After Bruno Lage returned to the team, eager to restore order and perhaps even fight for the title he won in the 2018–19 season, Roger Schmidt was fired after the team dropped five of its 12 points.
Benfica lagged behind Sporting Lisbon by ten points in the previous campaign, but they stuck with Schmidt for this one, which ended up being fleeting.
Club president Rui Costa made the management move after the team had won seven points from their first four games. The team then returned to Lage in an attempt to correct their season's untimely start.
The Eagles emerged from a rout dreadfully in Moreirense, after a 2-0 opening defeat against Famalicao and two successive home wins only to draw a dampener at Moreirense before the international break.
The side that finished second last season avoided another away defeat only through a penalty by Marcos Leonardo in second half added time, and they travel back to the Stadium of Light in quest of their third league win of the new term and the 14th consecutive home triumph in the competition since the start of last season.
Since a 2-1 loss to Casa Pia in April 2023 and a 0-0 draw against Farense, there have only been two sides that failed to snatch victory in the 38-time champions’ backyard and hence the home-side should be heavily favored for nothing less than a comfortable victory notwithstanding the change of stewardship at the helm.
Estadio da Luz welcomes the start of the season a Santa Clara team with much more positive results on their slate than their hosts and positioned higher than them in the premature league table.
Vasco Matos’ side have bounced back from the gameweek two loss at the hands of Porto to beat Casa Pia 2-0 and held off the Eagles’ nest to beat AVS 2-1 with the target on the Eagles home ground.
The newly promoted side’s fine start has been its attacking intent, with them having scored eight goals in four games, the joint second-best in the division behind only Sporting Lisbon’s 16 – this consideration has well made up for the leaking of goals in every match bar one.
However, the club from Ponta Delgada will have a difficult time in trying to deny Benfica a chance to continue with their record of winning the last 13 league games when they entertain their rivals in Lisbon.
The five consecutive match defeats in this fixture clearly negates SC having a great chance; however, the worst side’s double test against the 38-time champions will tell if they would end their terrible run.
Even though Angel Di Maria seemed to be injured in Schmidt's last game, it is expected that he will recover from the problem that forced him off against Moreirense.
In Lage's debut game as Benfica's head coach, it is anticipated that Jan-Niklas Beste, Tiago Gouveia, Fredrik Aursnes, and Renato Sanches won't be available due to injuries.
Santa Clara has distributed the goals, with Ricardinho, Allison Safira, and Gabriel Silva each scoring two for the newcomers. They aim to increase their tally against the Lisbon heavyweights.
With his raids forward from left wing-back, Matheus Pereira will be an offensive weapon for the opposition after creating three great chances and setting up two goals.
