From Nuno to Bruno: Part 2
This time, I take a look at Benfica's 5-0 thrashing of Sporting in the Portuguese Super Cup.
This is the second part of a series of articles analysing some of Bruno Lage’s games in charge of Benfica. For part one, click here.
For the second part of this series I’m going to be taking a look at Benfica’s 5-0 win over Sporting at the beginning of the 2019/20 season in the Portuguese version of the super cup/community shield.
In the last article I analysed Benfica’s 4-2 victory over Sporting. While Benfica were deserved winners, it was only at the beginning of Bruno Lage’s reign so it was very much a snapshot of what you might expect from his teams and the game was arguably narrower than the scoreline suggested. Benfica won this game 5-0. Quite a statement to make at the beginning of a season against your rivals!
From looking at an xG timeline of the game, it was a fairly even encounter until Benfica made it 2-0 on the 60th minute through Pizzi, from which point they went on to run away with the game. In terms of xG, Benfica registered 2.85 to Sporting’s 0.97, so still a pretty comfortable victory.
Sporting had slightly more possession of the ball, with 52% possession and also outshot Benfica 18-5. However, 13 of those Sporting shots came from outside the penalty area whereas the majority of Benfica’s attempts came from within the box.
As referenced in the previous article, Benfica’s pass per defensive action (PPDA) was 5.7 compared to Sporting’s 9.9. This again suggests the Benfica press earlier and more often, although in the last game I watched, they set up in a mid block, so not quite a ‘full-press’ but certainly more aggressive than under Nuno.
Benfica lined up again with a 4-4-2 shape. By this point, I don’t think there will have been any doubt this was Lage’s preferred system at Benfica.
The notable difference in the starting eleven’s to the previous game analysed is Raúl de Tomás in for João Félix. Félix was a huge part of Benfica’s early success under Lage, so to lose him to Atletico (for just over €130m!) would always have been detrimental to the way they played.
His replacement, Raúl de Tomás, was bought in as a replacement from Real Madrid for €20m having enjoyed successful loan spells in Spain in the previous three seasons. The signing did not work out however as he was sold to Espanyol within six months.
Judging by the average positions, de Tomás was asked to perform a similar role to the one that Félix had performed so well in for Lage.
de Tomás (9) was effectively positioned as a number ten, with the wide players Pizzi (21) and Rafa Silva (27) tucked in either side of him. This may explain why he struggled to make an impact at Benfica as his record suggests he is more of a number nine, so it may have suited him to be the focal point in attack.
In effect, the 4-4-2 quickly becomes a 4-2-3-1 with the full backs Álex Grimaldo (3) and Nuno Tavares (71) providing more of the width, and the defensive midfielders, Gabriel (8) and Florentino Luis (61) not venturing too far forwards to protect the two central defenders, Rúben Dias (6) and Ferro (97). Haris Seferović (14) was once again the man leading the line for Benfica.
The first half was a game of very few chances. While the possession was even (50%-50%) Benfica were certainly the protagonists, playing the game in Sporting’s half. They were able to do this by pressing quickly after losing possession, winning the ball back high up the pitch or forcing Sporting to clear the ball into space.
As you can see in the above image, Benfica have six players in one area of the pitch as they attempt to win the ball back in the Sporting half.
They would often try to lock the opposition into one side like this, which their narrow shape (as discussed) aids them to do.
Though they are not a full on pressing team (the striker will deny the keeper playing short when they can), they are quick and aggressive to deny the opposition the chance to play through them or entering their half of the pitch.
Under Nuno Wolves would be more patient, often allowing the other team longer periods of possession as they seek to find a point where they are unbalanced, even if that means letting them into their half, before attempting to regaining possession. This is why the ‘PPDA’ for a Nuno team would be higher. Benfica under Lage however, look to win the ball back earlier and more often. Both are styles that can be effective (and have their different pros and cons) but I think Wolves fans will be pleased with a more proactive approach - providing it is effective.
Where a more aggressive approach can be exploited is the spaces that it will naturally leave behind, in front or to the side of your defence. Though Benfica were the team with the territory, before the goal by Rafa to take the lead they did concede some opportunities and openings that could have been better exploited by Sporting.
