AFS win rekindles Benfica belief before Madrid trip | OneFootball

Benfica’s authoritative victory over AFS on Saturday, 21 February, has energised the squad after a bruising week on and off the pitch, setting a positive tone before the journey to Madrid.

A Bola writes that the win over the Liga Portugal Betclic’s bottom club has reinforced the feeling within the squad that the tie is not lost and that strong prospects of reaching the last 16 remain.

It contrasted with 1 February, when, days after they stunned Europe by beating Real Madrid 4-2 to secure a Champions League play-off place, Benfica stumbled at Tondela with a 0-0 draw. The response against AFS was markedly different.

As José Mourinho had stressed, the emphasis was on the collective, with renewed control and defensive solidity at Estádio da Luz. Benfica have conceded only 13 league goals, and the AFS game marked their 12th clean sheet of the competition.

Benfica sit third in Liga Portugal Betclic on 55 points, three behind Sporting on 58 and seven off leaders Porto on 62. Attention now turns to the visit to Real Madrid on 25 February, with a place in the Champions League round of 16 at stake.

Source: Glorioso 1904