Portuguese Liga

Manchester United took the next step in revamping their squad on Friday, completing a transfer that will see out-of-favour winger Bebe move to Portuguese side Benfica. The news was confirmed by Benfica's official Twitter account:

According to Manchester United's Twitter account, Benfica will pay €3 million for the player's services, while the Reds have the right to 50 percent of any sell-on fee.

Reports indicate Bebe signed a four-year deal with the Portuguese champions, although this was yet to be confirmed by the club at the time of writing.

The 24-year-old winger joined the Red Devils in 2010 in bizarre fashion, when then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson told reporters he bought the youngster without ever watching him play, per the Daily Mail's David Kent.

Bebe had sensational physical tools, and United's scouts in Portugal convinced Ferguson he had to act fast. Four years later, The Guardian's Marcus Christenson looked back on the player's career at Old Trafford:

Christenson left out the winger's finest moment in a Manchester United shirt, however, as Bebe also scored in the team's Champions League win over Bursaspor in 2010.

As shared by Man Utd News, Bebe spoke highly about his new club, taking a not-so-subtle jab at his former team:

The Daily Telegraph's Mark Ogden liked the deal, with Bebe's future at Old Trafford all but over:

Unable to make his mark at the club, the winger spent the last few seasons out on loan in Turkey and his native Portugal, and he made enough of an impression during the 2013-14 season for the Portuguese champions to take a chance on him.

Bebe may have been a massive flop for the Mancunians, but he will leave the fans with the memory of his match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, described by some on social media as "the worst performance ever on a football pitch":

In all seriousness, the Portuguese forward worked hard during his time in England and did enough to deserve his move to Benfica, a place where he could still resurrect his career.

Fans may enjoy making fun of his career (or lack thereof) with the Red Devils, but Bebe will now have a chance to prove he can be an effective player for a club that made it to the final of the Europa League just last season.

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Portuguese Liga champions Benfica earned themselves a shock 2-1 win at home to Juventus on Thursday evening in the Europa League semi-final first leg, and they are now daring to dream of avenging last season’s disappointing loss in the 2013 Europa League final to Chelsea. So how did Benfica pull it off? And what did Juventus do wrong against them?

Stats taken from BBC Sport, WhoScored.com, Statto and FoxSports.com.

Starting Strongly

Benfica manager Jorge Jesus set up his side, as he always does, to hit teams hard on the break with pace down the flanks. It paid dividends, as Benfica overloaded in the wide areas to full effect against the Serie A champions-elect. 

Juventus have been advocates of a 3-5-2 formation and lined up with it once again against the Portuguese outfit. The opening 15 minutes saw the tactic failing horribly, as Benfica were taking advantage of Juve’s lack of support in the wide areas. As you can see, Juventus' wing-back is getting drawn in to press the ball, which leaves space into which the Benfica forward can run.

Their bright start led to their opening goal. Juve were forced to concede a corner following a Benfica break, which led to defender Ezequiel Garay's header.

Pressing Juventus High Up the Pitch

The Portuguese side did their homework on Juve’s penchant for playing the ball out of the back, pressing the Italian giants high up the pitch early to limit the time they had to pick out passes.

Chief orchestrator Andrea Pirlo found himself stifled at times, and he was ineffective from Benfica’s high pressing. That led to Juve having to play very direct from deep positions, which saw them frequently giving away the ball. The midfielder is being blocked off from receiving the pass from Kwadwo Asamoah in the shot, which meant he was largely ineffective.

With Juve not blessed with pace in the spine of their side, distribution is essential. In the picture, you can see there's no pass on for the Italian outfit to get forward. One of the Juve players is even offside. It summed up the opening passages of play until the Serie A holders started to settle.

Benfica’s Counter-Attacks Causing Juve Problems

Another deciding factor was Benfica's counter-attacks. The side would break with outstanding speed, and their runs would overlap either side of the ball to give options left and right of the player in possession. As Juve committed numbers to their own attack, the manner of Benfica's breaks meant they were forced to go player-for-player against the opposition, which left gaps to exploit.

Benfica continued to break with pace to try to find the important second goal in the game by hitting Juventus on the break in this manner. The lack of protection down the flanks for Juve meant sights such as this were a regular occurrence throughout the game.

