S.L. Benfica Career Mode - Fifa 13 pc

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10 man Benfica edge past Dortmund in thrilling European clash with two missed penalties


Game Highlights
Team List
Match Facts
Match Events

What went down...
Within the first ten minutes of the game, Jardel made a dangerous tackle which set up Borussia Dortmund a penalty, which went over the bar. Despite being 10 men down and playing defensive, Benfica had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and defeated one of Germany's best teams, 3-2 to give them four points in two games in the group. Despite winning 3-2, Quaresma's penalty was saved in the second half, however, he redeemed himself scoring the winning goal in the 81st minute.

10 men, no problem?
After Jardel was sent off, Benfica changed their formation to a 5-4-1, but in reality it was a 5-3-1 after they moved Aimar into defense to replace the vacant position caused by Jardel.

Post-Game Press Conference
It was a stupid challenge, the ball was going nowhere so to make such a risky tackle was just stupid. We are lucky they missed the penalty and that we had the talent to change formations and continue to cause problems for Dortmund, it was a very hard fought game and we are physically tired. - Benfica manager on the penalty and the fitness of the team.

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Round 7: Benfica easily dispose of third placed Braga in 3-0 win


Team List
Match Facts
Match Events

What went down...
The usual scorers for Benfica made the score sheet (Quaresma, Tello) as Benfica outplayed Braga heavily and controlled the majority of the game, with the last five minutes being defensive as Braga went on the offensive.

Tello's Tale
Cristian Tello has been playing great as of late, he's been scoring goals in large quantities and is really becoming a star player, while being on loan from Barcelona, you have to think Benfica will try to buy the youngster next summer or even in January.

Post-Game Press Conference
"He's young and fast and is playing how we envisioned how he would end up playing." Benfica manager on Cristian Tello's form lately.

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Obrigado, senhor. (Lil' bit of Portuguese, straight from Google.)

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Haha I'm not from Portugal, just like the league.

But thanks anyway, enjoy it.

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New arrival silencing the naysayers with his silky play


Admittedly, Gervinho's time at Arsenal was a struggle, by the end of his first season, he had lost his confidence and found himself playing with the reserves. That's not something the Ghanaian striker intended to do when he arrived at Arsenal from Lille.

However, since his arrival to Lisbon based Benfica, things have taken another turn and slowly Gervinho has regained his confidence.

"It's wonderful when you're able to prove the doubters and your oppponents wrong." said Benfica manager, William Pretorius.

Gervinho responded, telling an almost similar tale, "I just want to play well and regain my confidence and not let Benfica down, after they went after me. They put their faith in me and I really enjoy being apart of Benfica."

Gervinho hasn't disappointed, he's swerved in and out of defenders and dazzled with his skill set in the Liga ZON Sagres. On his debut, he made an excellent cross behind the keeper for Crisitan Tello to head in.

"Not a lot of people can keep pace with him," said Aimar. "He's very quick, probably the fastest guy on the team. We call him speedy gonzalez down here." smiled the midfielder.

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Round 8: Defense scores 3 goals as Benfica thrash Vitoria, 5-0


Team List
Match Facts
Match Events

What went down...
In round 8 of the Premiera Liga, Benfica destroyed Vitoria FC with two of their defenders accounting for 3 of their goals. Jordan Lukaku was named man of the match after his superstar-like performance which was capped off by his two goals.

Quaresma out?
With the Champions League game looming against Chelsea, Quaresma limped off with a pulled muscle. For precautions Benfica subbed him out of the game and he should play against Chelsea.

Post-Game Press Conference
"He's a great talent. A very young guy at just 18-years old, I believe he will become a very good player for this team and that is why he's starting at such a young age." William Pretorius on Jordan Lukaku.

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Champions League Preview: Chelsea host Benfica in third group stage game


With the third group stage game tomorrow night, Benfica rolled into London this morning and began training late afternoon.

"We played well, this time I don't want to see us give them opportunities like we gave Borussia Dortmund," said the manager. "We played most of the game with one less man and it was very hard for us, we luckily beat them but we can't afford the same mistakes with Chelsea."

Chelsea's top scorer this season in the Champions League has been Fernando Torres, who has three goals in two appearances, replacing Drogba has the number one forward on the team.

The defenders of Benfica have been training vigorously and have been watching tape on Torres, preventing him for scoring will give a big chance for Benfica, who were defeated by Chelsea in the quarter-finals last season.

One of the defenders won't play because of the red card he picked up against Borussia Dortmund (Jardel). Changes will come to the Benfica side and one of them is moving defender Jordan Lukaku into midfield, especially after the manager raved about his two goal performance in the 5-0 stomping of Vitoria FC over the weekend.

"He's real good." iterated the manager after his praise in the post-game press conference has continued into the early week. "He's one of those young guys that can get it done and starting on a Champions League team at the young age of 18 is something special."

Benfica will need something special with them when they invade Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea won the Champions League.

"Against them in their own backyard, this will be the most important and toughest game of the season." said Benfica's manager William Pretorius.

With how Benfica have been playing this season, they will like it tough.

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Champions League Review: Two Mata rebound goals leads Chelsea past Benfica, 3-1 in heavyweight clash

Game Highlights • Team List • Match Facts • Match Events • Group Table

After falling behind to Quaresma's strike in the 27th minute, two Juan Mata rebounded goals and a Fernando Torres equaliser helped Chelsea mount a comeback to defeat Benfica, 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Benfica, who made three changes to their line-up, statistically had the better game, it was Chelsea however, who converted their chances and have won all their games so far, defeating Malaga 2-1, Dortmund 2-0 and Benfica, 3-1. Benfica have won, drawn and lost their opening three games.

"This was a humbling loss," said the manager. "We had played very well lately and we came to London and Chelsea gave us a backhand to the head and woke us up in realisation."

It was true that Benfica played exhaustedly and the manager took the blame in trying to shake things up, such as start Lima over Cristian Tello who had been on fire. Lime was substituted at the break and caused more error when he substituted Gervinho later in the game for Rodrigo, who didn't do much in the 28 minutes of time he had on the field.

However, the manager strongly believes the referee's influenced the game, sighting Fernando Torres' goal as offside and believes some of his players were fouled in the penalty box, such as Crisitan Tello on a corner who was pushed to the ground despite being away from the action.

"We can't do anything about it," conceded the disappointed coach. Benfica are second in the group table, two points ahead of Malaga and five behind Chelsea. All teams have played three games.