In the second round of the Champions League group stage, Portuguese Super League side Benfica swept La Liga giants Barcelona 3-0 at home, which was the team's first victory over Barcelona in nearly 60 years. After the game, Benfica coach Jesus calmly said that the big victory over Barca was completely a demonstration of the strength of the team, and the club had a high goal to chase this season.
In fact, Benfica has been in great form recently, winning all seven rounds of the Portuguese Premier League to lead the league by four points. In 13 official matches so far in the new season (7 Portuguese Premier League + 4 Champions League qualification matches + 2 Champions League group matches), Benfica has won 11 wins and 2 draws to remain unbeaten, which is the second best start of the season in the club's history.
Best season start in Benfica history (first 13 games)
● 1982–83: 13 wins
● 2021-22 season: 11 wins and 2 draws
● 1963–64 season: 11 wins and 2 draws
● 1960–61 season: 11 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss
As one of the big three in the Portuguese Premier League, Benfica suffered a twist during the offseason, when luis Vieira, then the club's former president, was arrested by police in early July on charges of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, and a number of transactions in the team's past three transfer windows were censored. At the crucial moment, Benfica star Rui Costa took over the team as vice president and became acting president.
Benfica finished third in the Portuguese Premier League in 2020-21, and they are the oldest of the league's 18 teams on average. Unlike opponents who pay a high price after paying a lot of money to pay for their youth training and cultivating new stars, Benfica is more like an international mercenary, with three-quarters of the first-team players as foreign aid. Despite criticism, Rui Costa has adhered to an international approach, acknowledging the importance of youth training but stressing that he will not give up signing foreign players with strength.
In the new season, the five major leagues will become the pillars of Benfica, not only with veteran players such as Vertonghen, Pizi and Otamendi, but also with the help of joão Mario, Weigel, Ferreira and other powerful stars. The 66-year-old Portuguese coach Jesus, who led flamenco in the Brazilian League to a south American match, introduced a large number of European players when he coached flamengo, and is a manager who is good at matching different styles of players.
Last summer, Jesus accepted Benfica's invitation to coach him, but the results of his first season were average, with a total of 285 million euros worth of Benfica, especially in the Portuguese Cup final, which was beaten by Braga by two goals, which put Jesus on the verge of graduation. However, rui Costa made it clear when he took office that manager Jesus was the key to the club's revival.
Lack of localization, Benfica was once looked down upon by the Portuguese media, but Rui Costa firmly stated: "Benfica's goal is to become a European first-line giant, the layout of the management will not be based only in Portugal, we want to attract excellent stars from all over the world, we want to expand our influence outside the Portuguese Super League." To do this, the club must be proactive. ”
It is worth mentioning that Benfica will open the official presidency election on October 9, and Rui Costa has signed up and become the hottest candidate, he publicly declared: "Being the president of the team is not my childhood dream, but the opportunity can not be given up." Benfica is Portugal's greatest team and we have been through difficulties in recent years, but now I am confident of building a stronger team. ”
With the joint efforts of Rui Costa and Jesus, Benfica is recovering strongly step by step. From rushing to power, Rui Costa's vision of a giant does not seem out of reach at the moment.