An excellent all-round performance by Braga earned the Warriors a deserved 3-1 victory over Benfica to book a place in the Taça da Liga (Portuguese league cup) final on Saturday against Vitória. It will be the first time in Portuguese football history either Cup competition has featured the Minho derby as its showpiece finale.
Braga had caused Benfica problems in the recent league match that ended in a 2-2 draw in a game where Carlos Vicens’ side were on top in the first half but second-best in the second half. Curiously, tonight’s encounter followed a similar pattern.
Braga overwhelm off-colour Benfica
Benfica created the first chance, a swift move leading to a double opportunity with Lukas Hornicek saving well from Pavlidis and Sudakov in quick succession.
But Braga were in no mood to be dominated and came roaring back. The ever-dangerous Rodrigo Zalazar (how the Uruguayan has not been picked up by a bigger club in Portugal or abroad is a mystery) was tripped by Otamendi and the referee pointed to the penalty spot, only for the foul to be converted into a free kick on the edge of the box upon a VAR review.
Benfica’s Ricardo Ríos hit a fierce shot narrowly wide from range, but Braga were snapping into tackles and showing plenty of enterprise going forward.
In the 19th minute Zalazar sped down the right wing and zipped a perfect pass across the box to Pau Victor, who skipped passed Tomás Araújo with ease and thumped the ball into the net.
Zalazar wonder goal
Zalazar’s one-man show reached its peak when the midfielder scored a breathtaking solo goal. Picking up the ball deep in own half, Zalazar surged forward, brushing off the meek attempts to stop him by Otamendi – on a yellow card and evidently afraid of being sent off – and Sudokov. His finish was unerring, giving Trubin no chance. 32 minutes played, 2-0 to Braga.
Benfica were unable to react to the setback, Ricardo Horta rifling a shot into the side-netting with Trubin beaten on the stroke of half time.
Benfica turn up
Whatever Mourinho told his players at the break had the desired effect as Benfica came out all guns blazing upon the restart, with substitute Gianluca Prestianni a constant menace for Braga’s back line.
An avalanche of attacking play had the northerners pinned in their defensive third for several minutes, but on a counter-attack it needed a sharp save by Trubin to deny Pau Victor.
Benfica continued to push hard for the goal to get them back into the game, Hornicek saving from Sudakov and a loud appeal for a penalty for a potential handball by Victor Carvalho turned down.
Nevertheless, on the rare occasions Braga managed to break, they caused danger, substitute Fran Navarro close to making it 3-0 but Araújo blocking his goal-bound shot.
Pavlidis scores again – game on
Play immediately switched to the other end of the pitch and Benfica were given a lifeline when Pavlidis was fouled by substitute Paulo Oliveira in the box. The Greek striker picked himself up and duly dispatched the penalty to make it 2-1 with half an hour still remaining.
Curiously, Benfica’s avalanche of attacking play slowed down after the goal, perhaps exhausted by the extra energy expended to try and get back into the game.
A firm shot by Ríos was too hot to handle for Hornicek, but the Czech goalkeeper reacted quickly to spilling the ball to dive at Pavlidis’ feet to prevent an equaliser.
But the chances had dried up for Benfica and Braga restored their two-goal lead on 82 minutes. Tomás Araújo could only divert a cross towards his own net, forcing Trubin into a diving save, and the ball fell perfectly for Gustaf Lagerbielke to tap into the net from point-blank range.
Pavlidis almost pulled a goal back, his header from a Prestianni cross going narrowly wide.
Otamendi sees red
Any chance of an unlikely comeback for the Eagles went up in smoke in the 90th minute when captain Nicolás Otamendi was shown a second yellow card and subsequent red for over-zealous protestations when he was not given a foul. Having been shown a yellow card early in the game, the Benfica captain was always walking on a tightrope given the card-happy nature of referees in Portugal and the tense nature of the game and it was not a huge surprise when he was sent off.
Shortly afterwards the referee blew the final whistle and Braga players, coaching staff and fans celebrated.
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FPF thwarted - Minho fans to invade Leiria
Since the inception of the Taça da Liga in the 2007/08 season, the Portuguese Football Federation has done everything in its power to create a format that heavily favours the traditional Big Three and make sure at least one of them feature in the final of the competition.
Saturday’s final will be only the third time the final will not feature Benfica, Sporting or Porto in 19 years of the history of the competition. On the other two occasions Braga were in the decisive match, losing to Moreirense in 2016/17 and beating Estoril two years ago.
Despite (or arguably because of) the absence of the traditional powerhouses, the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria will host an intriguing clash and will be packed on Saturday night. Any fixture between Braga and Vitória is undoubtedly the most prestigious non-Big Three match-up in Portugal and arguably the fiercest derby of them all.
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Braga boss Carlos Vicens expresses delight: “The team has grown”
“Ten days ago, when we hosted Benfica, I was left with a bittersweet taste in the second half because for a time the team lost its way. Today it was important that did not happen again. We had to show a lot of character, a lot of courage, knowing we would face difficulties. It’s impossible to play against Benfica and not be under the cosh at times. The team has to know how to deal with these moments.
“That’s the message we tried to get across in the changing room. To have the ball in the second half, to reach the final third and ask questions of our opponents. We managed to do it. It is now 34 matches during which we have grown and it’s a prize for all the hard work we’ve done.
“The final against Vitória? It will be special game because of the rivalry between the two clubs. We know we have little time to prepare, but so do they – nobody has an advantage. We’re used to it. We do our match preparation in two days.”
Mourinho vents his fury and announces punishment
“I apologise to Braga and Carlos but I cannot say that Braga deserved to win. What I have to say is that Benfica deserved to lose, which is different. We played an awful first half, which is completely unacceptable for a semi-final of a competition under any circumstances.
“It was unacceptable, even if we were playing a pre-season game against one of our local sides, Seixal or Amora, on our training pitch.”
Mourinho then announced an immediate punishment for the squad, saying they would not be returning home and would be spending the night at the Seixal training complex.
“I hope the players sleep as well as I will. In other words, that they don’t sleep at all. That’s what I hope. That they don’t sleep and they do a lot of thinking, like I’m going to think.
“And then, tomorrow, we will talk, which is something that didn’t happen in the changing room. In the changing room it was one monologue and another monologue. That’s not good enough for me – I like to dialogue with my players.”
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