Nearly three months after the last game in the 2021/22 edition, the Portuguese championship is back, with Benfica and Arauca starting in the Portuguese First Division Bowen in 2022/23, at Estadio da Luz. As Roger Schmidt said, in the match preview, this is the first of 34 steps taken by the 18 teams in the Portuguese League towards their goals.

Benfica beat Arauca in the last 6 matches against Rogerio Ferreira / Capta +

Now with the focus on this opening game, we’re talking about two teams with distinctly different goals going into this season. Benfica has started a new era with Roger Schmidt and has a clear goal of returning to glory of other times, ideally with the Portuguese titles and championship as the main objective. Arauca, in turn, is starting his second consecutive season at the top level of Portuguese football, and here he wants to continue for some time.

After winning it 4-1 Against Midtjylland, the Reds arrive in this match in high spirits and want to continue the work done so far with a win in the first round. Roger Schmidt has promised some news, but with an edge in the Champions League qualifiers, it’s hard to see where those changes could come. Bah and Yaremchuk, even for the competitiveness found in their positions, are the names most likely to be called into the game, but there is a factor in Gonzalo Ramos’ rise. Roger Schmidt must stay true to the 4x3x3 SUV, but he has a 4x4x2 plan if he wants to rest Rafa or David Neres.

From Aroca’s side, he naturally appears to be the least favourite in this game, but Armando Evangelista’s men are unbeaten in their last three pre-season games (two wins, one draw, three defeats) and there is some fresh blood to take into account with a warning. However, Arouquenses André Silva, who has been seen as the star of the company in recent seasons, has lost to Vitória SC and someone will have to take on that role as captain.

History in red

Looking at history, Benfica and Arauca did not “know” for a long time, because their first encounter was only in 2010. However, the truth is that since then, the Arrowkens have been a “desirable” opponent for the Eagles. , since 13 times they have faced each other, Luz has had the best of 11 of them (a tie and a win for Arauca, in 2015, by 1-0). Furthermore, of the eight times the two have faced each other at Benfica, the Reds have won seven (a tie before 2-2 in 2013).