It also meant Juve wing-backs Stephan Lichtsteiner and Asamoah became fearful of pushing high up the pitch, They knew they'd be caught out of position, as shown above.

Juventus Too Narrow on the Ball

For Juventus's 3-5-2 formation to be successful, the wing-backs have to support the play when they're in possession and overlap like natural wingers would. But such was the threat from their opponents on the break that they remained very deep. Asamoah, most notably, was barely in shot when the Italians had the ball in Benfica's half. That led to the play being very narrow and very predictable from the Serie A outfit.

Asamoah is being of no help to his side by sitting back. Juve were chasing the game and in need of a goal, but their play was easily snuffed out by Benfica. Had more players made runs from deep for the Italians, they could have attacked with more pace to create clear-cut openings.

Asamoah Finally Gambles and Gets an Assist

It was no coincidence that the one time Asamoah gambled and made a run beyond his opposite marker led to a goal following his cutback into the area. The 25-year-old was the highest player up the pitch for Juve on the left side, and with one touch, he picked out the advancing Carlos Tevez free in the area to score.

Benfica Overlap the Wide Areas to score Winning Goal

Juventus eventually threw the game away by not heeding the warning of Benfica's threat from wide areas.

A simple ball into the space in the middle of the pitch then saw the Benfica player follow his pass and run around the back of his teammate Enzo Perez on the right-hand side. His overlapping run wasn't picked up quick enough by any Juve player, and after collecting the pass, Perez plays the ball into the middle, it's cleverly dummied by substitute Ivan Cavaleiro, and eventually rifled home by the onrushing Lima to win the game for Benfica.

Summary

Benfica did their homework and knew what Juventus' weaknesses were. Cutting off the supply to their chief creator Andrea Pirlo and pressing the side high up the pitch to force them to go long played into the Portuguese side's hands. Jorge Jesus' men were fast on the break and specifically targeted the flanks. Juve had no protection from the wide men, as they weren't playing with natural wingers to aid the full-backs in defence.

It was Juve's first defeat in the Europa League this season, while Benfica now have a slim lead to take into the second leg of the semi-final.

Benfica centre-back Ezequiel Garay is "close to agreeing a deal" with Manchester United, per James Nursey at the Mirror, so could Garay be replaced by Stefan Mitrovic? To cover that scenario, here is a scouting report on Mitrovic, Benfica's 23-year-old Serbian centre-back, who is currently on loan at La Liga club Real Valladolid. 

Positives

Mitrovic is a 6'3", 181-pound centre-back with the prototypical physical build to succeed in top-flight European football. 

He is a left-footer who starts as a left-sided centre-back for Valladolid manager Juan Ignacio Martinez.

League Only	With Mitrovic	Without Mitrovic
Games	10	21
Goals Conceded	13	37
Goals Conceded Per Game	1.3	1.8

Valladolid concede 0.5 less goals when Mitrovic is in the line-up and he has become a pivotal member of Martinez's side.

Mitrovic's gain is Marc Valiente's loss.

Valiente, who was ousted from his centre-back job, has been forced to be the good soldier, only starting two games at centre-back since Valladolid signed Mitrovic on loan from Benfica in the 2014 January transfer window.

Valiente sat on the bench against Getafe (0-0 draw), Elche (2-2 draw), Levante (1-1 draw) and Real Sociedad (1-0 defeat).

When Valiente has started, he has been played out of position at right-back (1-1 draw vs. Rayo Vallecano) and as a defensive midfielder (4-1 defeat vs. Sevilla). 

So what led to Valiente losing his starting position? 

Take away the 4-1 defeat to Sevilla, Valladolid have only conceded nine goals in nine games with Mitrovic as a starter.

It is a monumental increase in defensive proficiency for Valladolid, a team that have less points (30) than games played (31) in La Liga. 

This is why Martinez made the tough call to drop Valiente from starting centre-back to a backup centre-back/emergency fill-in. 

Mitrovic reads and reacts well when it comes to making successful clearances under pressure.

• 14-for-14 against Villarreal (1-0 win), per Squawka.com.
  
• 13-for-13 against Getafe (0-0 draw), per Squawka.com.
• 3-for-3 against Barcelona (1-0 win), per Squawka.com.

