Luís Avelãs questions Benfica star’s fitness: he’s looking rusty | OneFootball

Rafa Silva entered the field in the 72nd minute, making his re-debut for Benfica and contributing to the 4-0 victory against Estrela da Amadora, part of the 19th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. However, the athlete hadn't played since November, and his pace didn't escape the notice of journalist Luís Avelãs.

"The context of the game facilitated the option foreseen by the coach. You can see he's somewhat 'rusty', but his class in touching the ball is undeniable," he told the newspaper 'Record'. The former international for the Portuguese national team was one of José Mourinho's options, but he won't be facing Real Madrid, as he is not registered for the Champions League games.

Luis Avelas also commented on the return to scoring of Vangelis Pavlidis, after two less successful games against Porto and Juventus. "It was important after the miss at Dragão and the penalty wasted in Turin. He regained confidence and the isolated lead in the scorers' list, now totaling 19 goals."

"Estrela was close to scoring right at the start, and the 1st half for the Eagles was poor. However, the 1-0 not only provided an extra dose of confidence to the Reds but also affected the opponent, who, losing, attacked little and even defended with less rigor. In the 2nd half, Benfica was much superior, played better, scored three times, saw Rafa return home, and Anísio only needed one touch to score from a pass by another league debutant: Banjaqui. The storyline could hardly have been better," he commented on the Reds' performance.

Benfica's next commitment in the competition will be a theoretically demanding trip to Tondela's ground. The match is scheduled for Sunday, February 1st, with the kickoff set for 8:30 PM. The game will be broadcast live by Sport TV.

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