One to one, Benfica worked hard at their home court to achieve such a draw. This result obviously did not satisfy Benfica's head coach Santos. Looking at the result of the game, Santos stood on the sidelines in a daze. At this time, he felt a little regretful.
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Seeing how exhausted Benfica's main players were, Santos really regretted it, very much. If they had scored three points in this game, then Santos would still think it was worth it, but now, with only one point, Santos felt
Not cost effective.
Exhausting too much in this game is obviously not conducive to the Champions League quarter-finals next week. Santos sighed silently and shook his head.
At the end of this round, Benfica still ranks first in the league. They have 55 points, two points ahead of second-placed Porto, while Sporting Lisbon, ranked third in the league, has 49 points.
Benfica is still two points ahead of Porto, but Benfica people feel that it is not safe. They had the opportunity to expand the lead to five points, but it is a pity that they did not seize it, and it was really a waste of Benfica's main players to consume so much.
It was precisely because this game consumed so much energy and physical energy from the Benfica people that when they went to the away game, Benfica lost 0-2 to Roma and lost the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Benfica had few chances in this game. Roma's defense was very tight, and Benfica had physical problems. Therefore, Benfica's loss in this game was not unjust at all.
After losing the game, Santos could only sigh. At the post-match press conference, Santos took all the responsibility on him and apologized to the Benfica fans. This was because he had too many thoughts.
Yeah, too much wasted in the league.
Santos said at the post-match press conference that he would give Benfica's players a rest after returning to the league. At this time, Santos was very confident in his words, because their next game was against the bottom of the league.
Bellamar in second place.
Belamar has now finally gotten rid of the position of deputy squad leader of the league. Their fellow sufferer Ives has taken over their banner and sat in the position of deputy squad leader. However, Belamar is only one point ahead of Ives, so
, Avis firmly believes that the position of deputy squad leader still belongs to Belamar, and they are just a temporary replacement.
Against the second-last team in the league, Santos believed that his substitute players could easily solve the problem. That's why he dared to boast so much in the post-match press conference.
Sure enough, after returning to the league, Santos carried out rotation. Qiu Ze and other main players did not go to Aveiro with the team at all. Santos took a group of substitutes to the away game to challenge Beira Mar.
Originally, Qiu Ze wanted to go to Aveiro with the team. He wanted to see the fans in Aveiro and also see the two beauties Milian. They hadn't seen each other for a long time. Qiu Ze thought it was pretty cool.
I missed them. However, he didn't make the squad, so he had to stay in Lisbon and take a good vacation to prepare for the Champions League life-or-death battle next week.
Originally, Santos thought that this match with Beiramar would be extremely easy and that they should be able to win the final victory. However, who knew that Beiramar would actually burst out with great energy in this game and finally win the second game at home.
Two games and a draw with the powerful Benfica.
When he saw this result, Santos' face was livid. He regretted not bringing his main players. He couldn't even win the second-to-last team in the league. This is really a shame. Santos regretted it endlessly.
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At this critical moment, the chain slipped. Santos held his head with both hands and regretted it. In this way, they had to give up the top position in the league. Now Porto and Benfica are tied with 56 points, but Porto's goal difference
But there are five more than Benfica, and Benfica deserves to be ranked second.
There are still six rounds left in the league, and Benfica is not without a chance. However, it will be extremely difficult for Benfica to surpass Porto. At this time, Benfica fans believe that Santos is not capable enough and will fall behind at the critical moment.
They believe that it is necessary for the team to change to a better head coach next season so that Benfica can reach a higher level.
These issues are not what Santos should consider now. What he has to consider now is the next life-and-death battle in the Champions League. They will face Roma at home.
In the first round match between the two sides, Benfica lost 2-0 away to their opponent. In this game, Benfica must score at least 2-0 in order to retain Benfica's chance of advancement. This game is very difficult for Benfica.
difficult.
Benfica attaches great importance to this game. They really want to go one step further and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. Benfica's top management also attaches great importance to this game. They hope that Benfica can win, and for this reason they also opened
Prize money of two million euros.
This bonus is not too high for Benfica, but it is enough to excite Benfica's players. Look, just entering the semi-finals is two million euros. What if you win the UEFA Champions League? Even if you can't win it,
If the champion reaches the finals, the prize money will definitely be considerable.
Santos is very serious about the preparations for this game. From the end of the Beiramar game, they have adopted closed training to prevent anything from the outside world from disturbing Benfica's preparations. For this game, Benfica
There is only one goal, and that is to win, and to win more than 2-0.
The Roma team also attaches great importance to this game. Although they are already leading 2-0 and have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals, when they were interviewed before the game, the Roma still performed well.
Very humble and very cautious.
Roma captain Totti said this in an interview: "Anyone who has reached this position is not a weak team. Although we defeated our opponent 2-0 at home, this does not mean that we are stable.
