Benfica returning to glory days

As I watched my team Everton get outplayed by Portuguese side Benfica in the two recent meetings in the Europa League, I couldn’t help thinking this side are pure class.

Everton were low on confidence and still have a long injury list but still you can see that Benfica have class in abundance. The movement and passing was simple fantastic.

‘The Special One Two’

This new vibrant Benfica side is managed by Jorge Jesus or ‘The Special One Two’ as he is known in Portugal. This nickname has been gained by his flamboyant nature and his confidence similar to that of former Chelsea and current Inter boss Jose Mourinho.

He made a name for himself last season at Sporting Braga. He took the club to fifth in the Portuguese Liga and also to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup. He built such a strong club at Braga that they are now up at the top the league challenging Benfica.

South American influence

Benfica’s style of play is very South American due to the fact that they have so many players from that continent. The South American players they do have are of a high standard. Argentine midfielders Angel Di Maria and Pablo Aimar are the creative force behind a highly skillful attacking force. They are the past and future for their national side.

Talented winger Angel Di Maria will be with Diego Maradona’s national side at next years World Cup. Aimar has always had the ability to carve open defences but has never lived up to the ‘new Maradona’ tag that was given to him as a youngster. However this season he has produced some of the best form of his career.

Little and Large

I have been impressed with the aforementioned players but the pair that has impressed me the most are the two strikers another Argentine Javier Saviola and Paraguayan Oscar Cardozo. The duo have been outstanding this season and have fired Benfica towards the top of the league. Between them they scored six of the seven goals that the side from Lisbon scored against Everton.

Saviola is a well travelled striker who has had spells with Real Madrid and European champions Barcelona as well. He too never quite lived up to his potential. He was touted as one of the best prospect to come out of Argentina for decades. He scored an impressive 49 goals in 119 games for Barca but was discarded when Frank Rijkaard arrived at the club.

He did have decent loans spells at Sevilla and Monaco before joining Real and being frozen out. He made only 16 appearances for the Galacticos and scored four goals. Since joining Benfica he has already bettered that total and he looks like he could back in the form which persuaded Barcelona to bring him to Spain from River Plate eight years ago.

I’ve been really impressed with Cardozo as he seems to have everything in his game. He is not only good with his head for a tall player but he has good ball control and seems to work hard for the team. He always seems a threat and with the Benfica midfield being so creative he will always get the chances to win his team games.

Would be champions

Having seen Benfica in Europe and also watched some of their league games I think they can finally clinch the Portuguese title. Porto have been the dominant force in Portuguese football in recent years but they lost two top players during the summer in the shape of striker Lisandro Lopez and full-back Aly Cissokho.

Benfica in my opinion are by far the best attacking side out of the challengers for the Portuguese league title. They could also be a good bet to win the Europa League, depending on who drops down from the Champions League. This season is just the start of what could be a phoenix from the flames rise. The club have underachieved in recent years and this season could see the welcome return of silverware to the Estadio Da Luz.