Roger Schmidt can no longer win the treble with Benfica. The German coach was kept out of the final of the Portugal Cup by Sporting Portugal on Tuesday evening, despite a nice assist and front assist from David Neres.
After the break, the Brazilian winger gave an unmissable opportunity to Nicolàs Otamendi, who scored the equalizer from close range (1-1). Morten Hjulmand had opened the score beautifully just before, after good work by Jeremiah St. Juste. The Dutchman had come on halfway and started the attack on the right side with a good pass and ditto overlap, which heralded the lead.
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But a draw was of no use to Benfica, because over two matches it still meant a virtual deficit. The formation of success coach Rúben Amorim had won the first match 2-1, despite a goal from Fredrik Aursnes.
Because a goal was scored on both sides in the remainder of the return in the semi-finals – with Neres again involved with a front assist on the Benfica side – Sporting Portugal remained on the right side of the score. Even though the home team still needed a goal, former Feyenoord player Orkun Kökcü remained on the bench for ninety minutes.
Benfica is still in the Portuguese title race, in which Sporting Portugal is also at the top, and is still participating in the Europa League, but is finished in the national cup tournaments. It was previously eliminated from the Taça da Liga and Schmidt is no longer a contender in the most important cup tournament: he can forget about a treble. Colleague Amorim had to do that before: he was recently knocked out of the second European Cup with Sporting by Atalanta Bergamo.
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