🎥 Pearls from Benfica Campus in UEFA Magazine

INTERVIEW

They grew at the Benfica Campus – the Reds' training center that "has been a production line of talents" – and there they have become players. Florentino, Rúben Dias and Jota are featured in the UEFA Magazine on the eve of Lyon-Benfica, from matchday 4 of the Champions League.

"Benfica is my favorite club. I've always come to the Estádio da Luz. Spending a whole season watching the players on the pitch, to support them on the outside and have the privilege of being with them on the inside is an indescribable sensation", started by saying Jota, the 20-year-old winger in statements with the UEFA Magazine.

A dream shared by Florentino, a 20-year-old midfielder and Jota's teammate since 2010, who, nine years after arriving at Benfica, was crowned National Champion for the first team.  

"It's a dream. Since I was a child I had the goal of playing at Estádio da Luz. I shared the dressing room with players I'd seen since I was little, and they were my idols, my references. I always tried to learn from them. Now I share the dressing room with them…", he claimed.

Rúben Dias – who recently completed the 100th appearance for Benfica's first team – recalled his career with an eagle on his chest started in 2008 and highlighted the importance of a competition like the UEFA Youth League.

"When you are a U-19 player and you have the opportunity of having your own Champions League and of training with the Champions League ball in the middle of the week... it meant a lot to me. Those three or four days when we could train with the Champions League ball, we felt that we were really in a mini-Champions League…", he revealed.

Text: Filipa Fernandes Garcia

Pics: Tânia Paulo / SL Benfica