THE This Monday, Benfica concluded the tenth round of the I League, with a ‘hard-fought’ victory over Alverca, at Estádio da Luz, by 1-0, following a penalty won by Claudio Echeverri and converted by Vangelis Pavlidis, after the 51st minute.
In the press conference that followed the final whistle, Marco Silva did not hide his displeasure with a performance of “a lot of heart and little balance”, even though it allowed him to remain in second place in the table, five points behind the leader, FC Porto (who got the better of Estoril, at the Estádio do Dragão, by a clear 4-0).
“We forced in a corridor that was closed, against a team that defended a lot inside their area. When we connected with Pavlidis, we lacked breaking movements, even with little space in the back, but we didn’t do that, so it was a more uninspired game for our team, and then we tried to do everything very quickly”, he lamented.
“At half-time we wanted a more creative player in mid-space, we removed (Gianluca) Prestianni from the central area, which was very congested. We wanted to give him width and take advantage of the spaces that Prestianni was going to give to other players, and it was in that type of play that we won the penalty. We didn’t have many opportunities to make it 2-0”, he continued.
“Alverca had no more opportunities to score besides the disallowed goal. It is important to win, in these types of difficult games, and it is very important that we do not suffer. Today, the number of wrong passes was very high from our team. I leave a word to the fans, who supported the team, even when they felt that the team was not at its best”, he added.
“Echeverri with Prestianni? Surely it won’t be because of the height…”
The key moment of this match took place at half-time, when José Mourinho’s successor sent on Claudio Echeverri (who would later ‘rescue’ the decisive penalty) to replace Andreas Schjelderup. The Argentine formed a partnership with compatriot Gianluca Prestianni that he himself did not rule out reusing from now on.
“It certainly won’t be because of the height (which won’t match), only if Echeverri was central. Playing in that position, there won’t be any problems. Claudio arrived later in the team, he has grown, and, today, he gave what the team needed. We want him to grow physically – not in height – to do what we want without the ball”, he reflected.
“Today, he did well in the 45 minutes. He thinks like a third midfielder and makes very strong approaches to our striker. We needed different things at half-time, and he managed to have a good impact on the game and be decisive”, he added, in front of journalists.
“I send a big hug to Rui Borges”
Finally, Marco Silva took the opportunity to address a (short) message to Rui Borges, who, the day before, had been fired from Sporting’s technical command, following a start to the 2026/27 sporting season below expectations, apparently paving the way for the arrival of Paulo Fonseca.
“I’m not going to comment. I send a big hug to Rui. He knows what he has to do for his career, he’s an intelligent person. Nothing more”, he concluded.
