Rui Costa asserts at Benfica, takes swipe at Sporting: "Well known" | OneFootball

Last Tuesday, Benfica presented the Report & Accounts for the 2024/25 season. Rui Costa took the opportunity to highlight the club’s record numbers, taking a jab at Sporting’s triumphs in the league and the Portuguese Cup.

"Winning domestic titles and going as far as possible in European competitions are the objectives set by this administration every season. To achieve this, we build competitive squads, capable of supporting legitimate ambitions, always safeguarding the indispensable financial and economic sustainability of the SAD", it reads.

Rui Costa also gave assurances to the fans that the work done has improved the club’s finances: "Throughout this term, we have structurally changed the paradigm of investment in sporting rights, significantly reducing the number of athletes registered as assets, but increasing the competitiveness and economic value of the squad".

The club president did not forget last season’s achievements and pointed the finger at their eternal rival: "In the 2024/25 season, we won the League Cup, reached the round of 16 in the Champions League—already in the new format—and reached the same stage in the Club World Cup, in the United States, cementing Benfica’s international prestige. We were also in the fight for the League and the Portuguese Cup until the end, which, for known reasons, slipped away from us, and we have drawn the appropriate lessons and consequences from what happened".

"The start of the new season clearly reflects our ambition and the responsibility with which we embrace the Club’s historic legacy: we won the Super Cup and secured qualification for the Champions League. Important steps in affirming a sporting policy that aims to compete for all national competitions and highlight Benfica as the most successful Portuguese club in Europe in recent years, occupying a distinguished place in the UEFA ranking and being the first outside the so-called Big-5", he added.

After ensuring that "the positive net result of 34.4 million euros is the best of the entire term and equity is now at 116.3 million euros", Rui Costa highlighted "the reduction of liabilities and net debt, by 1.8% and 2.4% respectively, figures that indicate a downward trend, as well as historic values in operating income excluding athlete rights, which grew by 30.6%".

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