Benfica traveled to the Ukraine this Sunday morning to prepare for their Champions League final match. A match that will not have any implications on whether Benfica advances to the second round or not, but that can keep Benfica in Europe. Benfica will have to beat Shakhtar on their home pitch, in what will, most likely, be adverse meteorological conditions. Looking at the remainder of the group, Milan has already clinched a spot in the second round as they are currently first with 10 points, in second place we see Celtic with 9 points, Shakthtar has 6 points while Benfica tallies 4. Shakhtar will be wanting to get the three points in the event of a Celtic loss in Milan, they can go through. Celtic needs a least a tie to make it through, however, taking into consideration that Milan felt they were humiliated in Glasgow, with the whole Dida incident, i very much doubt that the Milan players will not want some type of a payback, and will surely be playing for a win.
Camacho called the following players:
Keepers- Butt and Quim;Defenders - Luisão, Léo, Luis Filipe, Edcarlos, Nélson and David Luiz;
Midfielders - Katsouranis, Maxi Pereira, Rui Costa, Petit, Romeu Ribeiro and Nuno Assis;
Forwards - Nuno Gomes, Di María, Adu, Cardozo and Bergessio.
The notable absence is Rodriguez. Rodriguez suffered a muscular injury against Porto and Camacho has decided to rehab and rest the player. Rodriguez is also showing some signs of tiredness, after a double National team round and a late comeback to Portugal, Rodriguez seems to need to recharge his batteries. I'm not sure how long the injury will keep him out, but he will most likely be ready to go by next weekend. Binya didn't travel has he is currently serving the the second of his 6 games ban.
Projected line up:
Quim in goal, The back four will most likely remain the same, with, Luis Felipe, Luisao, David Luiz and Leo. In the midfield Katsouranis and Petit will play in fron of the defense while Maxi, Rui Costa and Di Maria will support Nuno Gomes up front. Another possibility can be Maxi at right back and Assis on the right of the midfield. I'd love to see Benfica play with 2 center forwards with Cardozo and Nuno gomes but it'll be hard to see Katsouranis sit the bench. Camacho could very well do away with Katsouranis to put another forward in the front. Maxi as a player with defensive characteristics, could very well help out Petit in the middle when the team defends, but at this time, Petit has probably not reached his normal levels of stamina and it probably wouldn't be the best choice. The way i feel is that Benfica needs to win this game and they need to field an offensive minded team this Tuesday.
Keys to the game:
Team Spirit - After the loss to Porto, can the team move on and focus on their secondary European goal? Something to be seen.
Di Maria - Di Maria will most definitely start in Rodriguez's place. The left is the side Di Maria is the most comfortable with, he will need to have a good consistent performance, as well as constant participation in the game. He can't disappear, he needs to be involved and very active.
Weather - Typical weather in the Ukraine at this time of year is very cold with the possibility of snow, how will the frigid conditions affect the players? - I've installed a "widget" right below the game countdown that will tell you the current weather and temperature in Donetsk.
There's no need to over extend myself in explaining why Benfica needs to win this game. A team of Benfica's reputation should be in Europe. Currently Benfica is not at the Champions League level, as this year has been a rebuilding year, but, Benfica needs to be present in the Uefa Cup. Securing a spot in the Uefa cup could do a lot for Benfica as a team, as it'll provide experience for the many young players currently on the squad. The January transfer window is right around the corner, with a couple of good acquisitions, Benfica could very well have a good run in the Uefa Cup. Let's not forget that this year will possibly be Rui Costa's last, as a team they could very well pull together and let Rui Costa have another go at the second most important trophy in Europe.
It'll be a very hard game, but with team spirit and strong desire to win, i think Benfica will come out on top.
Foto - Isabel Cutileiro
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Shakhtar - Benfica Champions League Preview
Monday, November 26, 2007
Benfica - Milan CL Matchday 5
Benfica plays their future in the Champions League on Wednesday. A win would keep Benfica in the running, while a loss or a tie would definetely see them out of the competition. On the other hand, Milan needs at least a tie to remain at the top of the group, but they will undoubtedly want to win and secure a spot in the second round before matchday 6. A sellout crowd is expected at Estadio da Luz and Benfica hope that they can feed off the crowd to obtain a positive result, after all, it's not only Celtic Park or San Siro that have their unique atmospheres, Estadio da Luz aka "The Luz Inferno", can also be quite intimidating.
Camacho called the following players:
Keepers: Quim and Butt.
Defenders: Luisão, Léo, Luís Filipe, David Luiz, Nélson and Edcarlos.
Midfielders: Katsouranis, Petit, Rui Costa, Maxi Pereira, Cristian Rodriguez, Nuno Assis and Romeu Ribeiro.
