Before facing Juventus, Benfica marked a tragic event | OneFootball

As is customary whenever Benfica travels to the city of Turin, the club paid tribute to the victims of the Superga air disaster of May 3, 1949, which claimed the lives of the greatest team in Torino’s history. The president of Benfica’s General Assembly, José Pereira da Costa, led the Benfica delegation, which also included vice-president Domingos Almeida Lima and the club’s former midfielder Carlos Manuel.

“It is with great emotion that we come here, always respecting historical memory, as an ethical duty, which is to pay tribute to the Torino team,” said Pereira da Costa, emphasizing the symbolism of the repeated tributes to the 31 victims of the catastrophe. “They had come to Lisbon to honor a great athlete, a great Benfica sportsman (Francisco Ferreira), and ended up suffering this tragedy upon arriving in Turin.”

The Eagles paid tribute to “Turin and Torino” and honored “the memory” on their second visit in less than a year. Pereira da Costa had already led the Benfica delegation that visited the memorial on January 29, 2025, in preparation for the match between Juventus and Benfica on the final day of the group stage of the previous UEFA Champions League edition, in which Benfica won 0-2.

“Thank you to Benfica because they are very kind to us, with great respect for our history,” said Alberto Barile, operations director of Juventus’s rival club. The two clubs have formed a bond from a tragic event that endures to this day.

A year later, the Eagles once again paid tribute to the members of the Torino team, reigning five-time Italian champions, who were returning from a friendly match against Benfica in Lisbon, in honor of then-Benfica captain Francisco Ferreira. The return flight was cut short by the tragic crash of the aircraft into a wall of the Basilica of Superga.

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