The Portugeezer : Arsenal

Braga keep the dream alive, while Benfica are stuck in a nightmare

Sergio Santos — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Benfica and Braga entered the penultimate matchday of the Champions League group stages with everything to play for. But while the Minho Warriors have managed to keep their faint hopes of advancing to the Last 16 alive, the Eagles were left ruing a gruelling night in Tel Aviv that they won’t forget anytime soon.

Braga v Arsenal

This blog has stated it before, but Braga really did overachieve last season, and in a rather cruel way are now paying the price of the fickleness of the average Portuguese football fan. That’s the main reason why the stadium was only half filled on Tuesday evening for the match against English giants Arsenal.

The odds were heavily stacked against Braga: they had only six points, trailing both Shakhtar and the Gunners by three and with the additional disadvantage of a far inferior goal difference.

Yet, the home side approached the match positively, as if they still had a good chance of going through, even though their opposition was naturally stronger. Arsenal’s line-up differed slightly from their weekend defeat to Tottenham, with Denilson replacing Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner replacing Marouane Chamakh, while Emmanuel Eboué, Johan Djourou and Kieran Gibbs all earned recalls at the back.

Though Arsenal held the initiative for large periods, the bulk of the match was pretty uneventful with both sides struggling to craft a clearcut opportunity.
Braga coach Domingos Paciência, however, decide to gamble on forward Elton in the 81st minute and within seconds the Brazilian played in talismanic forward and compatriot Matheus, who raced towards Fabianski and applied a simple curled finish. The lethargy felt on the terraces was suddenly broken and the locals quickly found their voices.

Arsenal, perhaps a bit shocked by conceding a goal against a team who they had scored six against without reply back in September, pushed heavily for an equalizer, and were caught on the break with the last – and definitely the most beautiful - play of the match. After an Arsenal free-kick was cleared, the ball eventually fell to Matheus near the halfway line. Braga's No.99 raced towards Fabianski as fast as he could, bamboozled three Arsenal defenders and curled a left-footed shot in off the crossbar for the second goal!

Braga now possess the same points as Arsenal but need to either beat Shakhtar by four goals or hope that Arsenal somehow drop points against winless Partizan in order to qualify. Yes, it is a small miracle, but they fought for it and will travel to Donetsk in high spirits.

Hapoel v Benfica

Hero-almost turned-zero Jorge Jesus was spot-on when he said – in a deceivingly condescending fashion – that Hapoel could play a part in determining which team would advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

What he didn’t foresee was that it would be Benfica that would succumb to the Israelis. The manager and players had all the pre-match talk prepared: “This is going to be our final”, “This will be the turning point of our season” and the objective lens of maths said their qualifying hopes remained entirely in their own hands: firstly, beat an arguably weaker Hapoel side and then thwart Schalke’s hopes at home in front of 60,000 partisan supporters. Straightforward stuff.

But, like so many times before in this kind of situation, the Eagles disappointed and left the so-called Promised Land with an embarrassing 3-0 mauling, the wounds from which will take some time to heal.

Benfica started the match on the front foot knowing a faster tempo and high pressure would give them an edge. However, their plans were quickly undone as Zahavi gave Hapoel the lead in the 24th minute when he headed home from a free-kick.

Hapoel weathered a storm early in the second half, where only sheer lack of inspiration and a disjointed team prevented Benfica from scoring more than once. They say lightning never strikes twice, but that proved to be false, perhaps unsurprisingly, as the home side – happy to sit back for most of the match - gained a rare corner kick, resulting in their second goal 15 minutes from time. How telling is it that a team that failed to make anything of 21 corners ended up conceding from a corner to a team that only had two?

With their hopes of a win dashed – bar a miracle – Benfica players lowered their guard and concentration levels, and Hapoel took advantage to pile more misery on Jesus’s team.

The unthinkable happened and Benfica left Israel wondering how on Earth they lost a match in which they had showed more quality, created more opportunities and enjoyed more possession. The Eagles are still favourites to land the Europa League spot, but they shouldn’t be careless against Schalke 04….just in case.

