The German Roger Schmidt, 56 years old, won this Saturday only the second championship of his career as a football coach, almost 10 years after the success achieved in Austria, and precisely in his debut season with Benfica.
In the first bet on a foreign coach in 13 years, Benfica returned to the league title after three seasons ‘dry’ and with the party at home, at Estádio da Luz, in the 3-0 win over relegated Santa Clara, in the 34th and decisive round of the I Liga.
In his first year in Portugal, Schmidt achieved impressive figures for the ‘incarnates’, with 42 wins in 55 games in all competitions, 28 in 34 in the championship and with only four defeats in the whole season (three in the I Liga and only one in the Champions League).
The record of the German coach, who came to Luz as a fan of attacking football, is gaining momentum with 131 goals in all competitions, including 82 in the championship.
Confirmed as coach of Benfica exactly one year ago, in May 2022, Schmidt arrived in Lisbon after some success in Austria and the Netherlands, but with only one championship won in his entire career, in the service of Salzburg, in 2013/14.
With the Austrian crest, the former midfielder also won a cup, a title he also won in China, with Beijing Guoan, and more recently in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven.
In his only experience in the Bundesliga, the German coach spent three seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, but despite qualifying for the Champions League twice, he never interfered in the title fight and left the club without winning a single trophy.
As a midfielder, Schmidt spent his entire career in the lower divisions and there he started his coaching adventure, first with Delbrucker exactly two decades ago, and then with Preussen Munster.
After failing to climb to the Bundesliga with Paderborn, in 2011/12, in his first experience in professional football, Schmidt went to Salzburg, an emblem in which he would find success.
The first season ended without any title, but in 2013/14 Salzburg dominated and won all league titles with an overwhelming attack.
That time attracted the attention of those in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, who eventually signed Schmidt for three seasons, with the aim of closing the distance to Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
In 2014/15, the German coach finished fourth in the Bundesliga and in the following season he improved his record with a third place, although he was still a long way from fighting for the title.
In 2016/17, Bayer Leverkusen was always far from the top places (it finished in 12th place) and Schmidt was fired mid-season.
Subsequently, the German coach chose to leave European football and went to China, where he spent three years with Beijing Guoan.
In that Asian country, Schmidt won a Cup and competed for the Chinese title in his last season, but finished the championship in second place.
In 2020/21, the German coach signed a two-year contract with PSV Eindhoven, but had a very irregular first season, finishing second in the championship, 16 points behind champions Ajax.
In the following season, PSV Eindhoven was in contention for the Dutch title (it finished second, two points behind champions Ajax), having already defeated the team from Amsterdam in the cup and also in the Super Cup.
In the early stages of the season, Schmidt was not even allowed access to the group stage of the Champions League, after losing to Benfica in the play-off.
Source: DN