The semi-finals. This game will definitely be more difficult than we imagined, because our opponents also want to advance. In this regard, we are ready to face all difficulties and strive not to disappoint the folks in Rome."
Roma head coach Luciano Spalletti was more cautious: "Benfica is a very strong team, and their performance this season exceeded my expectations. They first double defeated Manchester United in the group stage.
, it was really powerful to eliminate Manchester United from the group. And they were able to eliminate Manchester United from the group in two consecutive seasons. There is no doubt about their strength. This game will be very difficult, and we must be prepared for a tough battle."
Roma defender Mexes said this when being interviewed by media reporters: "Benfica is very strong. Although we won the first round 2-0, it was very difficult for us to win. The opponent's offense was really disappointing.
I have a headache. If it weren't for the opponent's physical problems in the last game, I think it would be difficult for us in Rome to win against our opponent. Now I heard that for this game, Benfica's main players gave up the league and took a week to repair. This is for
This is not good news for us, this game will be very difficult."
Although the Roma team believes that this game will be very difficult from top to bottom, the outside media do not think so. They think that the Roma team can easily defeat Benfica. It is a miracle that Benfica can reach this point. They really
I don't believe Benfica can beat Roma.
The outside media believe that the reason why the Roma players said this is to make Benfica's players float so that they can win the game more easily. The strength of the Roma team is obviously higher than that of Benfica. Faced with this
Team, Benfica has no chance.
Moreover, when the Roma players were being interviewed, no one from Benfica dared to show up and stand up for interviews with the media. This was seen by the media as a guilty conscience. They believed that at this time, Benfica themselves were not guilty.
With confidence, how can Benfica win this game?
Of course, Benfica fans are very dissatisfied with these media reports. They think these media are all nonsense and random speculation. Benfica eliminated Manchester United and the strong team of Lille by a big score. They will be afraid of Roma.
?
The last time Benfica lost to Roma was just due to Benfica's excessive consumption in the league match with Porto. Now their main players of Benfica have been repairing for a week. They firmly believe that Benfica can easily defeat Roma and advance to the Champions League four.
powerful.
The fans of Benfica were very happy at this time. They kept cheering for the Benfica players and hoped that the team could work hard and beat Roma to make these rubbish reporters look good.
However, during this period, none of the Benfica players showed up. Even the team's head coach Santos did not speak out. Benfica has been conducting closed training. No one knows what the situation of the Benfica people is now.
.
Santos avoided all interviews and focused all his energy on preparations before the game. Benfica really couldn't afford to lose this game, and Santos also wanted to win this game. Of course he heard this
There have been rumors outside for some time that he hopes to lead Benfica to the semi-finals of the Champions League to prove to Benfica and Portuguese fans that his Santos coaching ability is excellent.
Santos doesn't want to step down from this position so quickly. He has only been in this position for a year. He only took over the coaching staff of Benfica at the end of last season. Before him, Benfica's head coach was the Dutch coach.
Coleman.
Last season, Koeman brought Benfica to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and everyone recognized his ability. As long as he brings Benfica to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season, it means that Santos is stronger than Koeman and more suitable for Benfica than Koeman.
head coach.
During this closed preparation time, Santos's training volume was not very large. He did not want to consume too much physical energy of the Benfica players in training. The league was coming to an end, and the physical fitness of the players would definitely not be good at this time.
He hopes that the players can save their physical fitness for the game.
During this period, Qiu Ze also felt the pressure on Santos and Santos' ambitions. It is difficult for Qiu Ze to evaluate Santos, but after nearly a season of cooperation, Qiu Ze believes that Santos is a very conscientious and responsible person.
The head coach is meticulous in training and has great ideas. But Santos is not very mature now and still has some problems on certain issues.
However, Qiu Ze still believes that Santos is quite suitable for Benfica, at least at this stage. As for this game, Qiu Ze is very confident. He firmly believes that Benfica is capable of defeating Roma.
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In training, Benfica's players work very hard. Benfica's players are very eager to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League. They do not want to be eliminated at this time. They also want to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Therefore, during this period, Benfica's players are very motivated and working very hard for this upcoming Champions League life-and-death battle. At their home court, Benfica's players hope to usher in a big victory to send them into the Champions League.
The semi-finals of this season's Champions League.
Benfica's closed training was carried out thoroughly. It was not until the day before the game, that is, the regular press conference before the game, that Santos came out for an interview. During the interview, Santos confidently told the reporters and Benfica fans present that
We, their Benfica are ready, and the victory in this game must belong to their Benfica.
The fans of Roma found it funny. They did not think that Benfica could steal the ticket to the semi-finals from them. Therefore, the fans of Roma joked like this: "Victory must belong to you Benfica, but promotion is certain."