What a result! and i can honestly say i called that one, anyway fantastic game, awesome update style and good luck to the both of you

I really wanted this to be a huge month. It had one of the biggest games of the season in the O Classico as well as some other good clashes to get the month started and we needed to qualify for Champions League as well. Without further notice, lets look at our August 2014.

Primeria Liga

Andres, Maicon (Sub Off 59), Marcano (Off 80), Danilo, Neves, Sandro (Off 59), Herrera, Hughes, Quintero, Martinez (c), Aboubakar (inj 37)

Quintero (40)
Adrian (Sub On 37) (45+2)
Marcano (62)
Jose Angel (84)
Marcano (80)

Quintero (9)

A terrific game from the team where we were very clinical in front of goal. Disappointing to see Vincent get injured but he should come back stronger from that. We will need to work on our tackling as we gave away too many yellow cards. But great way to start the season.

Champions League Best Placed Playoff Leg 1

Andres, Danilo, Martins Indi, Marcano, Sandro, Herrera, Hughes, Quaresma, Brahimi, Tello, Martinez (c)

Gaihede (20)
Quaresma (pen 40)
Yacine Brahimi (75)

Quaresma (7.7)

A good start to our Champions League campaign and we have set ourselves up for easy qualification for the group stages. The wingers were particularly good in this game.

Primeria Liga

Andres, Maicon, Reyes, Danilo, Casemiro, Angel, Herrera, Hughes, Brahimi, Martinez (c), Adrian

Adrian (45+2)
Martinez (61)

The disappointment is huge after this game, so much hype and a huge let down. Words do not describe my disappointment in the boys.

Champions League Best Placed Playoff Leg 1

Andres, Danilo, Martins Indi, Marcano, Sandro, Neves, Hughes, Herrera, Quaresma, Tello, Martinez (c)

We are through to the group stages, but it is not pretty at all. We were down in almost all the stats and we did not help ourselves. All that matters is that we made it.

Primeria Liga

Andres, Danilo, Maicon, Marcano, Sandro, Herrera, Hughes, Quaresma, Quintero, Tello, Martinez (c)

Martinez (17)
Marcano (40)
Adrian (57)
Martinez (70)
Sandro (79)

Quintero (9.5) (5 assists)

Quintero put in one of the greatest single creative playmakers I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Every pass was perfect. Great win

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So, my first month in charge of SL Benfica, and my first games as well (after I gave my assistant manager the reins in pre-season and he f**ked it up). We had a play a couple of big, big games, with the Supertaca and also the O Classico amongst the 4 games. Without further ado, let's get into August 2014.



Ola John ran a very close race, but in the end my POTM goes to the Romanian wonderkid Dorin Rotariu, who is already justifying his £5 million transfer fee. Starring on the left wing, the 19 year old kicked a terrific 5 goals in 4 games as well as an assist, and was also judged the Primeria Liga's best player over the month. Poor Nicolas Gaitan.


We had a nervous sort of start but eventually the players became accustomed to the tactic and we became a great attacking unit. We scored 18 in 4 games, with almost all of them coming from our deadly front 4 of Rotariu, John, Talisca and Lima, which really shows how dangerous they are. The Supertaca was nice, expected, but still rewarding, and O Classico, well. Xander's reaction when we went 4-0 up within half an hour was priceless. I'm really looking forward to my UCL group draw and I'm hoping I get an easy group. Nevertheless, bring on September!

Last night in Nyon, Michel Platini delivered the fates of Europe’s 32 best teams with the draw of the UEFA Champions League Group Stages. Featuring the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, here’s a rundown of each group.


The first group drawn is one of the most competitive, despite looking like an easy group for Arsenal. Ajax and Zenit will be battling fiercely for that 2nd position, and even that is not a given, as both teams can match the Gunners on their day. Dinamo is somewhat of a wildcard, having dominated the Croatian league as usual, and the other teams will need to be weary when they travel to Zagreb.


To the disappointment of Bayern detractors, the German powerhouse was given an easy run into the knockout stages with CSKA Moscow, Ludogorets and Basel joining them in Group B. Basel, who are renowned for their ability to qualify for the knockout rounds year after year, will face tough competition for second place with CSKA Moscow, whilst Ludogorets will be hoping for the best, outclassed even in this lacklustre group.


Almost every competition has it’s group of death, and this year’s UCL group of death is undoubtedly Group C. Boasting Barcelona, Roma, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, all 4 teams have a chance of qualifying and all 4 teams have a chance of crashing out with humiliation. Barca appear to be slight favourites, and Liverpool appear to be slight underdogs, but anything could happen in this most interesting of groups.


Juventus are the clear favourites in Group D, with some fierce competition expected for the second qualification spot. Greek club Olympiakos and Portuguese outfit FC Porto will battle it out, with home fixtures vital, whilst BATE will be looking to simply take something from the experience as the severe underdogs in the group.


