Benfica made light work of surprise Portuguese Cup semi-finalists Tirsense with a 4-0 win at the Estádio da Luz on Wednesday night, to complete a 9-0 aggregate victory.

As in the first leg, Benfica boss Bruno Lage heavily rotated his team with António Silva and Florentino Luís the only players who started the weekend win at Vitória keeping their place in the starting XI.

Tirsense had done tremendously well to reach the last four – the first 4th-tier side to do so in the long history of the competition – and put up a good fight in Lisbon. With 74 minutes on the clock Benfica only led by Antonio Silva’s goal on the stroke of half time.

But the hosts made their superiority count in the closing stages. Albanian centre-back Adrian Bajrami scored his first goal for Benfica, with Andrea Belotti and Leandro Barreiro completing the rout.

The Eagles will meet Lisbon rivals Sporting in the final at Jamor on 25 May. 

A ninth win in 10 games for Sporting saw the Lions qualify for the Portuguese Cup final, the 2-1 victory against Rio Ave tonight completing a 4-1 aggregate triumph.

The match was played in Paços de Ferreira following substantial damage to Rio Ave’s stadium in Vila do Conde in the recent storms.

Gonçalo Inácio’s early header all but killed off Rio Ave’s faint hopes of turning around the tie, and Viktor Gyökeres made it 2-0 on the night in the 50th minute, following up on Geny Catamo’s shot that had been parried by Cezary Miszta.

André Luiz pulled a goal back for Rio Ave, finishing off a fine team move, but Sporting ran down the clock without undue alarm.

Sporting will certainly meet Benfica in the final, the Eagles holding a 5-0 first-leg lead against 4th-tier Tirsense ahead of the second leg tomorrow.

Therefore, everything is set up for an incredible finale to the season between the two historical Lisbon rivals. The Lions and Eagles will meet at the Estádio da Luz in the penultimate match of the Primeira Liga season, before bringing the curtain down on 2024/25 at Jamor, with the two games likely deciding who walks away with the major silverware in Portugal this year. 

Vasco Seabra is the man responsible for the stabilisation of Futebol Clube de Arouca. The latest PortuGOAL Figure of the Week stole a point from SL Benfica at the Estádio da Luz in commendable fashion. A well-worked goal in the latter stages of the occasion where many are prone to panic and bombard the penalty area with wayward, half-hearted deliveries, all while contending with the absence of eight players.

One week on and Seabra’s Arouca clinched three points against relegation candidates Estrela da Amadora, all but guaranteeing their presence in Portugal’s top-flight next season. Kevin Fernandes reports. 

Benfica responded to Sporting’s win yesterday by beating Vitória 3-0 in Guimarães to make it level pegging on points again at the top of the table between the two great Lisbon rivals with four matches left of the 2024/25 Primeira Liga season.

Vitória had only lost one game at their Dom Afonso Henriques stadium home all season and were unbeaten in the league in their last 10 matches under new coach Luís Freire. While the scoreline flatters Benfica in a well-disputed match, Bruno Lage’s men ran out deserved winners thanks to the clinical football they played where it matters most – in both areas.  

Vangelis Pavlidis continued his superb form by bagging a brace and Álvaro Carreras also got on the scoresheet, but Benfica were indebted to goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin who made two world-class saves at crucial moments in the game.