The second coming of Jesus
It was a traumatic end of season for Benfica. A disastrous run of unprecedented proportions either side of the pandemic-induced interruption – just two victories in 13 matches between February and the end of June – saw the Lisbon giants first limp out of Europe meekly, then throw away the league title to arch-rivals Porto. The miserable campaign culminated in them also losing the Portuguese Cup final to the Dragons, despite playing against ten men for almost an hour.
Something momentous was required to assuage the ire of the Benfica fans and president Luis Filipe Vieira, up for re-election in October, knew it. Benfica’s woes, Vieira’s need for a trump card and the catastrophic consequences of COVID-19 in Brazil combined to wrench Jorge Jesus from his highly-successful tenure at Flamengo to return to the club where he made his name.
A segment of Benfica’s fans strongly opposed the reappointment of the charismatic 66-year-old. He had departed from the Estadio da Luz in acrimonious circumstances in 2015, sensationally signing for cross-town rivals Sporting. But the vast majority of
Benfiquistas welcomed back with open arms the man who did more than any other to restore the historical club to the top domestically and make them competitive in Europe. All while getting the team playing an electrifying brand of swashbuckling football true to its attacking traditions.
In his first interview upon arriving back in the Portuguese capital, coach Jesus was more than happy to air his characteristically high assessment of his own capabilities. “We’re going to crush the opposition,” he told in-house channel BTV. “We want to win everything, because I’m used to winning everything. And we want to win international trophies. I haven’t come to Benfica for my retirement. I’ve come to win.”
Easier said than done. Even during Jesus’ six-year spell at Benfica, which coincided with heavy investment in the squad, Porto ended up champions of Portugal three times. More recently, and despite being hamstrung by crippling
finances, the Blue and Whites have beaten their foes from the capital to the crown in two of the last three seasons under Sergio Conceicao, a coach who personifies the northerners’ fiercely competitive identity.
Conceicao’s future was cast in doubt earlier this summer, with reports linking him to former club Internazionale. Should he depart, he would leave Porto in better shape than he found them. Conceicao got the most out of a cluster of experienced high-quality performers in Alex Telles, Jesus Corona, Danilo and Agustin Marchesin, and is gradually ushering in a vintage crop of youngsters who lifted the UEFA Youth League trophy in 2018-19.
Huge expectations surround the likes of Fabio Silva, Romario Baro, and Diogo Leite among others. The big question for Porto is whether or not these young stars, and Conceicao himself, will stick around at the Estadio do Dragao. Rumours abound that Porto will look to cash in on one or more of their talented youth players to balance the books.
With Benfica doing a U-turn in their youth policy by appointing Jesus, wellknown for his reticence when it comes to trusting young players, and the future of Porto’s starlets up in the air, Sporting are set to resume their historical role as the club that most invests in its homegrown talent.
To be blunt, it is the only aspect of Portuguese football where the Lions may come out on top. Chronic mismanagement at boardroom level and a complete lack of direction led to another dismal season for Sporting, further widening the chasm to the two perennial title contenders. The appointment of rookie coach Ruben Amorim initially gave the club a boost, but it was no great surprise when Braga – Amorim’s former club – stole third place on goal difference at the finishing tape.
Sporting have vowed to go back to basics and make its academy players the core of its team, and the final weeks of the season did at least give the club a few rays of hope of a better future. Amorim’s decision to select players almost entirely in the 17-22 age bracket upon the resumption of football in June enabled teenage defenders Nuno Mendes and Eduardo Quaresma to showcase their indisputable potential, and winger Jovane Cabral to lay bare the folly of discarding academy players. Cabral had started his career brilliantly in early 2018-19, only to be inexplicably pushed out of the team by a series of expensively-recruited transfer punts. When given a second chance and restored to the line-up in 2020, he was one of the best players not only of Sporting, but in Portugal as a whole, winning the Player of the Month award in June.
Nevertheless, so far have Sporting fallen, that reclaiming third place from an effervescent Braga next season will be seen as progress.
