Benfica gunning for ‘ Penta’
Despite being Portuguese champions more times than any other team, Benfica had never collected four titles in a row – something both Sporting and Porto boasted on their list of achievements – so when the Lisbon giants thrashed Vitoria Guimaraes 5-0 at a packed Estadio da Luz in the penultimate match of last season to clinch a fourth successive Primeira Liga crown, it triggered euphoric celebrations that quickly spilled out of the stadium and spread all over the Portuguese capital long into the night.
Now the target is to match Porto’s five-year run, achieved in the second half of the 1990s. “We’ll be doing everything to achieve the ‘ Penta’, ” said Benfica striker Jonas as pre-season preparations got underway.
A chink of light has emerged, however, for Sporting and Porto as they attempt to chase down Rui Vitoria’s team.
It is usual for Benfica to lose one or two important players each year, but this summer three of the champions’ defensive unit – goalkeeper Ederson, right-back Nelson Semedo and centre-back Victor Lindelof – have been sold. Moreover, rumours continue to swirl that the exodus is not yet finished as the club attempts to make serious inroads into its massive debt.
But the outgoing transfers do not mean Benfica will be significantly weaker. In recent seasons, big-name departures have been seamlessly replaced either by products from the club’s state-of-the-art Seixal academy (Renato Sanches, Nelson Semedo) or astute low-cost purchases (Alex Grimaldo, Franco Cervi).
The club’s flourishing youth system continues to be a cornerstone of its growth strategy, with president Luis Filipe Vieira repeatedly stating it is his longterm goal to build a team entirely out of academy products. Although an admirable objective, with the financial disparity between Portuguese football and Europe’s wealthiest leagues getting wider and wider, and Primeira Liga clubs finding it ever harder to hold on to their top talent for any length of time, this lofty ambition is unlikely to come to fruition anytime soon.
And with no obvious successors to the recent glut of brilliant Seixal graduates, Sporting and Porto will be keen to pounce at the first sign of any drop in standards from the Eagles. And the two clubs have adopted very different approaches to this campaign.
Sporting have revolutionised their squad, buying virtually a new team, with
expensive imports Marcos Acuna and Bruno Fernandes, as well as players surplus to requirements at Barcelona (Jeremy Mathieu), Real Madrid (Fabio Coentrao) and Roma (Seydou Doumbia). Together with the usual handful of highquality players coming out of the youth ranks, the Lions appear to have the tools to make a sustained title challenge.
Porto, on the other hand, have opted – more out of necessity than choice – to stick to what they had last season, except for the addition of several players recalled from loan spells. It may be an unprecedented approach among Portugal’s major teams when preparing for a new season, but with ex-Portugal winger Sergio Conceicao whipping underperforming players into shape, pre-season displays suggest it could be a wise strategy.