André Almeida as never before

The numbers show that 2017/18 is being the best season of André Almeida at Benfica. The right-back, who grabbed a place in Rui Vitória's starting XI, is one and a half matches away from beating his record of minutes played for Benfica in the 1st Division. So far, he already has the best use average ever in the competition and has never made so many assists like this season.

André Almeida never had so many assists as this seasons. With two more assists than in 2016/17 – when there are still nine rounds left in the Liga NOS – the 27-year-old Portuguese international made two assists in the match against Marítimo (5-0). With seven offered goals, André Almeida has been the perfect ally of Jonas.

With these figures, André Almeida matched Pizzi as the player who assisted Jonas more times this season. Overall, he has made five assists for the top scorer of the first division, now with 30 goals.

André Almeida

Round	Match	Assist
11	Vit. Guimarães-Benfica, 1-3	A cross on the right to Jonas
12	Benfica-Vit. Setúbal, 6-0	H recovers the ball and with a header puts the ball in the penalty area to Jonas
15	Tondela-Benfica, 1-5	A cross to Pizzi
18	Braga-Benfica, 1-3	A perfect cross for Jonas' header
23	Benfica-Boavista, 4-0	A cross to Raúl
25	Benfica-Marítimo, 5-0	A perfect cross to Jonas
25	Benfica-Marítimo, 5-0	A pass near the touchline to Jonas

He settled on the right side of the defense and he is going through one of the best moments of his career. But the 2017/18 season of André Almeida is not just about assists…

After scoring his first goal for Benfica last season in the rout (6-2) over Leixões, for the Portuguese Cup – he would score again in the home triumph (4-0) over Belenenses, for Liga NOS –, André Almeida has discovered his goal-scoring ability and has already two strikes this season - he scored against Portimonense (2-1) and against V. Setúbal (6-0), in matches for the National Championship

Apart from the goals, he is the most used Benfica player in the competition. Up to now, he has made 24 matches, totaling 2132 minutes played. Only less 133 minutes than in the last season, where he played 2265 minutes in 26 matches. All told, he is just one and a half matches away from having more minutes played for Benfica than ever before, when he already has the best use average ever (88,83 against 87,11 minutes per game of 2016/17).