Positive signs on a day of celebration in Switzerland

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FRIENDLY MATCH

Benfica beat Basel (1-3) on Sunday, July 16, in the 1st friendly match of the pre-season. Supported by tens of thousands of fervent Benfiquistas, the red team scored all their goals in the 1st half. 

Signed this Summer, Di María and Jurásek were starters and got their first minutes in this pre-season. Odysseas, Bah, António Silva, Morato, Florentino, Kökcü, João Mário, Rafa and Gonçalo Ramos completed the rest of the eleven chosen by Roger Schmidt.

After shots from Kökcü (17') and Di María (22') failed to hit the target, Roger Schmidt's side made it 0-1 in the 24th minute. Bah stole the ball from Calafiori in the Basel half, advanced down the right and crossed low for Di María's timely deflection in the goal area.

Encouraged by the Argentine international's goal, Benfica stepped on the accelerator and extended their lead in the 29th minute. Di María passed to Rafa and the No. 27 crossed low for a subtle and accurate touch from Gonçalo Ramos over the body of Hitz.

The most eye-catching moment of the afternoon came in the 41st minute. Again on the right, Di María collected the ball and made a pass to the opposite side, where Jurásek fired in a powerful first-time shot with no chance for the Basel goalkeeper. It was 0-3, and it stayed that way until half-time.

In the second half, Roger Schmidt made ten changes and only Odysseas escaped the Benfica coach's revolution: João Victor, Lucas Veríssimo, Tomás Araújo, Mihailo, Chiquinho, João Neves, Schjelderup, Aursnes, Neres and Tengstedt came in.

After the first friendly match of the 2023/24 pre-season, Benfica will return to the field on Thursday, July 20, against the Saudis of Al-Nassr. The match will be played at Estádio do Algarve and will start at 8:30 pm.