Taking points home and away from a team with numerous players worth tens of millions.

S

Sir Walter’s Warriors

Well-Known Member
Yes disappointing given the position we were in, but should have had a penalty and not losing either home or away against a side the level of Benfica is really quite impressive. Our defence, great in Scotland, are technically Championship/lower English premiership players. They played against a front line worth tens of millions, who eventually showed why they are worth that.

Our closest challengers for our national league lost 8-2 on aggregate to a team nowhere near the same level. Perspective needed, decent results overall.
 
How many of these mega expensive Benfica players were missing though?
Fact is we have developed a bit of a habit in losing bad goals, albeit no great damage has been done.... So far.
 
Benfica are a Champions League Team, who spent over £100m in the summer.

We more than held our own against them over 2 games, beat them in the head to head and were unlucky not to beat them home and away.

The fact that we lost 2 poor goals late in each game suggests to me that our players were tired mentally, as well as physically and switched off a bit, which you can't do against quality players.

Let's face it, Benfica are several levels above what we play week in week out is Scotland, where we have been strolling through games.

The more games we play against better opposition, the more our players will learn and improve.
 
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There’s a lot of focus on the fact we’ve thrown away a 2 goal lead twice and it is frustrating but the other way to look at it is a team like Benfica with those players failed to beat us over 2 games.
 
Disco Deejay said:
Benfica are a Champions League Team, who spent over £100 in the summer.

We more than held our own against them over 2 games, beat them in the head to head and were unlucky not to beat them home and away.

The fact that we lost 2 poor goals late in each game suggests to me that our players were tired mentally, as well as physically and switched off a bit, which you can't do against quality players.

Let's face it, Benfica are several levels above what we play week in week out is Scotland, where we have been strolling through games.

The more games we play against better opposition, the more our players will learn and improve.
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What does a Champions league team mean ?

Aston Villa spent almost £150million last preseason and avoided relegation on the final day of last season.
 
Angrybluebear said:
What does a Champions league team mean ?

Aston Villa spent almost £150million last preseason and avoided relegation on the final day of last season.
Click to expand...
A 'Champions League Team' to me means a team that consistently plays at Champions League level over a number of years.

Benfica have made at least the CL Group stages every year in the last 10 years. If it wasn't for the draw giving them a one-off game away from home in the CL final qualifying round, they would probably have qualified this year also.

The EPL is a financial basket case, with Villa being one of the worst, so the money they spend is hardly comparable and I would rather play Villa than Benfica, no matter how much they have spent.
 
1914-18 said:
Our squad was valued at 70 million just last week.


Twice we have been 2 goals ahead and twice we have failed to see the game out. Yes we are in a very good place but we still have plenty of room for improvement
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Every team has room for improvement. Look how far we’ve come in 3 years.

Had we qualified for the champions league a couple of years in a row and dropped down this year that may be a bad result, but looking at how far we’ve come, I’m disappointed but can’t really complain.

We tired towards the end. There was no major blunder in defence, was just a case of they ran us down and we conceded.

This year is about domestic success. Next year we can start looking at Europe more seriously, but at the moment it’s just a very good bonus
 
The_goalie said:
There’s a lot of focus on the fact we’ve thrown away a 2 goal lead twice and it is frustrating but the other way to look at it is a team like Benfica with those players failed to beat us over 2 games.
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Both games against us Benfica we not at full strength which am happy with but in our part it was still 2 good results a bit disappointed that we couldn't win any of the game's after been 2 goals ahead late on in both game's but the unbeaten run continues so happy enough with that , move on to the next game now .
 
Ha ha - sports headline on BBC Scotland news there - ‘Rangers let two goal lead slip against Benfica’. A negative takeaway from tonight’s two games and it’s us! Laughable.
 
At the end of the day their just eleven men the same as us.......

pretty sure this is what the manager says to the players, but then gives the press the “100’s of millions’ line
 
tomvallance1983 said:
Every team has room for improvement. Look how far we’ve come in 3 years.

Had we qualified for the champions league a couple of years in a row and dropped down this year that may be a bad result, but looking at how far we’ve come, I’m disappointed but can’t really complain.

We tired towards the end. There was no major blunder in defence, was just a case of they ran us down and we conceded.

This year is about domestic success. Next year we can start looking at Europe more seriously, but at the moment it’s just a very good bonus
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Correct..lets walk before trying to run
 
Disappointed, but glad we got a point. Benfica are a good team , their positioning was very organised and made it hard for us the last 15minutes.
 
I take the point that we should be satisfied with going toe to toe with undoubtedly a better funded team.

The frustration is we outplayed them in first game and really should have closed it out, and second game we had 34% possession and were on our way to a relatively untroubled 2-0 victory. Progress for me would have been closing out one of those two games without error - but we made the same mistakes in both games to come away with two points instead of six.

Might seem unfair or harsh criticism, but it's borne from knowing the team can and should have done better imo. We weren't lucky to have taken a convincing lead in either game.
 
biggee said:
How many of these mega expensive Benfica players were missing though?
Fact is we have developed a bit of a habit in losing bad goals, albeit no great damage has been done.... So far.
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A habit?
I'm.as disappointed as the next guy, but we've one of the best defensive records in Europe.

I don't see this habit you speak of.

