False start for Benfica – Braga knock them out of the League Cup | OneFootball

Benfica was eliminated from the League Cup this Wednesday. In the clash against Braga in the semi-finals, the Eagles were unable to overcome the Arsenalistas and thus miss out on a place in the final. Vangelis Pavlidis (63’, penalty) scored the only goal for Benfica. Pau Victor (19’), Rodrigo Zalazar (32’), and Gustaf Lagerbielke (82’) netted the goals for the Minho side.

Anatoliy Trubin, Amar Dedic, Nicolás Otamendi, Tomás Araújo, Samuel Dahl, Manu Silva (45’), Richard Ríos, Fredrik Aursnes, Leandro Barreiro, Georgiy Sudakov (65’), and Vangelis Pavlidis were José Mourinho’s initial choices. Gianluca Prestianni (45’), Sidny Cabral (65’), and Franjo Ivanovic (80’) came on during the match.

Benfica did not start the match well at all, and in the 19th minute, Pau Victor opened the scoring. However, things got worse a few minutes later, with the 2-0 coming from Rodrigo Zalazar in the 32nd minute. The Eagles’ reaction only came in the second half, with Vangelis Pavlidis reducing the deficit from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute. In the 82nd minute, following a corner kick, Gustaf Lagerbielke dashed the Eagles’ hopes and made it 3-1. The situation worsened with Otamendi’s sending off, ruling him out of the next match.

With this defeat – the fifth in 33 matches this season – Benfica misses out on the League Cup final, a competition they had won in 2024/25, against Sporting, on penalties. Braga and Guimarães will contest the final of this competition next Saturday.

Benfica will be back in action next Wednesday, January 14, at 8:45 pm, away to Porto. The match is for the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup and the Eagles have only one goal: to secure a place in the next round of the prestigious competition.

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