When you watch Mitrovic take the ball out of defence, like nonchalantly dribbling past Real Sociedad central attacking midfielder Sergio Canales, it is clear Mitrovic is not flustered when pressed by opposing players. 

With Valladolid staving off relegation, Mitrovic has often been called into action in precarious situations.

He successfully blocked Rayo central attacking midfielder Alberto Bueno from shooting on goal after a defensive breakdown resulted in Bueno being in acres of space inside Valladolid's penalty box. 

Against Levante, the score was 1-1 in the 90th minute with super-sub Nabil El Zhar dribbling towards Valladolid goalkeeper Diego Marino.

But Mitrovic came to the rescue, shepherding El Zhar away from goal and forcing him to shoot at an acute angle, resulting in an innocuous shot attempt. 

Negatives

Mitrovic has the capability to dictate play from the back, but he needs to improve his long-pass completion percentage (55.7). 

If you take out his long passes, his pass completion percentage increases from 81.1 to 87, so he is an excellent short-to-intermediate passer. 

It is just the turnovers when making more expansive passes which are holding him back from a passing perspective. 

Another concern with Mitrovic is his inefficient tackles (10) to fouls (11) ratio.

Why?

He commits challenges where there is no leeway for him to escape conceding a free-kick. 

Two such examples were when he obstructed Barca deep-lying forward Lionel Messi and tripping up Rayo right attacking midfielder Ruben Rochina (on loan from Blackburn Rovers). 

Bottom Line

Mitrovic is on course to be the latest scouting revelation from Benfica.

During the 2011 January transfer window, Benfica sold David Luiz to Chelsea for £21.3 million and Nemanja Matic, per BBC Sport. 

In July 2011, Benfica bought 50 percent of Garay's playing rights from Real Madrid for €5.5 (£4.6) million, per InsideSpanishFootball.com. 

Fast-forward to 2014, Benfica might sell the in-demand Garay and replace him with the €1.1 million (£910,000) valued Mitrovic. 

If Mitrovic continues to improve, in several years' time he could be another example of Benfica turning a no-namer into a star and selling him to a major club at an inflated transfer fee. 

@allanjianga

+allanjiang

Statistics via WhoScored

Benfica has advanced to the 2013 Europa League final after a 3-1 win over Fenerbahce. The Portuguese side won the semifinal with an aggregate score of 3-2.

This was shaping up to be the much more intriguing Europa League semifinal. The Estadio da Luz is one of the few real cauldrons left in Europe. Benfica has only lost one match at home all season, to Barcelona in the Champions League. Despite Fenerbahce's one-goal lead, you knew Benfica had a great chance to make the final.

It didn't take long for Benfica to erase the deficit. In the ninth minute, Lima got some space on the right wing and delivered in a low cross to Nicolas Gaitan. The Argentine midfielder hit it beautifully with his right foot as the ball floated in off the left post. It was a wonderfully controlled finish.

Overall, in the early going, Benfica was able to go very much out on the attack. The opening goal obviously helped things along. The Portuguese side was able to impose its will on the match and clearly looked the stronger side.

Things unraveled a bit in the 22nd minute. Ezequiel Garay was judged to have handled the ball in the box. The replays showed that he had clearly touched the ball, but the Benfica players were arguing that it was ball-to-hand rather than hand-to-ball. Benfica's protests were all for naught as Dirk Kuyt stepped up and slotted the penalty kick into the bottom left corner.

Infostrada Sports has an interesting stat regarding Kuyt's performance in Europe this season:

Dirk Kuyt scores 5th AWAY goal in European competitions this season (incl. qualifying). Only Cristiano Ronaldo (8) has scored more.#cr7

— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) May 2, 2013

That away goal was crucial as it meant Benfica needed to score at least three goals if it had any chance of advancing.

Fenerbahce began to drop back and protect its lead. That only allowed Benfica to continue getting on the attack and trying to overturn the 2-1 aggregate deficit.

Following the goal, and for much of the match, the official did little to help Benfica. There were at least three possible penalty opportunities, as Planet Benfica points out, and none were given:

Handball in the area and referee gives nothing. This is the third shout Benfica have claimed. When you see Garay's, why not this one??

