From heaven to hell: Benfica versus Chelsea 2012/13 Europa League final revisited | OneFootball

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. For two weeks, Benfica supporters dreamed of winning all that was to be won. Leading the league table at the very end of a long marathon for the first time in three seasons, with a Portuguese Cup final ahead, Benfica also had a golden shot at breaking the so-called Guttman curse by playing their first European final in twenty-three years.

It could have all ended brilliantly, but in the end, it was a series of disasters that left the proud Eagles supporters in a state of comprehensible depression.

CURSED! An apt headline in A Bola as Benfica set an unwanted record by losing a seventh consecutive European final

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Painful Déjà vu

It was the 91st minute, and everyone was thinking of extra time. Benfica had been playing far better than their opponents, but weren’t able to translate their superiority into goals. The tie was at a stalemate, and some players already looked exhausted. Physically as well as mentally…

Only three days earlier, the Lisbon giants had lost all hope in regaining the league championship with their first defeat in the entire season. It wasn’t any defeat, though. They scored early, through Lima, and then suffered an own-goal blow just a few minutes later. Even if it scared them, the draw was enough to keep things as they were. But this was the Dragão stadium and Porto, who came from back-to-back league championships, were formidable opponents.

Jorge Jesus, who was coaching the side into his fourth season, knew he could take no chances, but as time went by, it seemed that all the efforts he had put his players through would pay off. Benfica were comfortable on the ball and more comfortable still without it, letting the minutes pass without too much suffering. Then came the unexpected blow. The arrow in the chest that no-one saw coming. In the 92nd minute, a fast break by the hosts found a young Brazilian forward from the youth academy on the left side of the pitch. He played a one-two with veteran striker Liedson and out of nowhere fired a precise shot that shook the entire granitic landscape of Porto.

First “final” lost, two to go

Jesus fell on his knees, knowing he had done everything to prevent that outcome and still fate seemed to mock him with such a painful finale. Vitor Pereira’s Porto won and took first place in the table, and they only needed to get the same result as Benfica in the last round to win the league once again. But that was the only match Porto had to play for. Benfica had been brilliant all season and were still set to play in two finals, the first time in half a century they were on the brink of collecting international and domestic silverware.

The key question was whether they could haul themselves back from the seismic emotional defeat at the Dragão to prove to themselves and the world that they could stumble from time to time, but they would never fall completely.

From Champions League to Europa League

Benfica had started their season flying. Despite early draws against Braga and Académica, they went on a nine-game winning streak before hosting and drawing against Porto at home in mid-January. In the Champions League, though, things weren’t as brilliant. The side who had qualified for the previous season’s last eight – their best result in years – started the group stage with an away draw at Celtic. A 2-0 defeat against heavy-favourites FC Barcelona in Lisbon was to be expected, but coming back with a 2-1 defeat from Moscow was not.

To salvage the situation, they needed three wins from the last matches or a miracle loss by Celtic against the Russians. In November, two Oscar Cardozo goals were enough to beat Spartak, and Garay scored a late-winner against Celtic at da Luz, to give Jesus’ men hope of a miracle. The last round was to be decisive. Benfica were level on points with Celtic but had a better goal difference, but faced a trip to the Camp Nou. The Scots did their job and beat Spartak, while the Eagles only scraped a goalless draw in Catalonia and that wasn’t enough.

Europa League opens the gates to continental glory

Jesus’s hopes of fighting for European glory were over. Or were they? The Europa League didn’t have the same prestige as the Champions League trophy, but Benfica had not won international silverware for six decades by then, so all eyes were on how they would fare in the rest of the campaign once they were demoted to UEFA’s secondary competition as a third-place finisher in the group.

Excitement was at fever pitch on the eve of Benfica’s first European final in 23 years

Of course, the Portuguese giants had reached the semi-finals of the competition two years earlier, but were prevented from playing the final by Sporting Braga, in what would have become the first Clássico European final in history. It wasn’t to be then, but with Porto losing in the last sixteen of the Champions League against Málaga and Braga already out of the competition, they were the sole Portuguese representative still hanging on.

