Handsome position is not easy

Chapter 152 Benfica

The fourth knockout round of the UEFA Cup has been completed. Porto defeated Denizli Sports with a total score of 8:3, Lazio successfully advanced to Poland Krakow 5:4, and the Celtics, a Soviet super team, eliminated Bundesliga 5:4. Stuttgart, the Nerazzurri's opponent in the second group stage of the Champions League last season, the Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos defeated Anderlecht in the Belgian First Division 3:2.

西甲的马拉加在首回合闷平的情况下客场1:0绝杀了雅典AEK，利物浦在零封对手的同时两回合打进三球淘汰了法甲的欧塞尔，土耳其霸主贝西克塔斯客场0:1失利，但在主场4:2击败了来自捷克首都的布拉格斯拉维亚。

Last season's league champion Sporting Lisbon and runner-up Boavista failed to break out of the Champions League. After the Green Lions fell into the UEFA Cup, they met Partizan Belgrade in the first round of the knockout round. The home and away goals of the two teams in the two rounds Exactly the same, in the end Sporting Lisbon fell in the penalty shootout and completely missed the next European war.

But Boavista's luck is obviously much better than Sporting Lisbon's. They first defeated Anorthosis Club from Cyprus 3:1 in two rounds of the second round of the knockout round, and then met a strong Ligue [-] team in the third round Paris Saint-Germain then successfully advanced with an away goal advantage.

Boavista's opponent in the fourth knockout round was Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. They lost 2:3 away in the first round, but after returning home, the Black and White Checkered Army stubbornly scored the only goal in the game. The total score was the same. Under the circumstances, the opponent was eliminated through the advantage of away goals.

I have to say that their luck really made Sporting Lisbon drool with envy. Many Portuguese cheered for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals with two Portuguese Super League teams, but the Spanish football is more delighted than the Portuguese. In addition to Malaga staying in the Europa League, there are actually three La Liga teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

The UEFA Cup quarter-final matchup table has also been released. Porto needs to face the Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos first and then away in mid-March. Boavista's opponent is Mara from La Liga. Plus, the schedule of guest first and then host is more friendly to them.

But Mourinho has no time to think about it so much for the time being. The next league opponent is Benfica, who can compete with Porto for the Portuguese Super League championship. The importance of this confrontation is self-evident. The Portuguese national derby has never been gunpowder. It faded away, and now it is the six-point battle that directly collides at the end of the season. As long as Porto kills Benfica, they can safely focus on the two elimination games of the Portuguese Cup and the Europa League.

Boas brought the latest information about the Red Eagles. Porto's coaching staff put forward several solutions after careful study, but Mourinho did not adopt them all. Boas believed that Benfica's starting striker Zakhovic would bear The main offensive responsibility, but the Setubal people let the players practice how to defend another striker Sokota in the training session.

Both the players and the coaching staff were puzzled by the coach's arrangement. Mourinho knew that they would ask this question, so he simply took out the tactical board and explained the employment habits of Benfica coach Camacho. Playing for Porto, at that time his technical characteristics have been clearly shown. The 1.8-meter Slovenian star is well-balanced in all aspects, but he cannot take on the role of the fulcrum in the center position. The tall and strong Sokota is Kama Joe's favorite player when his team is down.

"The statistics have exposed all of Camacho's secrets. When we were tied and ahead, we used Zahovic to attack in series, and when we were behind, we used Sokota to bomb the penalty area with headers. Do you think we were ahead or behind when we played Benfica? "

Mourinho did not blindly instill in the players the idea that Porto must win, but the arrangement in the training has fully demonstrated his confidence. Before the game, many media also provoked a war of words between the two teams. Benfica's The star Simao Sabrosa took the lead in calling out, and Mourinho did not save face for his old club at all, even though the chairman of Benfica has now become Luis Vieira.

When Porto entered the visiting team's locker room at the Stadium of Light, Mourinho received a lot of welcome. Benfica's masseurs, stadium administrators and equipment maintenance staff were all his old acquaintances. Man was very unhappy with the board of directors, but his relationship with these people has always been good.

But Mourinho knew that the Benfica fans would not give him any respect. When the players were still resting in the locker room, he suddenly had a bad idea. The Porto coach walked through the hall familiarly. Entering the player tunnel, after consulting the security guard who is also an old acquaintance, Mourinho walked into the stadium from the tunnel entrance, and at this time there was more than an hour before the start of the game.

At this time, the entire Stadium of Light was full of seats. It is conceivable that the nearly [-] fans of Benfica suddenly found out the reaction of the Porto coach in the stands. It used all the swear words known in Portuguese to deal with Mourinho, but the expression of the Setubal people seemed to enjoy it very much.

Mourinho, who has made almost no achievements on the court, has never enjoyed such treatment. He was cursed and booed by tens of thousands of people. Maybe the most recent record is about another Portuguese, who played in Barcelona. This was the case when Luis Figo, who had been on the captain's armband, switched to Real Madrid and returned to the Camp Nou. There was even a pig's head thrown on the turf.

When Mourinho returned to the visiting team's locker room, the entire coaching staff looked terrified. They were shocked when they found that the coach suddenly disappeared and made a lot of noise. The players are used to such things, and even feared The guy who is not chaotic is clamoring to go out with Mourinho again.

Camacho's formation has indeed been completely figured out, or in other words, anyone who has watched Benfica's few games knows who he will start. Sure enough, Benfica brought Zahovic and him back from Florence. Nuno Gomez stepped up the front line, and Jorge Costa and Ricardo Carvalho looked at each other and smiled easily. They were ready to face these two light forwards.

When the game lasted for more than 30 minutes, Porto took the lead in breaking the deadlock. Maniche did not show any mercy to his former owner. He made several consecutive fierce grabs and successfully stole the ball, and quickly handed it to Deco.Porto's midfield commander showed off his skills. After passing two Benfica midfielders, he distributed it to Marco Ferreira on the right. The latter decisively passed a through ball to the center of the penalty area. Del Ray volleyed directly with his right foot without stopping the ball and successfully pierced Benfica's goal.

(End of this chapter)