“We’re going to crush the opposition. We want to win everything, because I’m used to winning everything...I haven’t come to Benfica for my retirement. I’ve come to win” Returning Benfica coach Jorge Jesus
Scottish football’s fascination with numbers has taken on a new twist. Celtic’s quest for a record tenth successive title is no longer the only talking point: “Celtic 10” now has “COVID-19” for company.
The 2020-21 Scottish Premiership season is now shaped by the pandemic and its financial impact on every club. A week before the campaign started, newspaper back pages had transfers pushed out by Aberdeen announcing wage cuts of £1 million to plug a £10m shortfall.
However, three weeks into the season, games were postponed – not by the football authorities (SFA and SPFL) but by the Scottish Government - after Aberdeen and Celtic players broke strict COVID-19 rules on self-isolation.
Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the punishment was “a yellow card – next time, it’s red.”
St. Mirren v Celtic and Aberdeen v Hamilton were axed, as was the visit of Aberdeen to Celtic. Aberdeen’s second game, at St. Johnstone, was called off when it was revealed eight players had gone to a bar after the game with Rangers and two had tested positive.
Celtic were then plunged into crisis when defender Boli Bolingoli, took a secret 24-hour holiday to Spain, hid his “crime” from manager Neil Lennon and trained all week with team-mates before being used as a substitute in the 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock.
Bolingoli will never play for Celtic again. “This is the worst behaviour
I have come across,” said Lennon.
“It is a betrayal of my trust. The other players are so angry. All their hard work in preseason halted by one act of selfishness.”
If Celtic winning the title for nine seasons added a touch of familiarity, the “new normal” includes the absence of fans in a country which relies on matchday crowds most. There would usually be 60,000 at Celtic Park when the champions hoist the league flag, but this time, Lennon’s side had the surreal backdrop of silence for their 5-1 victory over Hamilton Academical.
Fans – who return to stadia on September 14 - of all clubs made impressive efforts to buy season tickets, with no guarantees of being able to watch. Not just a gesture of faith, but to provide much-needed income; from Celtic’s 53,000 to Motherwell’s 4,000.
Celtic have financial comfort of several good years – record £101m turnover in 2018 – posting combined profits of £29m in two seasons, but Lennon’s players also took pay cuts. Celtic felt they could not be making multi-million pound signings when their own staff had been furloughed and supporters’ jobs had been hit by COVID-19. However, in August they spent £5m on Greek goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas from AEK Athens after Craig Gordon moved to Hearts (and Fraser Forster’s Southampton loan ended), and £5m on Swiss striker Albian Ajeti from West Ham. Lennon is determined to keep hold of prized striker Odsonne Edouard.
Trying to pursue Celtic, Rangers tripled their costs in three years. Even though turnover rose as they reached the last 16 of the Europa League, Steven Gerrard’s first two seasons at Ibrox saw the club lose £25m.
It seems likely that Gerrard will sacrifice his top scorer, Alfredo Morelos, who agreed personal terms with Lille only for the clubs to fail to agree a fee. The only major acquisition is former Leeds United striker, Kemar Roofe, who cost €5m from Anderlecht, to supplement the permanent signing of midfielder Ianis Hagi, son of Romania legend Gheorghe. Hagi was loaned from Genk last season and moves for £3m. “We need more,” Gerrard insisted. “I have told the club that. Where we’re at from a financial point of view, they are questions for other people.”
At Aberdeen, Derek McInnes is the longest-serving manager in Scotland’s top flight, with four second-place finishes for a fraction of what Rangers spent. McInnes re-signed Jonny Hayes, three years after selling him to Celtic for £1m, and the winger has agreed to defer his wages for a year. However, Hayes and striker Sam Cosgrove have now incurred McInnes’ anger as two of “The Aberdeen Eight.” The Dons had accepted a £2m offer from Guingamp for Cosgrove but he chose to stay, much to chairman Dave Cormack’s frustration.