The list of opponents was formidable and included the likes of reigning European Champions Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Napoli, Internazionale, Liverpool, and Atlético de Madrid, to name but a few. All previous the European winners boasted high-profile players such as Didier Drogba, Gareth Bale, Edison Cavani, Luis Suarez, and Radamel Falcao. Benfica had never had much luck in the competition, having played and lost a final in 1983 against Anderlecht.

In the last sixteen, Benfica was drawn against Bayer Leverkusen, already a tough nut to crack. A Cardozo goal in Germany, followed by a 2-1 win at home, was sufficient to secure a place in the following round against Girondins Bordeaux, a side that only a few seasons before was playing in the Champions League semis. The French lost by a Carrasco own goal in Lisbon, but were confident of turning it around at the Chaban-Delmas a week later, but they couldn’t. Benfica proved to be a much more mature side, and an early Jardel goal provided them with the confidence they needed to handle the tie brilliantly. When Diabité scored an equaliser, they simply put one back on the scoreboard through Cardozo, doing the same in the final instants of the match to secure a 3-2 away win and comfortable aggregate victory.

Newcastle and Fenerbahçe dispatched in style

Suddenly, they were in the last eight and with Atlético Madrid, Inter and Napoli already out. They enjoyed a kind draw, playing Newcastle for a place in the semis in what became a fantastic recollection of what that team was all about. At home, Benfica played one of the best matches of the season, annihilating any hopes for the Toons, who scored first but couldn’t handle the offensive strikes of Rodrigo, Lima and Cardozo, who all put their names on the scoreboard. Papiss Cissé once again came to the rescue at St. James’ Park, but Eduardo Salvio put things to rest in the last hour, and suddenly everyone was starting to contemplate the possibility of a miracle season.

By then, Benfica was leading the league table comfortably, four points ahead of Porto with only four matches to go, after coming off a brilliant win in the local derby against Sporting much to Porto’s supporters’ despair. They had also beaten Paços de Ferreira to book a place in the Portuguese Cup final against Vitória Guimarães, a match they were expected to win comfortably. A domestic double seemed inevitable, and a Treble was now all Benfica supporters could talk about.

A lone Kormaz goal in the semi-final first leg in Istanbul wasn’t enough to deter them from believing that the “inferno do Estádio da Luz” was going to be too much for the Fenerbahçe players, and they were proven right. Nico Gaitán scored in the ninth minute to equal the tie, and even after Dirk Kuyt put the Turks back in front, nobody ever believed they would be left wanting once again. Cardozo, the hero of the season, scored two goals to stamp Benfica’s passport for Amsterdam, precisely the place where Benfica had won their last piece of continental silverware.

Fourteen days travelling from heaven to hell

It seemed fate was trying to say something to the Eagles’ supporters, and it was all good news. Benfica were set to be league champions, in the home to their rivals, and lift a European trophy again in the Netherlands. It seemed all too perfect to be true. Kelvin’s goal at Porto proved it was. But it that wasn’t the only rude awakening from Benfica’s dream.

Chelsea had been through a terrible season. Unexpected Champions League winners only the year before, the season had started so poorly that Roberto di Matteo – who himself had been appointed a year prior after a disastrous beginning to the campaign by André-Vilas Boas – was sacked. Rafa Benítez was called in to guide the Londoners back into the Champions League and salvage whatever was left of the season. The core players who had brought continental glory were still there, and the Blues were as formidable as any foe could be.

Images from the Benfica v Chelsea 2012/13 Europa League final at the Amsterdam Arena

They had routed Basel, with a young Mohamed Salah in their ranks, in the semis and were flying. Benítez couldn’t count on two key players, young Belgium star Eden Hazard and John Terry, who both sustained injuries, but his roster was impressive at all levels. The Spaniard called up to the final the inevitable Petr Cech in goal, followed by César Azpilicueta, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic in defence. David Luiz and Ramires, two former Benfica players, played as holding midfielders to support an attack that included Óscar, Juan Mata, Frank Lampard, and Fernando Torres. They dressed in blue but the constellation of players glittered gold.

