Back in Porto, José Mourinho has a surprise for Benfica in the Clássico | OneFootball

Benfica headed north of the country yesterday afternoon, October 4th, in an atmosphere of euphoria that was evident in the Luz garage, after José Mourinho had previewed the game against Porto. Upon arrival in Vila Nova de Gaia, where the team will spend the night, a surprise was noted in the Benfica squad.

According to the newspaper Record, Ivan Lima, a regular starter in Benfica's secondary team, is the big surprise in the Special One's call-up for tonight's duel at Estádio do Dragão, counting for the eighth round of Liga Portugal Betclic.

Thus, called by the Setúbal native for this crucial match, the young forward will then be absent from Nélson Veríssimo's options for this afternoon's game at Benfica Campus, where the B team - which has not yet won in this edition of Liga Portugal Meu Super - will host Penafiel, who are making the reverse journey of the Benfica team.

This is not the first time José Mourinho has turned to homegrown talent since he took over as head coach of the reds and whites on September 18th. Before Ivan Lima, the Special One had already called up Gonçalo Moreira for the match against Gil Vicente, but the young player did not get any playing time, although he was praised by the Portuguese coach.

It should be noted that the Luz Club arrived in Gaia around 8:00 PM, surrounded by a festive atmosphere from the Benfica fans residing in the north of the country. This season, Ivan Lima - currently valued at 200,000 euros - has played six matches for Benfica B. In the 453 minutes he was on the field, the number 90 has not yet recorded any goals or assists.

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