Forwards: Nuno Gomes, Cardozo, Adu and Di Maria.
It's the first time we see the squad at full strenght this season. What a better time than right now, a decisive game against Milan followed by the home clash against Porto.
Maxi or Assis, 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 ?
These are the 2 main doubts on how Camacho will set up the team. Maxi's inclusion at right back solidifies the back line. Maxi comes off a good performance against Brazil where he closed down Ronaldinho, Camacho will take advantage of that. Here's my projected Line up:
Quim will be in goal. In defense we will most likely see Leo, David Luiz, Luisao and Maxi as they are the strongest back 4 in the squad. In the midfield, both Petit and Katsouranis will play in front of the defense, Rui Costa will be in charge of the midfield. Rodriguez will be back on the left wing while on the right wing we might see Assis. Assis seems to have recuperated from the knock he picked up on Saturday and he offers a certain dynamic to the midfield, as he often drifts to the middle to combine with Rui Costa. The other 2 alternatives for the right can be Di Maria or Adu. The Argentinian played well against Academica but on the left. Adu played 30 mins on the right side and did very well. I don't think we will see Maxi in the midfield, because with Petit back, Benfica will not need another defensive minded player on the right. Up front it'll be Nuno Gomes. I think Camacho will start with one forward up front, as he needs numbers in the midfield to control the middle of the park. Nuno Gomes offers more mobility than Cardozo and brings more experience to the team.
As you read this you're probably thinking - It's a must win game for Benfica why not play with 2 forwards? A 4-4-2 would mean having to sacrifice a man in the middle, a defensive midfielder for sure. Taking into consideration Milan's midfield - Gattuso, Kaka, Ambrosini, Seedorf, Pirlo; numbers in the middle is the best option to control and defend against Milan.
Keys to the game
Strong Start - Benfica has been starting every game well, this is something that Camacho has told the team to do, to come out strong and hard. Milan will be waiting for Benfica to come at them as they know Benfica will need to have the game initiative. In Milan Benfica suffered a goal early and had an uphill battle the rest of the game.
Benfica's Midfield - A win will very much depend on how well Benfica's midfield plays. Defensively they will need to stop Kaka and company. Offensively, they must find ways to penetrate Milan's defense and help Nuno Gomes as much as possible.
Crowd Support - Benfica needs to keep the crowd into the game by displaying a good flow of game, complete with goal scoring opportunities; If Benfica is playing well the crowd will be behind the team. Crowd support is essential as they will often provide the push the team needs to put them over the top.
It is not an impossible task to beat Milan, Benfica shouldn't be thinking about nothing else other than a win and shouldn't be intimidated by Milan's talent.
Read my "Down but not Out" Post - where i explore the various possibilities for Benfica
Monday, November 5, 2007
Celtic - Benfica - Champions League Matchday 4
Keepers: Butt and Quim;
Defenders: Luís Filipe, Zoro, Luisão, Edcarlos, Léo and Miguelito;
Midfielders: Binya, Rui Costa, Nuno Assis, Katsouranis, Maxi Pereira and Cristian Rodriguez;
Forwards: Nuno Gomes, Adu, Bergessio, Di Maria e Cardozo.
Miguelito is the only addition to the group of players that was called up for the P. Ferreira match, reason being that Leo might not be able to go.
Camacho will most likely field the following players:
Quim in goal. Maxi, Luisao, Katsouranis, Leo(Miguelito). Maxi will most likely return to right back to give the back line more consistency. Katsouranis will remain in the center of the defense, he has been playing well and Camacho will once again put him in that position, banking on his CL experience and his chemistry with Luisao. In Midfield, Binya, Rui Costa, Rodriguez and perhaps Di Maria. Camacho might chose to go with Assis, as Assis will know exactly what Benfica can expect at Celtic Park and will not be as intimidated as Di Maria. On the other side of the coin, some players are big game players and maybe Di Maria is such a player. Up Front we will most likely see Nuno Gomes join Cardozo. Nuno Gomes played most of the second half this past Saturday and should be ready to play most of the game; I think his presence on the field is vital for Cardozo’s production.
Benfica needs to come out strong and play well, they can’t let themselves get rattled out by the crowd and will need to score in order to take some of the crowd out of the game. Celtic pressures very high and will be very aggressive in their home field, Benfica will need to move the ball quickly and try to make quick transitions through the wings with either Rodriguez or Di Maria/Assis and try to find Cardozo in the box. It will not be an easy game, Celtic defeated Milan at Celtic Park in matchday 2 which is only proof of how hard it is to come away with points from Scotland, nonetheless it is not an impossible task.
