Leonardo Jardim confronted Benfica man: Cowards act like this (Video) | OneFootball

The first part of the friendly between Benfica and Flamengo (2-1) was marked by an altercation between the benches of the two teams, which even led referee Fábio Veríssimo to step in at a moment when Prestianni was receiving treatment after being brought down by Erick Pulgar. The episode was later explained by Leonardo Jardim, who did not hesitate to call a Benfica staff member a "coward", saying he "did not know" who it was.

"I am a calm and respectful person, and I do not tolerate being disrespected"... Cowards are like that, they run away when confronted. I was only asking them not to grab me because the only people who can do that are my wife and my son. I can’t even say who it was," he said in the post-match press conference.

Regarding the high level of aggression shown on the pitch by the Mengão side, Leonardo Jardim confirmed that Gianluca Prestianni coming on had an impact. "Prestianni’s introduction increased the emotional side because of what happened in the recent past (the controversy involving the Argentine and Vinícius Júnior in Benfica-Real Madrid). We do not support what happened, but we were here to play our game against Benfica. We deserved to win. We tried to calm the situation down," he said.

Leonardo Jardim also gave his take on the next edition of the Portuguese league. "It will be a three-way battle, with my Braga always lurking. I hope it will be a good league campaign. The champion changed this year, with Porto winning the title. I hope that competitiveness among the big three plus Braga provides a good championship for the fans, but with excitement and without controversies, because football does not need controversies," he said.

It is worth noting that Benfica will return to action at the Estádio do Algarve next Friday, July 17, at 7:45 pm, against Villarreal. This will be the Club from Luz’s final test before the first leg of the second Europa League qualifying round against St. Gallen (July 23, 7:00 pm).

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