Another one of the more even groups, Manchester City are favourites in Group E but the remaining 3 spots look more or less even. SL Benfica, Galatasaray and AS Monaco should make for some great games with every match counting towards qualification. There are no easy beats in this group, and whoever comes out on top truly deserved it.


Chelsea headlines Group F, after which is 3 teams which often slide under the radar. Schalke could be a headache for Chelsea, especially in Gelsenkirchen, whilst Sporting Lisbon have a history of beating the top 2 teams in the Primeira Liga and will look to emulate that in the Champions League. LOSC Lille are also an established team, and perhaps could upset the apple cart if they put their minds to it.


Group G throws up arguably the most interesting battle for top spot, with Atletico Madrid battling Napoli for that elusive position. Shakhtar also have the potential to beat those 2 teams, and in what is a good, exciting group, Sparta Prague will also want to join the party and perhaps upset a team or two.


Last year’s champions Real Madrid will perhaps be challenged by Borussia Dortmund in this group; however it looks like the La Liga heavyweights have an easy road to the knockout stages. Anderlecht and Partizan have it all to do to get a qualification spot and this last group looks very straightforward indeed.

Benfica draw the short straw. City & Monaco, ouch! That will be tough.

Ouch, group c looks tough.

C.J Lippo Certainly will be

Skinna Looks like a cracker of a group!

Early pre-season saw SLB fan favourite Nicolas Gaitan pick up a sprained wrist, and meant the star would miss 5 weeks of action. Ruling him out of at least the Supertaca and the opening league game, Benfica fans naturally assumed he would return to the team immediately after he recovered, but now that does not appear to be the case.

During the transfer window, Jorge Jesus essentially swapped Dorin Rotariu in for Eduardo Salvio, with the expectation being that Rotariu and Ola John would rotate on that right wing with Gaitan on the left. However, in Gaitan's absence, Jesus lined up with an attacking midfield of Rotariu-Talisca-John - and it produced brilliance.

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In the Supertaca, Ola John's incredible 2 minute burst won his club the trophy, whilst Dorin Rotariu scored a magnificent brace in the league opener to rescure a point at Vitoria Guimaraes. In the O Classico, the trio monstered Porto, with John and Rotariu outclassing Sandro and Danilo, and in the final game of the month against Boavista, they were out of this world. Ola John scored 2 and assisted 2, Rotariu scored 2, Talisca assisted 2 and Gaitan was relegated to a 7 minute spell on the bench.

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A big problem is that of Dorin Rotariu, who at 19 is already on his way to outclassing Gaitan. It will be extremely hard to replace the Romanian, after winning the Primeira Liga Player Of The Month, and so it is most likely Gaitan will find his way back in at the expense of Talisca or John. All the 26 year old can do is hope for injury or bad, or otherwise the star will have to watch on while the coveted trio continue to dominate.

The trio are working a dream at the moment. keep it up!

That's a horrendous UCL group there Feliks gl mate

Skinna Cheers mate! They are tearing it up at the moment!

walkinshaw Thanks bud, will be tough

Yan Sasse will join in July 2015 from Brazilian club Coritiba
17 year old attacking midfielder commanding a £325,000 fee
Said to be virtually unknown even in Brazil

Just a month after Jorge Jesus plucked Santos' Cicinho from relative obscurity, the SLB boss has gone a step further with the signing of Yan Sasse, a 17 year old playmaker from Santos' divisional rivals Coritiba. The deal, set at £325,000 but rumoured to be rising to £1.4 million, will go through on the 1st of July 2015.

From what is known, Sasse is one of the club's brightest prospects, possessing great all round skills for the modern day attacking midfielder. We spoke to Coritiba's assistant manager Ze Carlos, who also manages the youth squad, and he had this to say on Sasse.

"Yes, Yan is a great footballer and I think he can go on to do great things. He is not the best player in our squad, but he is only 17 and can develop greatly. I think what sets him apart from the other boys is his determination and willingness to succeed."


Sasse will remain at the club until July 2015, where Jesus hopes he can break into the first team and get some gametime. However, the 60 year old is adamant the 17 year old is a long term project.

"Yan is going to be one of those players that needs plenty of time to develop, he's not going to come in and play a role like Dorin [Rotariu] has or Lucas Romero. We understand he needs time to develop and we'll give him that time in bucketloads. We're hoping that in 5 years time he's ready for Primeira Liga action."

The deal wraps up the Portuguese transfer window and also SLB's budget, with almost £20 million spent. After a very positive start, fans will be hoping these purchase can push on and win them the coveted title.

hu dat

hu dat

I am a fan of unknown players and I am sur eyou have scouted him well

Alex That do that, do that? Put that paper over all, I thought you knew that, knew that?

Jason Thanks mate