Carreras, a true tenor who does not tune out and sets the tone (the Farense-Benfica chronicle) – Observer

It was one of those weeks in which the next-door neighbor’s instability made it seem like everything was under control at home. Benfica surfed the wave of the last few days, where Sporting in general and Rúben Amorim in particular were on the covers of the newspapers, and took the opportunity to record two consecutive victories with eight goals scored and none conceded.

The red-and-blacks defeated Rio Ave in the Championship and Santa Clara in the League Cup, immediately responding to the slip-up in the Champions League against Feyenoord — the first with Bruno Lage, who apparently taught the team lessons, but left no relevant bruises. This Saturday, they visited a Farense team that is in last place in the League. More than that, they were looking for the third successive triumph in the run-up to the visit to Bayern Munich, in the Champions League, and the reception to FC Porto, in the first Clásico of the season in Luz.

“We cannot say that the next game is with FC Porto. The next game is with Farense. Our topic of the moment is Sporting Clube Farense. The difficulty of the number of games and the fact that it is an opponent that has been growing. This has been emerging in the last few games and the difficulty comes from there. It also comes from the fact that we are competing every two days. We envision a difficult game, but we want to start with the same ambition as always. For us it’s a final, we know it’s important to get the three points and that’s how we’re going to approach the game. We expect difficulties, but for us it is seen as a final”, said the red-and-black coach in the preview of the match.

In this context, Bruno Lage returned to the more usual eleven after having made many changes against Santa Clara, in the League Cup, and restored Florentino’s starting position in midfield, with Beste starting on the bench and Aktürkoğlu returning to the left side. Tomás Araújo, as has become increasingly normal, was the owner of the place next to Otamendi in the defensive axis. On the other side, in a Farense team that had just one victory in the Championship, Tozé Marreco enhanced the return of Elves Baldé to the eleven, with Darío Poveda also appearing in the Algarve attack.

The game started with two shots, with Di María shooting for Ricardo Velho to fit in (3′) and Darío Poveda doing the same with Trubin (5′), and that’s how it was clear that the first half would have an interesting rhythm. Farense had no great interest in limiting themselves to their own midfield, despite clear defensive concerns whenever Benfica had the ball, and even benefited from some ease in the form that reached the opposing final third.

Bruno Lage’s team essentially lost its balance through shots from outside the penalty area, as Tozé Marreco’s team put many people in front of Ricardo Velho’s goal and did not allow interior incursions. Both Kökçü (9′) and Pavlidis (13′) tried their luck, both with long shots that didn’t even hit the target, and Farense ended up taking advantage to open the scoreboard.

In a simple move, Miguel Menino escaped from Álvaro Carreras and released Pastor on the right, who crossed to the heart of the penalty area; there, coming from behind and in full anticipation of the distracted Bah, Darío Poveda deflected the first shot past Trubin (15′), making his debut to score for Farense. Bruno Lage asked Benfica players to calm down and the truth is that the Reds took just over five minutes to reach a draw. Aktürkoğlu drove at speed down the right, opened to the opposite side and found Carreras, who shot free to beat Ricardo Velho and regain equality (21′).

Benfica assumed clearer dominance from that moment on, with Farense lowering their lines and giving priority to defensive organization and then trying to launch a counterattack. The Reds spent the last quarter of an hour of the first half completely inserted into the opposing midfield, but they were unable to create real scoring opportunities and were wasting moves with inconsequential shots that Ricardo Velho controlled effortlessly. At half-time, Farense and Benfica were tied in the Algarve.

Bruno Lage made changes at the beginning of the second half and took off Alexander Bah to launch Beste, placing Aursnes on the right of the defense, the German open on the left and Aktürkoğlu in more interior spaces close to Pavlidis. The first minutes after the break were again very intense, as had happened in the first half, and They could have had goals in both goals: Ricardo Velho avoided Pavlidis’ goal with a huge intervention (49′) and Darío Poveda, seconds later, fumbled with the ball when he was almost isolated in Trubin’s face (49′).

Tozé Marreco made the first substitution soon after, swapping Poveda for Cuba, but Benfica didn’t wait until the indecision lasted much longer. In a very quick counterattack, Di María discovered Aktürkoğlu in the area, the Turk crossed inside and Pavlidis, well positioned, deflected to beat Ricardo Velho and seal the turnaround (54′). The Farense coach moved again shortly afterwards, bringing on Rafael Barbosa, Gio and Álex Bermejo all at once, but the Algarve team had no ability to counter Benfica’s management.

Bruno Lage clearly went into full swing with around 15 minutes left, when he replaced Aktürkoğlu with Amdouni, and the Reds no longer needed to implement great intensity to control the events, as Farense seemed incapable of discussing the result. Gio also had a strong shot from outside the area, with Trubin fitting in (75′), the last moments brought the usual dangers near the red goal in the face of the minimum margin and the anxiety created by the slim advantage, but nothing else changed.

At the end, Benfica beat Farense in the Algarve and recorded their third consecutive victory, keeping the distance to Sporting and FC Porto and starting in the best possible way for the visit to Bayern Munich and the reception to FC Porto. In a game without great artistic note and essentially effective, Álvaro Carreras was once again one of the best members of Bruno Lage’s team, scored a goal and showed that he is currently an absolutely indisputable player in the Reds.