Jesus has already had to ride out the turbulance that followed the 5-0 hammering at the hands of mortal enemies Porto; can he somehow rebound from this humiliating result? What with the season of good will upon us, perhaps he will be granted one last reprieve...

Phenomenal Braga keep making history

Sergio Santos — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:02:00 GMT

Back in May, after playing against Paços de Ferreira, Braga claimed a ticket to the qualifying stages of the Champions League and at the end of the match, Hendel’s “Zadok the Priest” adaptation – which is now the renowned official anthem of Europe’s elite competition – was played.

After all, the club had just achieved something remarkable and the chance to play among the top European clubs would be an incredible experience that could catapult the club to another level.

The Minho warriors were handed two tough draws on their road to Champions League football; firstly against Celtic and then against Sevilla.

They manhandled the Scots as if they were playing against a side from Liga Orangina (Portugal’s delightfully named second division) with a 4-2 aggregate success, but Sevilla would prove a far sterner test and, despite an encouraging 1-0 win at home, the heated environment at Sanchez Pizjuán – quite literally as temperatures of 44º C were reported in the afternoon – could have been a little too much for them to handle.

This Braga side, however, fancied beating the odds and with unshakable faith, they not only they won the tie, but also the match on the night through organized, counter-attacking football.

Domingos Paciencia’s men had to withstand initial pressure as Sevilla tried to make the most of their home advantage, but as time went by the Portuguese side started look more comfortable and got a surprising lead in the 31st minute through Mateus, who reacted quickly to a Palop fumble.

One of the key moments of the match came five minutes before the hour mark. Uruguayan playmaker Luis Aguiar was replaced by forward Lima and the Brazilian would go on to earn a hat trick, the plaudits and the man of the match award.

Just three minutes after his introduction, Lima converted from Mateus cross to duble Braga’s lead. Sevilla then knew they had to score four goals, but were handed an immediate lifeline when Fabiano got his name on the score sheet three minutes later as Felipe botched an easy save.

Sevilla exerted tremendous pressure and the match was played at a frenetic tempo. Navas netted a second for the Spaniards in the 84th minute, at which point Braga fans could be forgiven for fearing a spectacular collapse was on the cards.

But if some die-hard Sevilla fans thought they could still pull it off, Lima was quick to dash their dreams just a minute later after rounding a dazed and confused Palop. There was still time for Lima to complete his hat-trick and Fredi Kanouté to score Sevilla’s third before the referee signalled the end of an incredible match.

The Champions League group stage draw has already determined Braga will face Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan. The Gunners are the obvious favourites, but the second place should be up for grabs.

Honestly, neither Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar nor Serbian old boys Partizan are better than Sevilla, and if Braga are able to keep their form – just as they did last season – there is no reason to believe they can’t reach the last 16 of the competition. For now though, it is time to smile and relish the chance to play against the big fish while balancing the books.

Cream of the crop

Every Braga player deserves credit after knocking out the Spanish giants, but there were four players in particular who caught the Portugeezer’s eye, and could go on to cause the likes of Arsenal a few problems in the group stage.

Moisés
The centre-back was a giant that kept Kanouté and Fabiano in his pocket. Strong in the air and oozing experience and poise, his presence added steel to a backline that needed a leader.

Sílvio
The former Rio Ave rightback replaced Miguel Garcia in the starting XI and had an absolutely cracking match. He was not only able to mark the talented Diego Perotti, but also had the nerve and energy to provide attacking support down the right flank. His attacking prowess and versatility – he played last season mostly as a leftback – make him a great asset for the club and Queiroz may find him a very interesting addition to the national team.

Matheus
The Brazilian is a great player and it is bizarre to think he was not a regular starter this time last year, having originally signed for the club in 2006. He’s fast, possesses good technique and has a very high work rate. He scored two goals and made one assist over the two matches and will be remembered as one of the mighty warriors to have conquered Sevilla.

Lima
Anyone who scores three goals in a match has to be mentioned, but to be able to do so within 35 minutes in one of the most important matches in a club’s history is a feat that will rarely be matched. The Brazilian forward came off the bench to haunt Sevilla’s defence and has already seen his price tag skyrocket.