Jesus, on the other hand, had everyone available physically if not mentally. He knew this would be one of the most important matches in his career and acted accordingly. Artur, André Almeida, Luisão, Garay and Melgarejo played in defence while Enzo Pérez, Nemanja Matic – himself a former Chelsea player – Rodrigo, Nicolas Gaitán and Eduardo Salvio supported the sole striker, Cardozo, up front. The likes of Lima, Jardel and Ola John, decisive during the knockouts, were on the bench alongside the veteran Argentinean playmaker Pablo Aimar, who had won the trophy back in 2004 for Benítez’s Valencia, and a promising young newcomer, André Gomes.

Benfica dictate play

More than half a century had passed by since the club’s last European win, and thousands of Benfica supporters made the trip to the Johan Cruyff Arena. The atmosphere of the match was huge, and so were the expectations. Chelsea were clear favourites, and how could they not be, but there was something of an aura around Benfica, and few imagined it would be a piece of cake for the Londoners. They were proved right. The Portuguese dominated procedures right from the start. They had more of the ball and created the first chances, although they were also incapable of producing real danger.

Chances were created throughout the match at both ends of the pitch

Artur, on the other hand, had to rescue a Lampard trademark shot, but that was about it. Come the second half, and things didn’t change. Benfica still had the initiative and the best chances, but, against the run of play, a fast counter-attacking movement found Fernando Torres face to face with Artur and the Spaniard, much like he had done the previous season at the Camp Nou to book a place in the Champions League final, went around the goalkeeper and scored the opener.

Benfica didn’t deserve to be losing at that stage of the game, and many feared, after defeat at Porto, that they would crack in despair. Yet, they didn’t. Only eight minutes after Torres opened the scoreboard, Azpilicueta stupidly handled in the box, and the local referee, Bjorn Kuipers, pointed to the spot. Cardozo didn’t blink at the chance of levelling the tie. A few minutes later, he had a winner on his boot after an Artur long pass that he blasted towards Chelsea’s goal, only to be prevented by a match-winning save by the Czech goalkeeper. As Lampard hit the post, the match went into one of those moments where everything could happen for any side.

More stoppage time agony

Then came the 91st minute. A Chelsea cross was deflected, and Juan Mata ran to take the corner. He blasted a long shot to the outer post, and with all players looking up to try to guess where it would fall, Ivanovic placed himself at the right place, jumped higher than André Almeida and headed into the net.

The clock had just passed on the same fateful 92nd minute all over again. Never had a side been so cruelly beaten. To be outranked twice, in the space of three days, in the very latest stages of the game, in the decisive moment of a season’s work, was beyond any logic. For the Blues, it was their first triumph in the competition, putting them in the select list of winners of all European trophies after having won the European Cup the previous year and the Cup Winners’ Cup twice. They would end up winning the Conference League in 2025 as well to become the only club in Europe with all four trophies to their name.

Benfica would play the following year’s final and again end up on the losing side, this time in a penalty shoot-out. However, that season had ended in glory with the side winning the domestic Treble of League, League Cup and Portuguese Cup trophies, a feat no other Portuguese club has achieved.

But the misery of 2012/13 was not over yet. Days after playing in Amsterdam, a still-distraught Benfica were beaten by Vitória at the Jamor stadium in the Portuguese Cup final, with another late goal, from right-winger Ricardo Pereira, thus completing a miserable season finale when everyone was hoping for an everlasting celebration. It was a season only equalled by Real Madrid in 1983 when the Alfredo di Stefano-coached side lost the Cup Winners’ Cup final in extra time against Aberdeen, and came runners-up in the League, Copa del Rey and League Cup as well.

Benfica and Jesus bounce back in impressive fashion

Seasons that supporters endure only to come back stronger. Benfica went on a historic run of four consecutive league title triumphs after that night in Amsterdam, while Real Madrid, only a few years later, won back-to-back UEFA Cup trophies and then a record five-consecutive Spanish leagues as well.

Giants may stumble, but they never truly fall.