I see 13 league clean sheets, that's a habit, we lost 2 goals to Hibs. That's a freak result.

We lost and scored 5 against a side who really ought to be 2 levels above us given the money they've spent.
 
I’m copying & pasting my post from another thread but ...

I think people would do well to remember their squad cost in excess of €100m, and Rafa Silva & Pizzi are regulars in the Portuguese national side.

Nunez cost £20m+ & will probably leave for 3x that amount. Perspective needed here.
 
They are a top side. A lot of people seemed to underestimate them before this game based on the first leg where they had 10 men for the majority.

A draw is a very good result.
 
We played very well and got two very creditable draws against a far better team than us, we were never outclassed and we looked at home in their company, in fact we are looking as comfortable in Europe as we ever have in my lifetime and I went to my first game in 73, that is real progress, unfortunately we have a section of our support that only want to see the negatives.
 
I dont think anyone is denying 2 draws against Benfica are bad results, the problem I certainly have is the manner in which we have got the draws. To be be 2 goals up with less than 15 minutes to play twice and twice lose the lead is a kick in the stones and it hurts. I feel both could have been avoided had we made subs at the correct times and managed the games properly

How much the Benfica squad cost doesn't really wash with me because transfer fees are highly inflated and dont give a true reflection. Benfica are a good team but no better than Porto or Braga who we managed to dispatch.

I have no doubts we will qualify and go on and win the league and a cup this year
 
Disco Deejay said:
Benfica are a Champions League Team, who spent over £100 in the summer.

We more than held our own against them over 2 games, beat them in the head to head and were unlucky not to beat them home and away.

The fact that we lost 2 poor goals late in each game suggests to me that our players were tired mentally, as well as physically and switched off a bit, which you can't do against quality players.

Let's face it, Benfica are several levels above what we play week in week out is Scotland, where we have been strolling through games.

The more games we play against better opposition, the more our players will learn and improve.
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Only £100?.....I've spent more on a night oot ffs
 
Honestly we all know how much their squad cost. And we know not so long ago we were losing to Queen of the South. No-one needs telling.

Doesn't mean we can't feel gutted at losing a two goal lead against them twice.
 
I liked Gerrard’s comments after it and agree with everything he said. Really really proud of our team! Both ours and their second goals were absolutely world class, if we’re competing with clubs spending €100m in a transfer window then we’ve a lot to be happy about.

On a side note their manager is a dick!
 
Angrybluebear said:
What does a Champions league team mean ?

Aston Villa spent almost £150million last preseason and avoided relegation on the final day of last season.
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It means they play regularly at a higher level e.g. the champions league.We have been back in Europe a short while and haven't played Champions league level for years.We are doing more than ok
 
Disappointed not to win either game, however it was an 'aww well' rather than the usual armageddon feeling of bad results.

If we win out from here we top a group with Benfica in it, that would be an amazing achievement when looked on in hindsight and these two results will form part of that.

Guys like Kamara and Barisic really look like they belong at that level in Europe now. We picked them up for a combined £1.55m or there abouts. It's extraordinary.

We have to be the best coached side about just now. Absolutely murder to play against us.
 
1914-18 said:
I dont think anyone is denying 2 draws against Benfica are bad results, the problem I certainly have is the manner in which we have got the draws. To be be 2 goals up with less than 15 minutes to play twice and twice lose the lead is a kick in the stones and it hurts. I feel both could have been avoided had we made subs at the correct times and managed the games properly

How much the Benfica squad cost doesn't really wash with me because transfer fees are highly inflated and dont give a true reflection. Benfica are a good team but no better than Porto or Braga who we managed to dispatch.

I have no doubts we will qualify and go on and win the league and a cup this year
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There was nobody to bring on last night the bench was extremely weak. In Lisbon yes we should have made a sub to break up the play but last night there was nothing there to bring on. Only real options were Barker, Hagi who is struggling for form and Itten the rest was players there to make up the numbers. I also think he had 1 eye on the weekend as well to let the players empty themselves as most of them won't play.

The first goal was poor but their 2nd goal was well worked even if they did get a break of the ball off Borna and it was a great finish not much we can do. They're a team that shouldn't be at this level and to get 2 points people would have snapped their hands off for after the draw came out. They were better than Braga and probably slightly better than Porto their defence is dreadful but middle to front they're very good.
 
bkerr72 said:
There was nobody to bring on last night the bench was extremely weak. In Lisbon yes we should have made a sub to break up the play but last night there was nothing there to bring on. Only real options were Barker, Hagi who is struggling for form and Itten the rest was players there to make up the numbers. I also think he had 1 eye on the weekend as well to let the players empty themselves as most of them won't play.

The first goal was poor but their 2nd goal was well worked even if they did get a break of the ball off Borna and it was a great finish not much we can do. They're a team that shouldn't be at this level and to get 2 points people would have snapped their hands off for after the draw came out. They were better than Braga and probably slightly better than Porto their defence is dreadful but middle to front they're very good.
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Agree. I think Barker cousin have come on and given fresh legs and more protection on our left. He can get stuck in defensively, I was surprised Roofe got 90min, I’d have brought on Itten and put him up with Vertonghen, he could have been off the way he was going. Especially had they saw the handball, which would have been a booking. It’s great in hindsight, but I’m very pleased with how we played and the point we got.
 
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