Real rematch: About Benfica, Madrid’s Champions League playoff rivals

For Benfica, who now face a two-legged rematch with Real Madrid in the Champions League’s knockout-phase playoffs, Wednesday’s win over Los Blancos was the highlight of the season. The Portuguese team had been underperforming, despite signing players like Heorhiy Sudakov and the now‑injured Dodi Lukébakio.

Benfica back from the UCL dead

On the final matchday of the Champions League’s league phase, a 4-2 triumph over Madrid, with its Hollywood ending, vaulted Benfica into the top 24. It completed quite the turnaround: Following four straight losses to open their European campaign, As Äguias’ hopes of advancing had looked almost nonexistent. The home defeat to Qarabag on matchday one - a game that began with an early 2-0 lead and somehow slipped away - cost Bruno Lage his job and opened the door for José Mourinho.

The former Madrid coach lost his first three European games - away to Chelsea and Newcastle and at home to Leverkusen - but won three of the final four: at Ajax, at home to Napoli, and then Wednesday’s now‑famous victory at the Estádio da Luz, sealed by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s last gasp goal.

A 2-0 defeat in Turin on the penultimate matchday had meant they needed a miracle, made even harder by the tense atmosphere surrounding the team’s poor domestic form. In the league, Benfica sit third, ten points behind a relentless Porto, and at this stage a more realistic target appears to be second place - which leads to Champions League qualifying - currently held by Sporting CP, three points ahead.

In the domestic cups, Benfica fell to Braga in the Taça da Liga semifinals - at the neutral final‑four site in Leiria - and to Porto at the Dragão in the Taça quarterfinals. As things stand, there is a strong possibility the season will end without silverware - apart from the Portuguese Super Cup won on July 31 under Lage, beating Sporting in the Algarve.

It would be a bleak outcome for a giant of European soccer that made substantial summer investments - financed in part by selling Álvaro Carreras - to bring in Sudakov, Franjo Ivanovic, Lukébakio, Richard Ríos, Amar Dedic, and Enzo Barrenechea. Midseason struggles pushed the club to reinforce again in the winter window with Cape Verdean wingback Sidny Cabral and Rafa Silva, returning home after his stint in Turkey. Both will be available for the playoff against Madrid.

How does Benfica set up under Mourinho?

Under Mourinho, Benfica is playing in his trademark 4-2-3-1, with variations that make the team more attack‑minded or more conservative depending on the matchup. Both in Turin and against Madrid, he deployed Leandro Barreiro in the double pivot, Sudakov as the No. 10, and two natural wingers (Gianluca Prestianni and Andreas Schjelderup, with Lukébakio injured). This version is particularly bold, offering more one‑on‑one threat and giving the Ukrainian freedom to roam inside. In other recent games, however, Sudakov started on the left, Mourinho dropped a true winger, and used Barreiro as a No. 10 while pairing Barrenechea and Ríos in the double pivot (although Ríos has missed recent matches with physical issues).

Norwegian utility man Aursnes also gives Mourinho tremendous flexibility, able to play almost anywhere: central midfield, out wide, even at fullback. Vangelis Pavlidis leads the line - he has 22 goals in all competitions - and the underwhelming form of Ivanovic, who has scored just four, means the Greek striker’s spot has been far more secure than expected after the Croatian’s arrival, especially considering the big numbers Ivanovic posted at Union Saint‑Gilloise.

In defense, the experienced Nicolás Otamendi is the leader of a back line blessed with strong central defenders; Mourinho usually has to choose his partner from between two young Portuguese internationals, Tomás Araújo and António Silva. The latter, despite having far more national‑team experience, has recently been the one left on the bench more often. Otamendi’s threat in attacking aerial situations has been known worldwide for years, and it remains very much intact. Fullbacks Amar Dedic and Samuel Dahl both possess an attacking profile, with the Bosnian standing out as a particularly intriguing player who is already drawing interest from top European clubs.