Benfica as the dark horse of the LM all the way from the preliminary round. After the sale of Núñez and Enzo, it is doing even better

Before the season, Benfica fans were a bit worried. They had sold their top scorer and had to go from third place in the league to the Champions League preliminary round. But now they can be considered the dark horse of the Champions League.

Benfica Lisbon have been waiting for the title for three seasons. And when they sold top scorer Darwin Núñez to Liverpool for €75 million in the summer, many probably feared how next season would turn out.

After all, the Uruguayan striker had scored 26 goals in 28 league games and it still wasn’t enough to win the title. But Benfica pulled out another gem. The 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos was given more space and things started to fly.

The young striker shot Benfica through the Champions League preliminary rounds and into the group stage. He gifted Midtjylland a hat-trick, added another goal in the return leg, and contributed 1+1 in the double-header with Dynamo Kiev to advance.

In the Portuguese league, too, he started to score. He has already netted 15 goals in 19 games and keeps Benfica in first place with an eight-point lead over second-placed Porto.

And in the Champions League, the team of Alexander Baha and Petar Musa is also showing great form. Las Áquilas flew through a tough group with PSG, Juventus and Maccabi undefeated and finished in first place against all expectations.

Bruges came their way in the eighth round, but the Portuguese side quickly saw them off. They won 2:0 in Belgium and scored 5 goals in their home rematch. Estádio da Luz comfortably finished among the top 8 teams in Europe.

Benfica used to be a feared giant in Europe. In the 1960s, Portugal’s Eusébio shone in Lisbon and led Benfica to win the Champions League in 1961 and 1962, while Las Áquilas reached the final in 1963 and 1965.

Benfica reached the quarter-finals last year, but fell short to Liverpool. This year, however, Lisbon are determined to go further, at least to the semi-finals, where they have not been since 1990.

And all this in a season when two big stars have left. Núñez to Liverpool for €75 million in the summer, Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea for €121 million in the winter. If Benfica make it through the top four out of the competition’s preliminary rounds, it would be an amazing achievement.

Source: Benfica SL