Mistakes of the Eagles farewell to the Champions League

Final point on the Walk of Champions 2022/2023. After a 0–2 loss to Luz, Benfica drew in Italy, in a game marked by defensive and refereeing errors.

At the moment, Roger Schmidt does not have the gift of divination. He didn’t score first as he recommended, the team didn’t defend as well as he asked for, and he didn’t play “much better” (compared to his previous three losses) as he had demanded during a lecture the previous day.

Chasing defeat, Benfica did next to nothing until the 30th minute. In fact, it was exactly what he didn’t do that distinguished the team up to this point: he completely failed to score and conceded Barella’s goal.

Then there was the first kick, Grimaldo’s direct free-kick, and then Orsnes tied with a great header.

Neres went into the second half and stirred up the attacking game of the Portuguese team. Who even had reason to complain about the referee in an unnoticed penalty on Orsna, who played on the right-back position.

Then the Italian cynicism showed up: a great counter-attack with a Lautaro goal, taking advantage of the apathy (again) of the Benfica defense.

Schmidt showed signs of disorientation on the bench during substitutions, and it was from there that he saw Inter score again in a well-placed shot by Correa.

More heartily, Benfica still managed to reach a draw, scoring goals from António Silva and Mousa. But that was enough to turn the tide.

Benfica is now fully focused on the League. Estoril is the first of six finalists.

quality objectives
Three of Inter’s goals were quality, two of them were excellent shots (Barella and Correa) and the other was a beautiful collective reception. Headings by Orsnes and António Silva also deserve mention.

Protection to see (again)
The 1-0 score was not due to the error itself, but due to the fact that Otamendi was unable to cut off the ball, which was within his reach, in the application with Dzeko. After Chavez, he returned to the pits.

fine for signaling
Too bad Lautaro didn’t signal a penalty at Orsna in the second half. The Spanish referee had good support from the assistants in the offside decision. Equalizer (1-1) is a good example of this.

“Know Defeat”
“The result of Luz mattered. Mousa’s goal (3-3) was important to break the streak, but it looks like a defeat because we’re out,” said Gonzalo Ramos.

attacks referees
“The game in Lisbon and the decisions of the referees were part of the history of these two games. We were unlucky with that…,” said Roger Schmidt.

“We showed fantastic football in the Champions League. In 14 games we lost one. In Lisbon we didn’t play with the same focus and intensity. However, I liked what I saw,” he added.