Roger Schmidt’s spell as Benfica manager is over, less than 24 hours after a dubious added time penalty secured a last gasp 1-1 draw at Moreirense.
Eagles president Rui Costa, who looked like a defeated man himself in Moreira de Cónegos, announced the departure of the German coach at a press conference in Seixal.
“Roger Schmidt is no longer the coach of Benfica. I confirm this. I want to thank him for all his efforts, two titles and for the players he has trained.”
The club had already sent a statement to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), informing them that negotiations to terminate the contract were underway.
Costa is likely to have a successor lined up, Leonardo Jardim rumoured to be the next boss at Estádio da Luz.
Schmidt sacked
The move comes as no surprise with the Eagles looking like a shadow of the side that won the 2022/23 Primeira Liga in Schmidt’s first season in charge. Costa extended his contract to 2026 midway through the title winning campaign, ensuring the German will be entitled to a healthy payout.
Costa has bought himself some time, but there will be many Benfica supporters who remain sceptical of a president who unnecessarily extended Schmidt’s contract and declined the opportunity to sack the manager at the end of the previous campaign.
Benfica finished 10 points off the pace in the Primeira Liga were eliminated by Sporting Clube de Portugal in the Taça de Portugal semi-finals. They severely regressed in the Champions League, following up their group win over PSG and Juventus by scraping into third place, eight points behind Real Sociedad and Inter Milan.
Despite Schmidt’s departure, Benfica remain a mess on and off the field with Costa presiding over a declining scouting network and an archaic, authoritarian communications department.
The departures of Enzo Fernández, Alex Grimaldo, Gonçalo Ramos, Rafa and João Neves have proven to be problematic, Benfica continually accumulating average players below the required calibre to take the club back to the summit of Portuguese football.
Costa was understandably optimistic in the press conference announcing Schmidt’s sacking, saying “The coach who joins Benfica will have, with absolute certainty - and he will be able to confirm this in the future - a squad of excellent quality.
“It’s a squad that’s ready to win, no matter the coach we have. It is in this expectation, in this hope that we have, and it is also in this profile that we will follow the line of reasoning of bringing in a coach who has more or less the same profile, in terms of tactical system and quality of players, to continue Benfica’s future, with the utmost conviction.
“I repeat what I have said, I believe, more than once - that this season is not lost. We have this handicap having dropped five points, but it’s in our hands to recover it. We have all the time in the world to do it and we have enough quality in the squad to do it too.”
I don’t see that happening and it’s unlikely any manager will be able to guide the current mediocre squad anywhere near champions Sporting. Porto, recently revitalised under the leadership of André Villas-Boas, will also prove to be a significant challenge to overcome.
Listen to the Portugoal podcast on Monday when Tom Kundert and I will discuss Schmidt’s sacking and the current state of Benfica in more detail.