— Planet Benfica (@planetbenfica) May 2, 2013

Deciding it had enough of leaving it up to the official, Benfica just went ahead and scored. In the 35th minute, Oscar Cardozo found himself with space inside the 18-yard-box. As the most lethal finisher on the pitch, Cardozo had no problem striking a well-placed shot into the right side of the net.

It was an appalling bit of defense by Fenerbahce as it lost track of a player like Cardozo and gave him the space to score.

The match then fell into a lull as Benfica struggled to break down the Fenerbahce back four.

There was a scary moment in the 57th minute as Gokhan Gonul took a high boot from Gaitan. There was a long ball sent in near the goal line that Gonul tried to head clear, but Gaitan came flying in to try and keep the ball alive. He connected with Gonul's head, and the right-back fell motionless to the pitch. Players on both teams immediately called for the medical staff. Gonul was eventually carted off.

Eurosport.com was right on top of it after Gonul's injury and rightfully gave credit to the defender for not backing away from the challenge:

Gonul bravely wins header for Fenerbahce, but has been knocked after Gaitan caught him in face. Stretchered off http://t.co/oi2faRb78w

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) May 2, 2013

Almost 10 minutes later, the match was shot back into life. It was Cardozo again who found himself with space in the box to put Benfica up 3-1 in the match. This was a pivotal goal as it meant the club would be through to the final.

There wasn't much in the goal. It came off a throw-in, and Fenerbahce failed to clear it out. Eventually, Cardozo had the ball, and it was an easy finish.

After that, it continued to be all Benfica. Fenerbahce tried to throw as much forward as possible, but it simply didn't have the weapons to make its attacking movements count.

Benfica now has a chance to win its first European title since 1962. Following that title, manager Bela Guttmann supposedly cursed the club for the next 100 years upon his exit. The Portuguese side will have a great opportunity to break that curse when it meets Chelsea in the Europa League final on May 15.

Player Grades

Oscar Cardozo: A

Cardozo was simply sublime in front of goal. He finished off his best chances in the match, and that's exactly what you'd want from a striker like him.

OptaJoe noted only Radamel Falcao as a better goalscoring record in the Europa League:

18 - Since the Europa League was rebranded in 2009/10, only Falcao (30) has scored more goals in it than Oscar Cardozo (18). Academic.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 2, 2013

Nicolas Gaitan: A-

The goal from Gaitan was a nice piece of class. He made what was a difficult finish look so easy. Gaitan was one of Benfica's best attackers going forward. He was constantly trying to set up his teammates to score.

The foul on Gonul was unfortunate, and there was no intent to injure. He fouled Gonul, but that was all there was to it.

Joseph Yobo: B-

Joseph Yobo was a rock at the back for much of the match. He and Egemen Korkmaz were the two biggest reasons why Fenerbahce was able to keep Benfica out of the box for as long as it did. It wasn't a matter of keeping the Portuguese side off the board but rather stopping a flood of goals.

Unfortunately, it was Yobo largely to blame for the Cardozo goal. He lost track of the striker and was badly out of position to try and make any play on the ball.

Dirk Kuyt: B+

Fenerbahce was missing a lot of key offensive players. You don't want to leave much of the attacking burden on a guy like Kuyt, but that's exactly what the Turkish club was forced to do.

Kuyt was his usual workman-like self. You always know what you're getting when it comes to a player like Kuyt. He did well to score the penalty to give Fenerbahce the aggregate advantage.

Benfica and Barcelona meet Tuesday in the second group game of the Champions League. Barcelona is currently top of the group after their comeback victory over Spartak Moscow at home, while Benfica played to a 0-0 draw against Celtic in their first game (via ESPN Soccernet).

While the Catalan side are certain favourites to go through to the knockout rounds, the remaining three teams will battle it out for second place. Even a tie at home against Barcelona would be a positive result for the Eagles, and they will certainly be aiming for that or better.

Both sides are undefeated in both their domestic and Champions League games thus far, and that should make for an intriguing encounter. Below is the team news and projected lineups for Benfica vs. Barcelona.

Benfica Team News

Benfica lost two of its best players, Javi Garcia and Axel Witsel, during the summer transfer window, but that has not stopped them from topping the Portuguese table.

The Champions League is where the club will feel the effect of losing those players even more and those players will definitely be missed against Barcelona.