If not for an uncharacteristically awful pass by Bruno Fernandes, Bas Dost would have had an open goal inside the first three minutes of the game. It demonstrated the dangers of playing a high line while not being connected at the back.
In the above image Sporting’s left sided centre back, Jérémy Mathieu, has the ball. Nuno Tavares (apparently close to signing for Arsenal) looks to close down their left wing-back Marcos Acuña. If he is doing this with the rest of his defensive unit shifting over and covering the space he leaves, this is fine.
Instead, as we see in the clip, Mathieu is able to play the ball straight behind him to Fernandes. Tavares has vacated that space to close down Acuña, but in doing so has become disconnected from the rest of his defensive unit.
As the ball is being transferred from right to left in the instance, the Benfica back line needs to be much closer as a unit. Rúben Dias is nowhere near Tavares, and so Sporting are able to exploit that gap. That could have been fatal in the opening minutes of a big game, but they were able to get away with it on this occasion. In the Premier League teams will happily seek to exploit these types of spaces so if Wolves do play a higher defensive line, they will have to be supremely organised.
Having survived these scares, Benfica took the lead in the 40th minute through Rafa Silva.
It’s a nicely worked goal, with the ball being played forwards centrally before delivered at angle into Rafa, who’s run to the back post is very good.
It was Florentino Luís in midfield who started the move, and he is someone it would not surprise me if he was a target for Wolves this summer to add competition in midfield or even replace Rúben Neves.
Luís had a good battle with Fernandes throughout the game and coped well. He was also a strong performer in Portugal’s U21 squad this summer at the European Championship, but in this game he caught my eye as someone who has a strong physical presence as well as being technically good on the ball.
Benfica had to withstand some heavy pressure from Sporting in the opening moments of the second half. They defended set pieces well, didn’t give up any big chances and then got the all important second goal in the 60th minute.
Though there was a large element of luck about how the game eventually came about, but the build up for the goal was good again and showed the benefits of having the wide players positioning themselves more centrally.
As Rafa looks up, he has Pizzi in front of him in a good amount of space. He has positioned himself inside of Acuña, giving the wing-back an issue. Does he get tight or does he hold his position?
He decides to close down Pizzi as the ball is travelling towards him from Rafa’s pass. The pass into Pizzi acts as a trigger for Tavares, who begins to overlap.
Pizzi cleverly flicks the ball, taking Acuña out of the game as him and Tavares play a one-two around him. Acuña actually recovers quite well as Mathieu manages to stop Pizzi, but the ball falls kindly for Rafa to set up Pizzi who finishes well.
It quickly became 3-0, with Grimaldo scoring a free kick three minutes later. At this point in the game, Benfica really sense blood and began to run riot. They showed great intensity out of possession and broke really quickly, in a similar way that a Wolves team at its peak under Nuno would. It was Rafa and Pizzi who would combine again to create the fourth.
Gabriel released the ball in behind (not too different to the passes behind the defence analysed in part one) for Rafa who was running in behind. It was a good early pass, but it still asked a lot of Rafa, who won his duel and played inside to Pizzi. Pizzi’s first touch is excellent and sets him up nicely to slide under the Sporting keeper, Ribeiro.
The manner of this victory was as impressive as the scoreline. Aside from just after half time, Benfica never ended up defending in their own half for long periods of the game. They sensed blood but even when Sporting did manage to get a hold of the ball for longer periods of the game, the game was still largely played in Sporting’s half or in the middle of the pitch.
Vlachodimos did not have a great deal to do throughout the game, so even though Benfica’s high defensive line did cause themselves some problems in the first half, there was reward for the risks taken. Sporting were largely reduced to long distance shots, often from Bruno Fernandes, as they desperately sought a way back into the game. With one of the final kicks of the game, Chiquinho made it five nil, squeezing the ball home at the end of an excellent flowing attack.
All in all, this was an emphatic way to enter a season. Benfica started the season strongly again, winning 18 of their first 19 before it began to unravel a little.
There was criticism of how Lage set up in important European games, particularly the Frankfurt game where they held a 4-2 lead going into the second leg, which is what I will look at in part three.