This is total Benfica!

HIGHLIGHTS

A total Benfica was what Benfiquistas and soccer fans had the opportunity to see in the 13 official matches played so far in the 2022/23 season, where the undefeated status is supplanted by the 100% winning record in all matches, which translates, for example, in the sole leadership of the Liga Bwin.

An average of 2,7 goals scored per match, in a total of 35 goals scored (only six conceded), is an indicator of that the men under Roger Schmidt have been doing at the start of the season, with six matches in the Champions League (four in the qualifying round and two in the group stage) and seven in the Championship. 

The goals have been coming from all sectors, with the midfielders standing out. Rafa (six goals), Neres (five), João Mário (five), Enzo (three), Draxler (one), and Diogo Gonçalves (one) have already celebrated this season.

In the attack, Gonçalo Ramos is the team’s top scorer with eight goals (equally distributed between the Bwin League and the Champions League).

In the attack, Henrique Araújo also scored one goal. In the defense, the quartet that began the season as starters contributed with four goals, concretely by Gilberto, Otamendi, Morato and Grimaldo.

Concerning goals, the eagles have in the last 15 minutes of the first half the most goals scored so far, having scored 12, followed by precisely the same fraction at the beginning of the second half, between 46' and 60', when they scored eight goals.

The seven goals scored between 75' e 90', including the injury time, are worth mentioning. The remaining goals were scored up to 15' (two), between 16' and 30' (three), and between 61' and 75' (three).

João Mário and Neres share the status of top assist providers, with five assists each, followed by Rafa with four.

In Roger Schmidt's game philosophy, the full-back play like wingers, participating in the offensive process, hence Grimaldo and Bah have three assists each, the same number as the team's most advanced unit, Gonçalo Ramos.

Musa, one of the options for the attack, also has one assist.

With a 100 percent efficacy from the penalty spot (three in the Liga Bwin and one in the Champions League), Benfica has scored 32 goals inside the box, three outside the box, 22 with right foot, six with left foot, and seven headers. And of the 35 goals, 15 came after crosses (eight from the right and seven from the left) and eight from set pieces.

Roger Schmidt has already used eight (Morato, António Silva, Florentino, Paulo Bernardo, Diogo Gonçalves, Moreira Jr., Henrique Araújo and Gonçalo Ramos) of the nine academy graduates that are part of the first squad. The exception is the goal stopper Samuel Soares.