Benfica hit five in the league, but Sporting stay top | OneFootball

The Benfica youth team kicked off 2026 in style, making their presence felt at Académica’s ground, where they triumphed with a 5-0 thrashing of the local side. The match counted for the 17th and penultimate round of the first phase of the National Under-17 Championship.

António Luís, David Fernandes, Miguel Varanda, Miguel Vieira, Leonardo Tavares, Miguel Galinho, Tomás Almeida, Paulo Souza, Nazif Inoussa, João Silva, and Bernardo Nunes were Pedro Faria’s starting picks. On the bench, the coach also had Gustavo Santos, Sevastian Belov, António Mendes, Guilherme Leal, and Rúben Marques at his disposal.

Playing away from home, Benfica showed no signs of pressure and, just three minutes into the game, were already leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Tomás Almeida. In the 16th minute, Nazif Inoussa extended the lead to 2-0. João Silva made it 3-0 shortly after.

However, the goal festival didn’t stop there and, even before halftime, Inoussa—clearly having an inspired day—scored the 4-0 in the 39th minute. In the second half, Pedro Faria’s boys continued to dominate completely, with Académica unable to threaten Benfica’s goal. To wrap things up, Benfica reached 5-0 in the 88th minute, thanks to a finish from Sevastian Belov.

With this thrashing of Académica, the Eagles returned to winning ways, after ending 2025 with a draw in the derby. With one round left to play, Benfica sits in second place in the league, with 35 points, seven behind leaders Sporting.

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