Glorioso 1904 exclusive: Álvaro Magalhães on Benfica ace, him and 10 | OneFootball

Vangelis Pavlidis is Benfica’s best player, according to Álvaro Magalhães. In this Glorioso 1904 exclusive, the former Reds defender analyzed the events of the thrashing against St. Gallen and the team’s Europa League ambitions.

“I was expecting a good result because the opponent came weakened. It is clear that they fought and ended up playing a good game. At home, with a big crowd of supporters pushing the team on, given the importance of the match and with a weak opponent, Benfica had more than enough conditions to win the game. This opponent, no offense, was very weak. Therefore, it would have been regrettable if Benfica had not won the match”, he began by telling our newspaper.

Pavlidis was the man of the match after scoring four goals. The former Eagles defender praised the Greek forward: “Pavlidis is on one level, and then there are 10 more. I have backed Pavlidis since the day he arrived. My opinion remains the same. People have to understand that, many times, Pavlidis dropped back to help, gave a lot of support to the team, and because of that he often was not in his area to finish. If he is in his area to score, he does his job,” he argued.

António Silva said goodbye to the Club, something Álvaro Magalhães saw as inevitable. “António Silva lost ground to Tomás Araújo and, many times, when a player is not used much, he looks for another challenge. We can only wish good luck to a young player who is looking for another club. Wish him good luck, and Benfica moves on,” he analyzed.

Regarding the signings of Clément Lenglet and Jakub Kaminski, the former Eagles defender gave his assessment of both. “Kaminski is not a wide midfielder. He is not a player to play on the wings. He is an athlete suited to another position. I know Lenglet well because I often follow Spanish football. He is a player with experience at several clubs, but he is not an undisputed starter. Here he will be a starter, because our football is not as competitive as it is in Spain, as it is in England, as it is in Italy, as it is in Germany. He will feel more comfortable in our football.”

To conclude, Álvaro Magalhães commented on Benfica’s Europa League ambitions and believes they can make a strong run: “There are teams of a very high level, with a lot of quality. Benfica is always a contender whenever it enters a competition. In the Europa League, even more so. Now they have to respect all the other teams because in this competition they will also face clubs with the same objective. Top-level teams from Spain, England, and Italy. But Benfica is always a team that can also aim to win the Europa League.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.