Benfica will also be without defensive rock Luisao, who is banned from all competitions for two months, and Oscar Cardozo due to injury (via Goal.com).

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1)

 Artur

Pereira—Jardel—Garay—Melgarejo

Perez—Matic

Salvio—Aimar—Gaitan

Rodrigo

Barcelona Team News

Barcelona has given their fans plenty to be excited, and worried, about in their games this season. A number of comeback victories, with the most recent one coming against Sevilla, have confirmed the club's riches in attack and problems in defense (via ESPN Soccernet).

Part of the reason for the club's defensive woes has been the injuries to Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. Thiago Alcantara will be missing for two months but Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Adriano are all returning from injury (via Uefa.com).

Projected Lineup(4-3-3)

Valdes

Alves—Mascherano—Song—Alba

Xavi—Busquets—Fabregas

Pedro—Messi—Tello

Most of the current S.L. Benfica players weren't even born the last time that SLB defeated Spanish opposition at home, but the 2012 club looks to change that when rival Barcelona rolls into Lisbon on Tuesday.

Benfica fans are aware that it's been 30 years since the Eagles beat a Spanish opponent on their home turf and about 50 years since they hoisted the UEFA Champions League trophy.

Barca comes in after squeaking out a win in their opening game against Spartak Moskva, and they now face the tough task of trying to take the Portuguese fans out of Benfica's first home game.

Reality sets in on Tuesday, and everything will come down to which club executes better in the early-season matchup.

Where: Sport Lisboa e Benfica Stadium in Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal

When: October 2, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. EDT

TV/Live Stream: Fox Soccer Plus

Benfica: Coming off of a moral victory against Celtic.

Benfica's game against Celtic concluded in a scoreless draw, but the team was able to spin the result into a positive.

Eagles forward Rodrigo was pleased with the teams' effort as he told UEFA.com.

"In the end it was a fair result. We created enough opportunities to win but the ball always hit someone and we could not score. It was a positive result for us."

Benfica was a little more aggressive than Celtic. They had more attempts on goal, but they also committed more fouls and had less possession time.

As Rodrigo alluded to, they have some good things to take into the Barcelona game, but they will have to keep their aggression up and their fouls down.

With key Barcelona defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué not playing in the game, expect SLB to be very aggressive offensively and look to score early.

The return of Eduardo Salvio and the acquisition of Brazilian forward Lima from SC Braga should also help to make the Eagles' home opener a victorious one. 

Barcelona: Narrowly Escaped Spartak Moskva, but at what cost? 

Down a goal with just 18 minutes left to play, Lionel Messi put on his superman cape and scored two late goals.

In spite of their thrilling victory, Barcelona lost Piqué to a foot injury.

Losing Piqué is an unlucky blow for Barcelona, but girlfriend Shakira appears to be happy to spend more time with him, as they're pictured together here.

Puyol is already out for six weeks with a knee injury, and it appears that Piqué will be on the shelf for three weeks.

Barcelona's head coach Tito Vilanova gave the consummate coaches answer when he was asked how he feels about his better defenders being injured.

Via Insidespanishfootball.com:

“We have a subsidiary. No problem. Hopefully Piqué recovers soon, but if not, we will select another player.” the Barcelona coach said.

Barca was fortunate to pull out the victory in their opener over Spartak, but their injured defenders could cost them when they face a hungry Benfica club.

Prediction

SLB is hungry for their first win and doing it against a rival who is limping in looks inevitable.

It wouldn't shock anybody if Messi took over the game, but Benfica should be inspired to shut down Messi, as they'll be playing in front of their home crowd.

The 30-year drought of not beating a Spanish opponent at home looks as if it may come to an end on Tuesday.

3-2, Benfica wins. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omoHGGi3jtQ

Life can be tough sometimes for referees.

On an average workday, an average referee must run several kilometers, keep up with world-class athletes, make split-second decisions that affect people's livelihoods and, if he's handling a Chelsea game, endure 90 minutes of John Terry's cursing.

And then there are days like the one above.

On the day in the video above, which serves as Monday's B/R World Football Viral Video of the Day, referee Christian Fischer is embroiled in an angry confrontation with Benfica captain Luisao.

