Benfica reached the 38th title in its history in the I Liga football with a safe path, in which it led, first accompanied and then isolated, since the start of the 2022/23 edition of the championship.
Under the new command of the German coach Roger Schmidt, and with signings that turned out to be real reinforcements, the eagles turned this championship into an achievement in line with their history, without ever taking any real risk.
Of the 17 rivals, only five managed to take points away from the new champion, who registered two draws, with Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting, and three defeats, with FC Porto, Sporting de Braga and, surprisingly, Desportivo de Chaves.
The first setback occurred after a start with seven victories, almost two months after the start of the League, already in October, in a null game in Guimarães, with the team having, even so, three points more than their pursuers in the eighth round .
A division that was accentuated in the following days, especially with the victory in Dragão (1-0), on the 10th day, and with the loss of points for FC Porto on the immediately following day, the 11th, at the home of Santa Clara (1-1).
The reds came to the interruption for the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar (November 20 to December 18), with a great break, after a sequence of 12 wins and a draw, adding, to matchday 13, eight points more than against FC Porto and nine against Sporting de Braga.
The break, which lasted for more than a month, was not beneficial for the eagles, who, on their return, at the end of December, suffered their first surprise defeat, at home against Sporting Braga (3-0), in a game in which they found themselves losing after two minutes.
The defeat was consoled in the lead, from eight to five points, but it did not have any more negative effect because on the following day it was FC Porto that was once again unemployed (0-0) in the visit to Casa Pia, passing Braga to second, to six points.
Until this stage, there were occasional fluctuations in the differences between the leaders and the rest, with Benfica, who still drew against Sporting (2-2, on matchday 16), closing the first round with SC Braga at four points and FC Porto at five.
In the second half of the championship, the team once again had a growth spurt and, although less exuberant in the exhibitions, it even had the best run of results in the competition, with 10 consecutive victories (17 to 26 games).
Even the loss of the Argentine world champion Enzo Fernández – transferred to Chelsea for 121 million euros – was not as shocking as one might think, with the team reinventing itself with Chiquinho, and then, towards the end of the championship, with the young João Neves. .
That campaign in the second round allowed Benfica to finish the 26th round with 10 points ahead and the championship was not resolved in the following one because FC Porto rescued hope with a victory in the Clásico da Luz (2-1).
For the dragons, the match meant the possibility of continuing to dream and that was what Sérgio Conceição’s team did, far from imagining that they would fall to four on the next round, when Benfica lost in Chaves (1-0).
A difference that, even so, kept Benfica dependent on itself, with wins against Estoril Praia (1-0), Gil Vicente (2-0), Sporting de Braga (1-0) and Portimonense (5-1) , and a draw at home against Sporting (2-2).
The 38th title ends up coming to an end, on the 34th and last day, with Benfica beating Santa Clara at Estádio da Luz, and FC Porto, at the same time, beating Vitória de Guimarães, both by 3-0, maintaining the eagles a two-point lead.
Benfica will probably crown this title -when Sporting Braga-Paços de Ferreira still has to play- with the best attack in the competition, with 82 goals, and also the least filtered defense, with 20 conceded.
Source: TSF
