FIRST LEG
SL Benfica traveled to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday April 5, 2016 to face 2015/16 German Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich in the first leg of the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League. SL Benfica have not reached these stages since the 2011/12 season when they lost to Chelsea. Going into this game it was no doubt that Bayern Munich were the favorites against SL Benfica in fact, many pundits feel that Bayern is one of the favorites (Barcelona is the other) to win this year's competition.
Rui Vitoria lined up his team
like this which is a brave attacking formation considering the fact that when Bayern plays at home they usually net 3-4 goals. While in ball possession SL Benfica looked as though they were playing a 4-4-2 formation but would often play a 4-4-1-1 formation without possession. Bayern Munich capitalized early on within the first 3 minutes of the match as they took advantage of the open spaces in the Benfica defense with Benat crossing into the middle of the match catching Arturo Vidal's head making it 1-0. With almost 90 minutes left in the match at this point SL Benfica had time to look for the equalizer.
As the match progressed the Munich fans kept getting louder and louder trying to motivate Bayern to increase there scoreline. SL Benfica pressed on and gave it all they could against the giants of Germany. With such players as; Ederson, Lindelof, and Sanches who are green in UEFA competitions, SL Benfica demonstrated determination and never let their guard down throughout 90 minutes. There were a few calls which did not go in the favour of SL Benfica, and SL Benfica were unable to capitalize on three very important crucial opportunities to get that away goal.
SECOND LEG
SL Benfica lose 1-0 on the road and although it was a loss, this result in Germany was quite impressive considering the fact that Bayern can usually produce 3-4 goals at home and had opportunities to do so.
SL Benfica coach Rui Vitoria has some work to do if he wants to defeat Bayern Munich at the Luz next week. We may very well see another attacking 4-4-2 formation with possibly Raul taking the spot of Jonas. Vitoria's commitment to this tournament will show on how he sets up his team and how he distributes his substitutions throughout the match.
Going into the Luz next week, even without Jonas (accumulated yellows) one thing is for certain SL Benfica will create chances and will score at home. The other guaranteed outcome to the second leg will be the 50,000+ members of the Benfica Nation who will be the 12th man in supporting their team from the first minute onto the last. A few defense mistakes and possibly some calls in Benfica favour can very well secure SL Benfica a spot onto the semi-finals of the Champions League.
RECENT UNPREDICTED RESULTS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
The reality is again no one expected SL Benfica to do this well in this year's UEFA Champions League. The 30+ million that they have accumulated in this season's competition will do wonders for the team next season. For SL Benfica to defeat Bayern Munich in a David vs. Golliath esque comparison would be incredible. At that point, a semi-final appearance may only do more harm then good. If they got to the semi-finals with a primarily younger, inexperienced UEFA side then they should be able to go all of the way and break the Bella Guttman curse? Stranger things have happened at this point in the competition in the past. Upsets and beating the odds have occurred many times throughout the past decade.
As good as FC Porto were during the 2003/04 competition and with the help of coach Jose Mourinho, no one ever thought that they would face AS Monaco in the finals and win.
During 2005/06 SL Benfica defeated English giants Manchester United during the group stages and Liverpool on a 3-0 aggregate in the round of 16. At this point, the EPL was the most dominant league in the world producing should UEFA Champions as Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea.
In 2008/09 FC Porto went through on aggregate to the Quarter- finals defeating Atletico de Madrid and then losing in the Quarter-finals to Manchester United. Not a surprise was the round of 16 elimination of Sporting CP who lost 12-1 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.
Some can argue that Internazionale's Champions League winning season in 2009-10 was unpredicted as they took out such European giants as Chelsea, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich in the final. Inter was coached by Jose Mourinho who also helped Inter dominate Serie A that season.
In the following year Schalke 04 went all of the way to the semi - finals losing to Manchester United. Along the way Schalke 04 won their group (Benfica was there) and defeated Valenica (Rof16) and taking out reigning champions Inter on a 7-3 aggregate in the Quarter-finals.
In 2011/12 no one had heard of the name APOEL in UEFA Champions League competition. The champions of Cyprus made their debut in the competition that year winning their group which consisted of FC Porto, Zenit St-Petersburg, and Shakhtar Donetsk. APOEL eliminated Lyon in the round of 16 and was then eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid.
And then who can forget the all German UEFA Champions League finals between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund of 2012/13. The hipster outcome would of seen Dortmund lift the trophy but Bayern were victorious in Wembley losing 2-1. Dortmund beat Real Madrid twice in the group stages and once in the semi-finals during this tournament.
During the 2013/14 final at The Luz in Lisbon, an all Spanish final took place as Atletico Madrid faced Real Madrid. Atletico won their group and proceeded to eliminate AC Milan, Barcelona, and Chelsea along the way. Real Madrid took out the 3 German teams to get to the final and although Ronaldo and friends were in excellent form, many were expecting Diego Simeone's side to lift the trophy. Real Madrid 4-1 over Atletico.
Juventus turned a lot of heads during the 2014/15 campaign as they took out Real Madrid in the semi-finals only to lose to Barcelona 4-1 in Berlin. Juventus although dominate in Italy were unable to defeat the trio of MSN.
FINAL THOUGHT
SL Benfica need to remain focused on winning the Portuguese Liga for a third consecutive season which is something in which they have not done since the mid 1970's. Advancing deeper in the Champions League competition would be a great boost of confidence for SL Benfica (financially) and Portuguese Football (coefficient). The comparisons to Mourinho's 2004 FC Porto winning team have been made, but would that team stand a chance to beat the Bayern Munich's and Barcelona's of today's game?
This year's UEFA Champions League will most likely be won by a wealthier or more dominant club such as; Bayern Munich or Barcelona not by a smaller club like SL Benfica or Wolfsburg. After all, in this tournament the winning clubs are those with the wealthiest players who overpower the smaller clubs. I believe (without doing any formal research) that MSN alone (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) make more money in one single week then all of the SL Benfica players do one entire month. There is your financial fair play.
