Benfica have overtaken Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. This is also the work of German coach Roger Schmidt.
When the Champions League game ended on Wednesday (November 2nd, 2022) in the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa and Benfica had clearly won this last group game 6-1, the joy of the winner was rather restrained. The players politely high-fived each other, but initially there were no great emotions.
That was to change abruptly a few minutes later. When the result of the parallel game in Turin was transmitted to Haifa and it was clear that Lisbon would finish Group H as the top of the table, the cheers of the players in orange and black knew no bounds. Clusters of players, dances and water fountains – Benfica was blessed.
The last goal in the final minute by João Mário gave the “Eagles“, as they are called in Portugal, the important group win, which increases the chances of an easier opponent in the round of 16.
Away goals rule decides for Benfica
Coach Roger Schmidt, on the other hand, stayed cool – just as it is the way of the native Sauerland. “This win is very important for the club’s reputation”, said Schmidt after the final whistle. The message later went over the ticker that the coach had to explain the away goals rule to his players while he was still on the field. That was ultimately decisive for the Lisbon group victory and relegated the favored, but now rather puzzled PSG to second place in the long-distance duel.
Roger Schmidt’s part in Benfica’s success is of course far greater than this little knowledge of the rules in the final phase of the Haifa game. No group game lost, no league game lost – Schmidt has turned Benfica into a currently invincible team since he signed on in the old seafaring capital in the summer.
Forgot how to lose under Roger Schmidt
22 competitive games with Benfica without defeat, to be precise. Schmidt has not even lost 29 games across seasons and clubs. In the Portuguese league, Benfica sit in first place with 31 points from eleven games. The highlight was the 1-0 away win against eternal rivals FC Porto two weeks ago. “The great Schmidt” they have already christened him in the capital for these successes.
The toughest competitor in the coming years is unlikely to be FC Porto at national level, but Sporting Braga – the club in which the Qatari businessman Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently acquired a minority stake of 21.67 percent. Spicy: Al-Khelaifi is also President of Paris Saint-Germain. At the end of December, Sporting Braga and Benfica will meet in the league league game. Al-Khelaifi would certainly not be amused if he lost to Benfica again.
Cheering from the players of Benfica Lisbon
Climb higher up the career ladder
With the move from PSV Eindhoven to Portugal last summer, Roger Schmidt jumped several rungs on his personal career ladder. Of course, they would have liked to keep the German at PSV back then, Schmidt was quite successful there too (with Mario Götze as a player), but he saw no getting past the Dutch Primus Ajax.
At the same time, some Bundesliga clubs put out feelers for the 55-year-old, who had previously coached Prussia Münster (regional league), SC Paderborn (2nd division) and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. So Schmidt was in conversation with RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha BSC.
The courted man opted for Benfica Lisbon and thus the second largest club in the world in terms of members and the largest in Portugal. 47 percent of the Portuguese are feverish with Benfica. No other club in Europe has such a high fan sympathy value.
Benfica’s desire for titles
There is still a long way to go for Schmidt’s team on the road to success. In addition to the Champions League, the national title also has top priority. After the 2019 championship and the 2017 cup win, Benfica is waiting for a championship triumph again.
And of course it should also go far in the premier class. Just like last spring. At that time, the Portuguese failed under their interim coach Nélson Veríssimo only in the quarter-finals at Liverpool FC with coach Jürgen Klopp. Roger Schmidt will now do everything to surpass this good result again.