Playing derbies is always something special in a player’s career and Joao Mario has already given him special encounters. In Italy, Milan faced Inter. In Moscow he had duels with Spartak when he was playing with Lokomotiv. In England he lacked Millwall when he was defending the colors of West Ham, but the main match in Joao Mario’s life was Sporting Benfica.

Friday will be the first time the Lions have faced Benfica, but it won’t be the first time the coaching club have been an opponent. It would be natural to be more emotional.

Joao Mario played against Sporting, in 2013/2014, for F. Setúbal, where he was … on loan from Sporting. At this point, loan players can play against their home clubs, which is not currently allowed. The match ended in a draw (2-2) and was marked by controversy and Leonine’s criticism against the referee. One of the opponents of the 28-year-old midfielder, who at the time was still with Sporting, was Wilson Eduardo, his older brother. Those six months were significant in Joao Mario’s career. The following season, he confirmed himself in Sporting with Marco Silva, then exploded in 2015/2016 with Jorge Jesus, until his participation in Euro 2016. Then he moved to Inter.

Benfica was one of the clubs Joao Mario has played the most against in Portugal, eight times in total, seven for Sporting and one for V.Setúbal. The midfielder lost only twice to the Eagles against the Lions, one of them last season with the Sporting National Champion. The other was at the 2015/2016 derby at Alvalade, which was marked by Brian Ruiz’s open goal failure.

In his career, Joao Mario has made more matches against SC Braga, 11 in total, one of them already this season for the Reds, but in a game of bad memory for the midfielder, who has a back shock that left him out of the national team. the games. He then played nine times against FC Porto, in Guimarães and Pacos de Ferreira.

Read more on digital edition Or in the print edition of A BOLA.