Benfica hosts Rangers, Scottish runners-up and current league leaders, tonight (8pm, Saudi time), with a clear mission in the Europa League round of 16: play a great game to mitigate the effects of the defeat they suffered at home. Dragão thus avoid apologies until the answer is given on the field.
This is the point of view of coach Roger Schmidt, who is trying in some way to “correct” and justify his statements at the end of the match against Porto, in a painful classic match that the German did not expect and guarantees that it was. not on purpose”. .
Between the increasing competition in Luz and “Marja’eer” middle The Germans as a possible successor to Thomas Tuchel in the technical leadership of Bayern Munich, already in the 2024-25 season, Schmidt seeks to reduce the noise and motivate the players for the match against Glasgow Protestants, a team that includes the Portuguese striker Fabio Silva, a former “dragon” with a short passage through the “incarnate” coaching levels. “.
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Benfica and Rangers meet for the second time in history, after they reached the “eighth” of the European League through different ways: The “Eagles” dropped a level after placing third in the group stage of the Champions League and winning the tournament. He clears his throat About Toulouse; The Scots – finalists in the 2021-22 edition of UEFA's second-largest club competition – won their group, losing just one game, to Aris Limassol, in Cyprus, a result matched by two crucial victories over Betis.
Raised the relationship of Eusebius
Now, after the 2020-21 draws (3-3 and 2-2) with Jorge Jesus' Benfica, in the Reds' last trip to the Europa League, the emblems of Eusebio and Willie Henderson – two legends of world football have preserved them. A long friendship that was sparked in a 1964 “friendly match” in Denmark, when both were part of “a team from the rest of the world,” as the BBC put it — they would have to “break a tie” in order to reach the quarter-finals.
For Benfica, which three years ago had to come back from two goals down twice, the moment, after the defeat in the Portuguese Cup, with Sporting (2-1), and the defeat against Dragao (5-0), may not be the most appropriate. This is something that the Scots will not fail to protest, even if Belgian coach Philippe Clement recommends restraint, which is explained by the “quality of the opponent”, which should force Rangers to adopt a match with greater expectations. Even if, to do so, they have to modify the system or adapt players to new roles, without exposing themselves too much to achieve a result that could lead to qualification in the second leg in Glasgow.
Benfica coach Roger Schmidt reiterates the importance of going beyond such a simple apology. To relieve the pain and mitigate the shock waves, “it is necessary to move on the field” in order to restore the joy, and for this reason a muscular reaction is required against the Rangers team that surprised Betis Sevilla. Preferably “with a great game” on the night of the night, and if that doesn't take too much, with a safe result that guarantees enough margin for the trip to Scotland, where Benfica will have to deal with the pressure exerted by Ibrox.
