To avoid leaving evidence of any crime committed, the best thing a criminal can do is not leave a trace. Obviously, committing cheating involves visible consequences at some point. The trick is that these are not discovered.
It’s not as simple as it seems.
The season has just started and Benfica can now divide it into two parts: one before and one after Bruno Lage. The arrival of the new red coach practically coincided with the start of the Champions League. The emblem of Light set foot in fear at Red Star’s home. There weren’t even any expectations about the start of the European campaign, such as the uproar caused by the change in technical command.
In Belgrade, Benfica dressed like never before in the season and hid the weak version of itself from the eyes of the continent. Making defects invisible is a whim that affects us all, but would it be possible to repeat the same against Atlético Madrid? It was and it was confirmed that the eagles have not been worse since Lage arrived. And it was him, the coach who built version 2.0 of Benfica, who had to stop the ‘olés’ that the fans sang as the 4-0 reached. Two games, two victories and the certainty that the Champions League has not yet seen Benfica’s bad ways. What Europe doesn’t know, Europe doesn’t feel and internal matters are internal matters.
When Benfica left the stadium at Estádio da Luz for the pitch, António Silva was the last to arrive at the circle where the substitutes make the star object of the game vibrate while the starters take more serious measures to warm up their bodies. If the ball depended on you to be revived, you could immediately reserve a passport to continue traveling to the lunar side. The Champions League nights that established the young man as a defender deluxe of European football revealed the decline in their form.
Tomás Araújo had been disguised as a right-back, but, with Bah’s return, he occupied his original position, alongside Otamendi. It was important that it not shake like sticks. After just 30 seconds, Julián Álvarez stole the ball from him. The central defender didn’t sleep on his mistake and went to gain possession for the benefit of the Reds’ efforts. Sometimes, error has this unfreezing effect on ideas and, from then on, Tomás Araújo was sober in his approaches.
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Benfica hooked the attack by building three. Álvaro Carreras restrained himself from moving to the front to draw pressure from Ángel Correa and free Orkun Kökçü in the center-left. On the opposite flank, Bah deepened his knowledge of Atlético Madrid’s defensive line with Di María establishing himself as the second striker in offensive organization.
To open the game, Pavlidis had two opportunities to score. Witsel and Oblak did not let him. If Kerem Aktürkoglu believes in magic on a planet where there is none, he also has the right to reject superstitions in a world that respects them. The Turk scored his own goal in the 13th minute. Bah’s credit for blocking Atlético Madrid’s attack before the Red’s foresight trickled down to the winger on the opposite side.
When Marcos Llorente left injured, in the first half, and Nahuel Molina came on to the right flank of the colchoneros, six Argentine world champions were on the field, spread across both teams. They must hide many secrets about the chaos of celebrations that ended with a helicopter evacuation.
Although not as well known globally, Samuel Lino was a familiar face to the Portuguese public. The Brazilian took a degree in Gil Vicente during the three years he spent in Barcelos before rising so quickly as to be unusual. Whenever they managed to get around the area, Atlético Madrid invented a practical solution (rarely adequate, to define the play). Lino’s attempted cross cannot be criticized, as, with Trubin’s complacency, it unexpectedly ended up on the crossbar. Pavlidis responded with a ball against the post, completing a hat-trick of failed opportunities.
Since they had an advantage, Benfica spared themselves the effort of attacking. Despite everything, it was a comfortable situation. Koke and Rodrigo De Paul were not being imaginative enough to discover solutions in crumbs of space. It was there that Simeone started the changes (Griezmann also couldn’t resist the changes at half-time). Having just entered, the ill-fated Conor Gallagher was too aggressive in the path he made towards Pavlidis and trampled the striker inside the area.
Di María scored the second for the red team. More than that, he released a vitality from his core that came to the fore in the following minutes. With less excitement and more reasoning, he could have beaten Oblak when he appeared in the Slovenian goalkeeper’s face. Or, perhaps, passed by. In any case, that was what Bruno Lage was looking for when he saved himself from constantly being behind Samuel Lino and Reinildo. Aursnes, as always, did not mind the task.
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Benfica stopped retreating from then on. The benches asked for more and more. Bah’s corner gave what was intended, the third goal. Then, Amdouni was overturned inside the area and Kökçü, again from a penalty, went to score the fourth. Digging the pieces of Atlético Madrid’s morale, the Reds didn’t turn off the tap until the final whistle and Rollheiser still hit the bar.
The stands sang for João Félix, the Portuguese international who spent time in the Spanish capital with little success. Many Rojiblancos fans came to Portugal to try to recover the 120 million euros. On the part of Benfica, in an unwelcoming way, they received a bag full.
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