Dundee United return to the top flight after a four-year absence, winning the Championship by 14 points. Scottish champs in 1983 and UEFA Cup finalists in 1987, they are eager to flourish again. Manager Robbie Neilson made a shock return to Hearts, prompting the Tannadice club to bring in Micky Mellon from Tranmere Rovers. It is the 48-year-old’s first taste of football in his homeland, having spent his playing and coaching career in England.
“We need more. I have told the club that” Steven Gerrard, Rangers manager
Still flush with the euphoria of clinching their first-ever Super Lig crown, Istanbul Basaksehir now have their sights on the next part of their master plan – establishing a domestic dynasty.
For Basaksehir, only a top-flight side for a mere six years, it’s simply not enough to savour this one intense moment of glory, or to bask in the warm glow of putting traditional Istanbul big-hitters (Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray) in their place. The orange-shirted interlopers aim to shake up the Turkish football hierarchy for good.
The new Turkish champions, located in the western Istanbul suburb of Basaksehir, have good reason to believe they have the necessary staying power. Although not the most spectacular of sides, they have other ways of getting the job done. They are tremendously consistent, play a controlled possession game, make excellent use of the wings, and have the most balanced team in the country – and all with a group of players who cost less than €8 million.
Under coach Okan Buruk, champion in his inaugural season at the helm, the recipe for success is not likely to change to any great degree. At Basaksehir, they put a premium on battle-hardened experience, with veteran Slovakia centre-back Martin Skrtel calling the shots in defence, Franco-African duo of Enzo Crivelli and Demba Ba expertly leading the line, and the muchunderrated Bosnian Edin Visca combining creativity and goal threat from the right flank. 25-year-old playmaker Irfan Kahveci, one of the exceptions to the senior citizen rule, is also making quite a name for himself at the moment.
Last season, the champions had one of the oldest squads in the Super Lig, with an average age of over 29.8, thanks in no small part to the presence of a trio of golden oldies: the Brazilian flyer Robinho, ex-Napoli and Leicester City midfielder Gokhan Inler and Dutch winger Eljero Elia.
While Basaksehir are a model of financial and organisational stability, the same cannot be said of Istanbul’s “Big Three”. The proud recipients of no fewer than 54 Turkish league titles, Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are sinking in a sea of unpaid bills. The trio currently have combined debts of 6.5 billion Turkish lira (€793m), each has been guilty of Financial Fair-Play infractions, and all have taken to missing salary payments. German attacker Max Kruse, for example, recently had his contract with Fenerbahce rescinded after wage commitments did not materialise.
With next to no cash for expensive foreign recruits, the competitiveness of
While Basaksehir are a model of financial and organisational stability, the same cannot be said of Istanbul’s “Big Three”
the Istanbul powerhouses has inevitably waned. One need only look at the massive gap that Basaksehir opened up over the Big Three in last season’s Super Lig. Besiktas – who to their credit, always looked to attack – finished third, seven points adrift of top spot. Sixthplaced Galatasaray were 13 points behind, while Fenerbahce finished seventh, 19 points in arrears.
Trabzonspor could turn out to be the main challengers for the title. The Black Sea outfit were Super Lig pacesetters for much of last term – on course for their first title in 36 years – only for the wheels to come off when the league resumed after the three-month coronavirus hiatus. The former Chelsea midfielder and assistant boss Eddie Newton is Trabzonspor’s new permanent coach. He was appointed as a caretaker towards the end of last term and immediately struck gold, steering the club to victory in the Turkish Cup final, a 2-0 victory over Alanyaspor.
Instilling a killer instinct has to be Newton’s top priority. Last season, they threw away an incredible 30 points in games in which they led.
The 2020-21 Super Lig will be a well-stocked affair, with 21 participants rather than the usual 18. After initially insisting in May that they had no intention of abolishing relegation from the top flight, the Turkish football authorities ended up doing just that. Normally the bottom-three – Malatyaspor, Kayserispor and Ankaragucu – would have been unceremoniously demoted. Little wonder their sighs of relief could be heard for miles. Coming up from the second tier are Hatayspor, Erzurumspor and Fatih Karagumruk. In 2020-21, four teams will be relegated from the Super Lig.