He has a total of seven Championships but the last one he won was in 2008. He has six Portuguese Cups, three since 2011. He has won three League Cups. He added nine Super Cups, the last one in 2018, which was the last trophy of the modality. Benfica’s handball has been looking for a way to fake what has been a hegemony of FC Porto interrupted from time to time by Sporting. The Portuguese Cup remains but, once again, despite that win at home with the Blue and Whites, the Championship has become a mirage. However, the reds managed open another path and the European path.
Another round, another historical page: Benfica draws in Slovenia and is in the Final Four of the EHF Cup
It all started with two ties and two-legged wins with Swiss HC Kriens-Luzern and German Rhein-Neckar Löwen, followed by second place in the next part and in a group with GOG Handbol, Nantes, TBV Lemgo, Cocks and Chekhovskiye Medvedi and victory in the round of 16 with French side Toulouse with a 36-30 home win after a 38-34 away loss. Followed by Slovenians from Gorenje Velenje, with that notice of 29-22 that they visited against Nimes, which was a giant step towards the surprise elimination of the Gauls, and a new pass with 36-29 in Luz and 27-27 away.
ABC had been the first national team to reach the semi-finals of the competition in 2000, FC Porto also reached that level in 2019. Neither one won. That was the challenge now for Benfica, who played “at home” with the organization of the Final Four at the Altice Arena. And the first obstacle was the Wisla Plock Polos, training with some casualties but with more European experience.
“It is a very powerful team, which played this week in the Polish League against Kielce. [empate 20-20, derrota por 3-5 no desempate por livres de sete metros], one of the teams that are in the Final Four of the Champions League. We know the potential of this team, it has many international players, who played this type of Final Four many times, with much experience. But we have other virtues, like playing at home in front of our fans. We have the will to win and that hunger is what makes us dangerous, capable of beating these strong teams”, commented Chema Rodríguez, coach of the Rojillos, who favored the midfielders by 51-49%. “Reaching a Final Four in my second year at Benfica is something historic but we can achieve something more”, added Benfica’s Spanish coach.
And if Chema Rodríguez spoke of 51, the meeting was increasing and to what extent that percentage. For the work of the defense, for the actions of the goalkeepers, for the terrible effectiveness of the Poles, for the numerical advantages, for the atmosphere created by the fans. And it was all this that led to a categorical victory against Wisla Plock, paving the way for more history and a final this Sunday with Magdeburg, The German team with the most goals in European competitions had previously beaten the Croats from Nexe 34-29.
The game had an unusual start, with just three goals in the first eight minutes and two free-kicks from seven meters (2-1). Sergey Hernández was huge in the red goal, the defenses beat the attacks and Benfica took advantage of a period of total eclipse against Wisla Plock to reach a four-goal lead after having blanked the rival for almost ten minutes (6 – two). Only in the final part was there something more akin to normal handball, with the Poles managing to get just one goal behind before Lazar Kukic shone from the front row to walk off the reds lead at half-time 10-8 in an advance that, if it had been capitalized in another way in the rival’s worst period, would be worth another comfort in the game.
It could, but it would not be necessary: when it was thought that Wisla Plock could appear in another way in the second half to re-enter, it fell to Benfica once again to start better, drying out the Polish team in the offensive plan and gaining advantages that later allowed manage the meeting comfortably until 26-19 finals who stamped his presence in the decisive match against Magdeburg.
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Source: Observadora
