It’s a sprint, not a marathon, for Benfica right now. Coach Bruno Lage faces a race against the clock. He has just one full day to get his team ready. They will play Tondela on Saturday night at 8:30 PM. This important match is part of the second round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. The game kicks off at the famous Estádio da Luz.
The team only arrived back in Lisbon late tonight. Tomorrow, their training session will take place at the Benfica Campus. This is where Lage plans to fine-tune his strategy. He needs to prepare his squad for the tough home challenge from Tondela.
Benfica had a demanding week. They played Fenerbahçe on Wednesday in the Champions League playoff first leg. The match ended 0-0. After the game, the team stayed overnight in Istanbul. They even trained today at Besiktas’s facilities. However, not every player was on the field. Key players, who had played a lot of minutes, were recovering from their efforts. This means Lage will only have his full team together on the grass tomorrow.
Benfica previously managed to move their first league game. That match was against Rio Ave. It would have fallen between their Champions League third preliminary round matches. There was simply not enough time to rest. The second leg of that Champions League tie was on a Tuesday. The game against Rio Ave was pushed back to September 23. But the Tondela match will go ahead as planned. This makes sense because there is a full week of rest after it.
The 49-year-old coach has often spoken about this unusual pre-season. The players had very short holidays. This was because they participated in the Club World Cup. Lage has made his thoughts very clear. He has said many times, “We are doing a pre-season with official games.” It’s a challenge he understands well.
