Benfica v Real Madrid: Mourinho adds young talent to the Benfica bench | OneFootball

José Mourinho highlighted Benfica's youth academy by including Leonardo Lopes, a goalkeeper just 17 years old, in the lineup for the match against Real Madrid. The young player was on the pitch at Estádio da Luz during the warm-up, alongside Trubin and Diogo Ferreira, remaining an option in case of necessity.

The presence of Leonardo Lopes is explained by the absences of Samuel Soares, still recovering from an injury, and Arnas Voitinovicious, which led the Special One to call upon another player from Seixal. Thus, the goalkeeper was part of the main team on one of the most demanding nights of the season.

This was not, in fact, the first time the young player joined the group in a European context. The young goalkeeper had already been called by José Mourinho for the first clash against the merengues, in the last matchday of the league phase of the prestigious competition.

It is worth noting that, with 66,387 fans, the match in question became the game with the highest attendance ever at the current Estádio da Luz, breaking the record set in the match between Benfica and Rio Ave, on May 9, 2010, which had 65,467 fans in the stands.

With the 0-1 defeat, the Clube da Luz - which clarified the recent controversy - starts off on the wrong foot in the Champions League 'play-off', being at a disadvantage against the merengues. However, as the difference is minimal, nothing is decided and the outcome will be determined in the second leg, at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, on February 25.

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