Lacklustre Benfica off to a shaky start in title defence | OneFootball

After a start to the new season with a certain disappointment, losing the Super Cup to Torreense (2-1), the women's team of Benfica played today, September 14, the first round of the Liga BPI, where they hosted Racing Power in Seixal. The five-time national champions, under the guidance of Ivan Baptista, began their title defense with a goalless draw.

Determined to shake off the image left in the first match of the season, the Portuguese coach once again relied on the best eleven at his disposal, aiming to start the new edition of the National Championship in the best possible way. This was the lineup presented by Benfica: Lena Pauels, Catarina Amado, Carole Costa, Diana Gomes, Marit Lund, Lúcia Alves, Anna Gasper, Beatriz Cameirão, Diana Silva, Cristina Martín-Prieto, and Nycole Raysla.

Seen as the favorite, the Benfica women's team showed from the very first minute that they wanted to take control of the game right from the start. In the first five minutes of the match, the reds had two clear chances to open the scoring, but the ball did not find the net. As time went by, the Eagles were unable to break through Racing Power’s defensive wall, with both teams going into halftime tied at zero.

In the second half, the approach was the same, with another high-energy start from the Clube da Luz, but the finishing touch was still missing and, as the minutes passed, the opposing team began to neutralize the offensive dynamics of Ivan Baptista's players. Until the final whistle, the team was unable to break the deadlock.

With this result, Benfica kicked off their defense of the national title, which they have won for the past five seasons under the leadership of Filipa Patão. Next week, the Eagles play the second round of the Liga BPI, with a visit to newly promoted Vitória de Guimarães, a match scheduled for September 21 at 11:00 AM.

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