Offensive mentality worth League Cup final four

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

Benfica is in the final four of the League Cup, after beating AVS by 4-1, this Thursday, December 21, at Estádio da Luz, on matchday 3 of Group B of the competition. Di María, João Mário, Tiago Gouveia and an own goal made up the score. Estoril is the opponent in the semi-final.

Neither the cold nor the last-minute Christmas shopping prevented 48,959 spectators from being present at the Estádio da Luz to push Benfica into their 13th League Cup semi-final, the 5th in the Final Four format.

To get to Leiria, Roger Schmidt fielded practically the same XI that had beaten SC Braga (0-1), on Sunday, December 17. The only change came in defense, when Tomás Araújo came on in place of Otamendi, with the Portuguese central defender teaming up with António Silva.

Benfica went into the match with AVS with the following eleven: Trubin, Aursnes, Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Morato, João Neves, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Tengstedt. 

In the 13th minute, Estádio da Luz witnessed a memorable moment of football. João Neves won the ball inside his own half, dodged two opponents, ran a good few meters and left an opponent behind. Once inside the AVS half, he passed the ball to Kökcü, who fired a powerful shot from about 30 meters out that hit the bar. On the rebound, Tengstedt shot against an opposing player.

In a quick transition, Mercado fired a powerful shot into the back of the net (0-1, at 21').

At 31', a fantastic play by João Neves, with the young midfielder, always on the move, leaving three opponents behind, managing to avoid another opponent's tackle and, at just the right moment, delivering the ball to Rafa. With just two touches of the ball - a reaction and a pass - he set up the Argentinian, who fired the ball into the back of the net (1-1).

In the 44th minute, Di María and João Mário were involved in a play that also included the special participation of Aursnes. The Argentinian laid the ball off to the Norwegian international, who served the No.20, who, in front of goal, only had to head the ball into the back of the net (2-1).

Roger Schmidt's men had turned the game around and the scoreline was fair (the Eagles had 11 shots to AVS's two), and it was with the score at 2-1 that half-time arrived at the Estádio da Luz. The final four of the League Cup was 45 minutes away.

In the 59th minute, the Eagles made three changes: out went Tengstedt, Rafa and João Mário, in came Arthur Cabral, Tiago Gouveia and Guedes.

If the 1-1 and 2-1 plays had already sent the Luz stands into a frenzy, the 3-1 wasn't far behind. Kökcü's great reception, which took an opponent out of the way, and, after climbing a few meters, the Turkey international chipped the ball towards Tiago Gouveia's run.

The midfielder/winger received the ball on the move and, seeing Pedro Trigueira ahead of him, made a lob that only stopped in the back of the net (3-1, on 65').

Before the restart, Roger Schmidt took Kökcü off the pitch to bring Florentino on (67').

The next minute, another goal for the Eagles. A free kick was taken by Di María, who realized that Guedes was asking for a through ball on the right side of the attack. The World Cup winner for Argentina in 2022 passed the ball to him, who received it and, completely alone, headed for goal. Unopposed, the forward immediately made a cross into the penalty area. Arthur Cabral was ready to put the ball in, but AVS defender Anthony cleared it into his own net (4-1, 68').

Four minutes from time, Benfica made their final change: Morato came off and Jurásek came on.

The rest of the match (with three minutes of stoppage time) was played at slow pace.

When it came, the final whistle confirmed Benfica's presence in the final four of the League Cup in Leiria, where they will meet Estoril in the semi-final.

After 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2021/22, Benfica is once again in the semi-finals of the League Cup.

It should be noted that the final four format of the competition has existed since 2016/17 - Benfica was one of the four debutants - and since then, the Eagles have appeared four times: 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2022/22.

The Reds have won the competition seven times: 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The next challenge is also the last of 2023, a year marked by winning the 38th title of national champion, with a home match against Famalicão, on matchday 15 of the Liga Betclic, scheduled for December 29 (Friday), at 6:45 pm.