Ambitions and 85 kilometers of distance between neighbors :: zerozero.pt

After qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Benfica once again turns its attention to the championship, where it does not want to let rival Sporting escape (even further) in the lead. However, to do so you have to overcome Casa Pia who is going through a good period and who tends to be tough, especially at home.

Casa Pia has experienced some instability this season, to such an extent that it is already on its 3rd coach, but this scenario has improved a little since the arrival of Gonçalo Santos as technical command of the team, four games ago, where the geese stabilized, mainly in defense, and achieved two wins and a draw (although they lost the last game, against Estrela, by 3-1).

Despite this, the team lost its best scorer this season, the Brazilian Clayton Silva, who returned to his home country, which forced some aesthetic changes in the way of playing. In the last game, Gonçalo Santos opted for a more mobile attack, without a pure striker, and this seems like a very viable option for this reception against Benfica, especially since they are expected to have much less ball. Other than that, the biggest doubt may be who will form this trio, especially after Soma’s good performance in the last round’s match.

Turning the attention to Benfica, who visit their neighbors, as is usual at Casa Pia, far from Pina Manique, the moment of form is different. The defeats in the Classics are still alive, but the Reds are coming off an important victory in Scotland (0-1), which certainly motivated us to attack this final part of the season.

The climate, however, is still not the best, after interview and criticism by Turkish Kokçu, which is now a delicate matter for Roger Schmidt to resolve. In a normal situation, the midfielder should be out of the starting lineup (at least) for this game, which reinforces the likelihood of the German coach betting on a starting eleven very similar to Glasgow’s. The biggest doubt arises in the chosen striker, since Tengstedt responded very well in that game, unlike Marcos Leonardo, and there is also Arthur Cabral. It will depend on Roger Schmidt’s approach.

Historic

Neighbors in Lisbon and old acquaintances, especially from other times, Benfica and Casa Pia have already faced each other on a total of 40 occasions, and the advantage clearly lies with the Reds, with 27 victories, against “only” five for the Gansos (eight draws ). However, it is necessary to remember that the vast majority (37) of these duels were from 1983 ago. In the last meeting, there was a draw, in Luz…