Mathematical Possibilities
With 3 more games yet to be played, there’s still a multiplicity of possibilities for Benfica to qualify for the second round of the Champions League.
Here are the standings:
Let’s look at some of the possibilities and where the result of the Celtic Game would leave Benfica:
-A tie against Celtic would keep Benfica in third place ahead of Celtic, and leaves Benfica dependent on only themselves for the last 2 rounds not to mention in an excellent position to make it to the UEFA cup in the eventuality they are to obtain less than positive results in the last 2 rounds.
-A win would leave Benfica tied in points with Shakhtar and in a very good position to advance – assuming Milan will beat the Ukrainian side in this Tuesdays clash and.
The Milan factor
The Italian giants are they key for Benfica’s qualification, their win this Tuesday would help Benfica, Benfica will then host the Italians in matchday 5, in a match that will determine Benfica’s fate, and although a negative result might not send Benfica packing, assuming that Benfica beats Celtic, a win would almost put Benfica through, while a tie would leave everything open to matchday 6.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Benfica - Celtic Matchday 3 CL Preview
Matchday 3 is upon of us, and like many of you i expected Benfica to have at least have 3 points. Having played the number 1 seed and number 4 seed, Benfica should have least have beaten the weaker 4th seed. But that wasn't the case. Not only did we go to San Siro and lost as predicted, we also hosted Shaktar an lost. So, 2 games in and we have yet to put any points up on the standings. Quick rundown through the standings:
Shakhtar 2-0-0 6pts
Celtic 1-1-0 3pts
Milan 1-1-0 3pts
Benfica 0-2-0 0pts
Shaktar has maximum points, having beaten both Celtic and Benfica, Celtic and Milan share second place with 3 points with the edge going to the Scots due to having beaten Milan in Matchday 2 ( head to head tie-breaker), Benfica rounds up the group in last place. Shaktar travels to Milan, with nothing to lose, Milan need the win to get back control. Shaktar has done what they set out to do, beat the 2 teams who would be their main competition. A loss in Milan would still leave them in good shape, but i believe they will play to win, as they are a talented side with good quality players. Celtic comes to Lisbon trying to stay in the run, a loss wouldn't hurt them that bad, but they need to tally points if they are to keep up. Benfica is in desperate need of a win, a loss would most likely see them out of next round, while a tie would be just as bad. At this point it would all Benfica should be looking to do is to qualify to the next round, UEFA cup shouldn't even be a tought at this point.
For this tomorrow's clash Camacho called up the following payers:
Keepers: Quim, Butt - Butt makes his return to the bench after a short injury spell to his back. Defenders: Luisão, Léo, Zoro, Edcarlos, Miguel Vítor e Luis Filipe - Nelson continues to be hurt Edcarlos is coming off an injury and may not be 100%.
Midfielders: Katsouranis, Maxi Pereira, Cristian Rodriguez, Rui Costa, Nuno Assis, Binya and Romeu Ribeiro - No surprises on the Midfield.
Forwards: Di Maria, Cardozo, Adu and Bergessio - With Nuno Gomes being hurt, Bergessio has made the call up list despite of his poor performance on saturday, Mantorras is left out, the Angolan international is still not 100%.
My projected line-up
Quim
Maxi, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo - Maxi will return to the right side where he is a lot more dependable than Luis Felipe - Katsouranis was tested out in the back with Luisao on the tuesdays training session, he will most likely start next to Luisao, there is a slight chance that Edcarlos might be able to go, but it is unlikely.
In the midfield: Binya will once again be in the defensive midfield role, Rodriguez and Di Maria will be on the flanks while Rui Costa will be in the middle as the organizer.
Up front Cardozo will play in the center forward position while Bergessio will play in a supportive role, a position he is more familiar with and that suits his worker characteristics. Cardozo will definetely be a great target in the box as he is tall and his aerial game is decent, look for him to knock balls down to oncoming players
There is another variation i'd consider - switching Bergessio with Di Maria.
Off the bench look for Adu to be the first option for Camacho, Nuno Assis and Romeu Ribeiro could also be options, late in the game.
The Scots have refused to practice on the game pitch since they arrived in Lisbon, chosing to practice at Estadio Nacional, the venue that saw them win their first European title in the late sixties, oddly enough that team was nicknamed the Lisbon Lions - no relation to the other Lions of Lisbon, even though the Uniforms are very similar.
It should be a very close game with the edge going to Benfica for being home, and for desperately needing the 3 points, Camacho has already expressed that thhe team will be going at it from the intial whistle. Let's hope for a good result.
My prediction is 2-1 Benfica
