After being knocked out of the third qualification round for the Champions League, Danish champions AGF will tonight attempt to take the first step towards qualifying for the Europa League league phase when they take on Portuguese giants Benfica at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
No question the Danes are facing a monumental task, but just like Benfica coach Marco Silva warned his players about being complacent before the clash against the Danish champions, Portuguese Senior News Editor Mario Rui Ventura at Flashscore also points out that Benfica have weaknesses which AGF could exploit in tonight's fixture.
"The biggest weakness has been at the heart of the defence. Benfica lost their two first-choice centre-backs, Nicolas Otamendi (River Plate) and António Silva (Bournemouth), and signed Clement Lenglet (Atlético de Madrid) to partner home-grown player Tomás Araújo. Matheus Índio, a young Brazilian, was signed for the reserve team, and, once in Lisbon, Alessandro Circati from Parma. The truth is that, for the match against Aarhus, Benfica still have only two centre-backs in the squad", says Ventura.
"The other major change has taken place in goal. Anatoliy Trubin, the first-choice keeper in recent years, has lost his place to Samuel Soares, a goalkeeper who came through the Benfica youth system. There are doubts as to whether either of them is good enough to be the undisputed first-choice keeper."
Ventura underlines that Danish football in general is held in high regard thanks to the arrival of prominent Danish players. "Danish football has gained enormous prominence in recent years, thanks to the arrival of players such as Morten Hjulmand, Froholdt, Alexander Bah and Conrad Harder… suddenly, Denmark is once again the talk of Portugal". However, despite the recognition of Danish football in Portugal "AGF, known in Portugal as Aarhus, is a complete unknown to most fans in Portugal" and for Benfica it would be complete disaster to crash out of the Europa League to an unknown Scandinavian side.
"It would be a huge loss. However, the biggest loss was actually failing once again to qualify for the Champions League", says Ventura, who underlines that the financial loss may force the club to sell players. "Nobody at Benfica is setting success in the Europa League as a target, as they are focused on the domestic league and should they fail in the Europa League, it won't affect Marco Silva’s position as manager in the slightest", says Ventura.
Ventura underlines that after a period where Sporting CP and FC Porto have dominated the domestic league, "things can only improve at Benfica. The strong commitment to Marco Silva, the former Fulham manager, clearly demonstrates that the board, led by Rui Costa, intends to win the league title this season, as well as aiming to go far in the Europa League."