The confrontation occurred during a preseason match between Benfica and newly promoted Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Incensed by Fischer's decision to send off Benfica's Javi Garcia for a second yellow card, Luisao knocks Fischer to the pitch.

Then, things get interesting.

Fischer stays on the ground, apparently knocked cold for a few moments. The match, which was supposed to be a friendly, is abandoned in the 39th minute.

It's hard to see what happens, but in the slow-motion replays, it almost looks like Luisao head-butts Fischer. If nothing else, he runs at him aggressively and knocks him over.

Later, Benfica's players accused Fischer of taking a dive. Per Metro:

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Sporting beat Benfica 1-0 in the Lisbon derby of the Portuguese League.

The result moves the Lions up to fourth place in the league and leaves the Eagles four points back and that much farther from the title.

The game was divided in the first few minutes. But Sporting striker Ricky van Wofswinekl scored a penalty after 18 minutes and bewildered Benfica, who never managed to find ways for a goal to get past Portuguese International goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Sporting, thereafter, dominated the rest of the game.

In the second half, Sporting saw the most success and scoring opportunities. Benfica stopper Arthur—who had decisive interventions—and Wolfswinkel—who failed to score twice while isolated one-on-one—were primarily reasons for the result at 1-0.

In the match Dutch midfielder Schaars and Izmailov (shot on the bar) could have scored for Sporting. 

While Benfica had only one blatant opportunity for Maxi Pereira, who Sporting defender Insúa saved practically on the line.

A big win for the Alvalade residents, who showed a little superiority and confidence after advancing in the semifinals of the Europa League, passed Metalist and now onto face Athletic Bilbao.

FC Porto is delighted with the result and will now see Benfica at four points from them in the Portuguese league.

Former Sporting player and Athletic Director Sa Pinto rejoiced with the win and expressed his happiness with the three points.

When all was said and done, Sporting ruled Lisbon for the night but still have pivotal matches against Porto and Braga to close out the season.

As S.L. Benfica prepares for its match against Chelsea F.C. on April 4th, the smell of upset is in the air as Benfica heats up in UEFA play while Chelsea seems stagnant. 

In the first leg, Chelsea came away with the victory 1-0, but Benfica will be coming into this matchup ready to take down Chelsea and advance to the semifinal round.

Several factors will allow Benfica to upset Chelsea. Most notably, Chelsea has been weak against strong defensive teams such as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Chelsea came away from the Manchester City match with a 2-1 loss and had a 0-0 draw to Tottenham at home.

Benfica's defense, led by captain Luisao, may have trouble transitioning from defense to attack and often suffer from slow play by its two center-backs. However, Chelsea has not been playing at a level to where these factors are an issue. Look for Benfica's defense to shut down the Chelsea scoring game.

When Chelsea's defense comes under inspection, one will notice a bit of slow, lazy play with high profile players like David Luiz constantly drifting out of position, thus opening up lanes in the defense. 

On the offensive side, Benfica is much more sound. The club sports a quick and technical passing scheme—coupled with Nico Gaitan, second in assists in league play—making the Benfica offense a force.

Not to mention scoring machine Oscar Cardozo will be playing. Cardozo leads the team with 18 goals this season. The Cardozo-Gaitan combo will certainly make quick work of the lackadaisical Chelsea defense.

Chelsea faces similar problems with big names such as Ivory Coast native Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge being at odds with how they play along with Fernando Torres drifting in and out of formation at his leisure. 

Benfica also carries quite a bit of momentum into this matchup, coming off two straight wins and a draw. Chelsea has just recently rebounded with a win in its last match following a two-game span where it saw a draw and a loss, scoring only one goal during that time.  

Being away from home will not hurt the Portuguese side. Benfica fans will be out in full force to rally behind their team, which has done very well this year and has a legitimate shot at the cup.  

Benfica sits at 18-5-2 and has been lighting up the Portuguese soccer leagues all year, earning victories by decent margins and several multi-goal shutouts.

Benfica is a very young and talented team that will be looking to outpace the older, slower vanguard that is Chelsea. Benfica will be looking to take advantage of Chelsea's historically shoddy UEFA play and lack of cohesiveness among its ranks as they play for the semifinal slot. 

Although Chelsea fields the better side on paper, Benfica's youth and pure skill will give them the upper hand to clinch the upset.