Benfica vs. Feyenoord

[Rego_09]

Presentation match for Benfica at the Luz. Should be a packed house and is taking placed this Saturday the 9th and is to be most likely shown on SIC.

[Rego_09]

Benfica win their presentation game 1-0 in front of about 43,000 at the Luz.

Turns out the game wasn't shown on SIC but for those who missed it Benfica have improved slightly since the last friendly. The first 10-15 minutes were all Benfica with shots from Amorim and Cardozo, who hit the post. Benfica's defence has also greatly improved and in this game we saw a backline of Maxi-Luiaso(C)-Katsouranis-Leo.

Leo was man of the match and looks younger then the first year he played for us. His run through the defense led to the goal when he passed to Aimar who gave a first time pass to Cardozo who made no mistake. Statistics now show 2 assists for Aimar in pre-season and 3 goals for Cardozo.

Reyes also made his debut and introduced himself to Benfica by nailing a right-footed volley from a Balboa cross off the post, his first touch of the game after coming on as a sub.

Another morale boast and signs of a good team forming. Despite the win Quique Flores said after the game that there is still more work to be done, a good sign.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Despite the assist, I thought Aimar was disappointing. He was invisible in the first-half, improved a bit in the second-half but still not living up to all the hype. Of course though, all the deluded Benfica fans (about 90% of them) will say Aimar was awesome.

I agree about Leo, he was superb. Urreta impressed me, played better than I expected. Amorim also impressed me. Yebda imo proved he isn't good enough and Balboa was a waste of €€.

Good performance overall though, you're looking better. A title contender, finally.

[Rego_09]

Thats true. Aimar is getting there slowly. He is not the player I thought he would be. We were all expecting a "Rui Costa" who controls the game and dictates everything and we got a "Joao Pinto" who plays off the striker and never stops running.

When I first saw him play for Benfica I was slightly disappointed but every game he has gotten better so I expect this to be a fitness/adaptation period for him.

[SOMOSBENFICA]

I agree with Kahn that Benfica have really shown improvement. Last year's team was a real joke and LFV must be feeling some pressure because this present team looks real good. Benfica should press Porto in the title chase and they will also have to play against a very talented Sporting side. My opinion is that all three of these teams will have an impressive performance in Europe and will help Portugal with UEFA points. Benfica should get real deep in the UEFA Cup but then again they always choke in this competition.