Glorioso 1904 exclusive: Bruno Carvalho slams Benfica chief, Porto laugh | OneFootball

Bruno Costa Carvalho, a former candidate for the Eagles’ presidency, spoke exclusively to Glorioso 1904 about the Reds’ defeat against Porto and did not spare criticism of Miguel Nogueira’s refereeing, Porto’s attitude, and Rui Costa’s stance after the match, where Benfica lost 3-1 at the Estádio do Dragão.

“Benfica lost the match at the Dragão essentially because of the refereeing. I have absolutely no doubt about that, because Gabri Veiga should have been sent off after 5 minutes, and that had a decisive influence on the result of the game. In fact, when Benfica were reduced to 10 men, it became a problem. If Porto had been playing with 10 men from the 5th minute, that would also have been a problem. I don’t understand the lack of intellectual honesty from so many commentators who think that wasn’t a red card.”

Francesco Farioli’s comments about “strange things,” the provocations after the match, and the incidents involving players also drew criticism. The businessman argued that Benfica’s coach knows Portuguese football well and should have been prepared for the context of these big clashes: “Marco Silva knew perfectly well what he was coming into; he has already coached Sporting, he has already coached Estoril, he knows perfectly well how things work here.”

Rui Costa’s post-match performance was another of the topics discussed. Bruno Costa Carvalho believes the President should have been much more forceful in his remarks: “That set of phrases served no purpose; they were hollow. The first thing Rui Costa should have spoken about was, obviously, Gabri Veiga’s sending-off and the miserable refereeing. So it was a missed opportunity, and I think Porto’s directors were laughing at how soft and somewhat misplaced Rui Costa’s intervention was. It was a bad moment for Rui Costa and a bad moment for Benfica.”

Porto lead the league with a five-point advantage over the Reds. Even so, Bruno Costa Carvalho says everything is still open: “I don’t think Porto are an unbeatable team or that they won’t drop points over the course of the championship. Obviously, there is still a long way to go, and I think Benfica can absolutely make up the five-point gap to Porto. So I think the title race is still completely open.”

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