the box for the Greek to head the ball home. It was the best play of the half for Benfica, and perhaps the game.
Benfica went into the locker room with the lead, and giving the impression that they wouldn't be in jeopardy of crashing out of the competition.
The second half was also uneventful, with Benfica in control and playing at a very slow pace. Quique would give second half minutes to Suazo(61'), Reyes(67') and Martins(72') for Cardozo, DiMaria and Yebda respectively. Towards the end of the game, we still had time to watch Moretto be Moretto, saving a ball forward, in a play that was almost a carbon copy of Olhanense's goal. And a last minute butterfinger act in which the ball ended up in Benfica's net, but that the referee called an infraction on Moretto in his box by a Belenenses defender. A bit of controversy, that can be dispelled from watching the video below.



A video Via Magico SLB A video that was aired by Benfica TV.

Nonetheless, Moretto has now proved why he is Benfica's 3rd goalkeeper. He can make amazing saves, but he can also be capable of the worst mistakes a keeper can make. That type of inconsistency will never inspired confidence to the defensive block, who will always be second guessing what Moretto will do.

I liked Aimar in this game, as he is showing to be in clear ascendant of form. At the top is Katsouranis, the Greek is going through one of the best periods of his career at Benfica.

A deserved win for Benfica, who sent the fans home happy.

Benfica, Sporting and porto advanced as group winners, Guimaraes advanced as the best 2nd place team. The drawing was today and it dictated that Benfica plays host to Guimaraes and Sporting host porto. It'll be the 4th meeting for Benfica and Guimaraes this season, Benfica has won all of the match ups, all 3 having being played in Guimaraes.