Benfica Women succeeded in winning the Campeonato Nacional Feminino of Portugal for the fourth time in a row as they were able to overcome the disturbance of Sporting CP and win the battle against them with two points of difference in the end. Moreover, this season represents a unique one for Benfica in terms of domestic titles as they were able to lift all titles possible: the Campeonato Nacional, the Supertaça de Portugal, and the Taça da Liga. On a European level, we can argue that head coach Filipa Patão helped the team achieve their best possible result even though their mission was not easy at all. In fact, Portugal had to play the two finalists of the tournament, Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais, in different stages and in the end, it was very complicated to reach a more advanced round than the quarter-finals.
Benfica were put in a group with Barcelona, Eintracht Francfort and Rosengård and succeeded in winning two games against both Eintracht Francfort and Rosengård while drawing three times and losing only once. Perhaps the most notable and crucial draw and result that Benfica should be credited for achieving is their 4-4 draw against Barcelona in a match that was tiring for both teams. That being said, such games and results against one of the most powerful European teams can only highlight Benfica’s strong team personality and ability to be united, defend well and always be dangerous upfront no matter what defence they play against.
This positive mentality against the most powerful teams is not evident as most teams at the same level of Benfica in terms of players’ quality suffer when they play against Barcelona. Benfica, however, represents an exception because they have a unique mentality and attitude with which they were capable of reaching advanced stages in the UEFA Women’s Champions League despite playing in a not-so-powerful league in comparison with the WSL, the D1 Arkema, the Frauen-Bundesliga and Serie A Women. This further confirms the team’s huge efforts and their ability not to be impacted by the big change of rhythm when playing in the UWCL just after playing a Campeonato Nacional Feminino game.
It is true that the team failed to win over Olympique Lyonnais in the quarter-finals and lost 6-2 on aggregate. Yet, the work carried out by Patão has undoubtedly brought its fruits, and we should not forget that this was the first time a Portuguese team was amongst the final eight teams in the UWCL.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will be exploring Patão’s work at Benfica by looking at the team’s attacking tactics and defensive phase. The analysis will also focus on the team’s general tactics, preferred formations, key players, and the possible improvements that can lead them to achieve even better results in the UWCL.
Attacking tactics
When looking at Benfica’s statistics, we notice their very high possession rate compared to their opponents in general, with 62.62% for Benfica. This makes Benfica accustomed to playing with the need to score against teams that retreat to defend low, and therefore, it obliges Benfica to vary their attacking plans to be able to score. That’s why Benfica usually find solutions in front of goal, with 66 scored goals in the league this season in 22 games. Plus, Benfica scored an average of 2.53 goals per match, which is an outstanding average. Indeed, the level of some of the teams in the Portuguese league is not as high as Benfica’s, yet this can’t take the credit away from Benfica regarding their goalscoring numbers.
Patão has been relying extensively on the services of Kika Nazareth, Chandra Davidson, and sometimes Marie-Yasmine Alidou too upfront. The head coach varies her attacking plans according to opponents; she uses two strikers at times, one playmaker, and two strikers at other times, and she also relies on a single striker on other occasions.
Dealing well with second balls represents one of Benfica’s attacking strengths, especially during set-pieces when one or two Benfica players always wait to be first on second balls and either go for shots from a distance or provide key passes to unmarked players, as they did in the following example.
It is important to note that this was not just a single case but a recurrent action that helped Benfica score many goals this season, as they usually had the advantage on second balls.
Moreover, Benfica proved on numerous occasions that they can deal very well with set-pieces and exploit them well to score goals, whether from corner-kicks or free-kicks, knowing that the team has a lot of players who are capable of winning aerial duels and being crucial in terms of finishing.
Also, the midfielders’ role has been pivotal to Benfica’s attacks this season. Patão usually demands that they provide key passes whenever possible, especially when the opposing defensive line is high, like in this example against Olympique Lyonnais.
