Criticism of Roger Schmidt is growing. After two defeats in one week, the Benfica Lisbon coach now has to worry about his job.
Since July 2022, Roger Schmidt has been on the sidelines as coach at Benfica Lisbon. The former Leverkusen coach won the championship title in Portugal with his team from the capital in their first season. In the current championship, Benfica is in second place after 24 match days behind Lisbon city rivals Sporting. Nevertheless, he is probably threatened with extinction. Several Portuguese media report this unanimously.
Two defeats within a few days put Schmidt in trouble. First there was an exit in the cup semi-finals on February 29th with a 1-2 defeat at Sporting. Three days later, FC Porto suffered a massive 5-0 defeat. The tabloid “Correio da Manha” wrote of a “humiliation.” After the defeats, the Portuguese daily newspapers “A bola” and “Record” speculated about the German’s possible dismissal.
Benfica president still stands by Schmidt
“We don’t have to apologize, we didn’t do it on purpose,” said Schmidt after the defeat against Porto. “This evening was catastrophic for everyone,” said club president Rui Costa. But he defended the German coach: “What he says makes sense.” When asked about his future, Schmidt replied: “I think I’ve said everything.”
For now, Schmidt continues at Benifca. The next challenge for the 38-time Portuguese champion is on Thursday. In the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League, Angel di Maria’s team will face Glasgow Rangers from Scotland.