MArco Silva will play, at 8:15 pm (Mainland Portugal time) next Monday, at Estádio da Luz, against Alverca, what will be the 20th game in charge of Benfica, and the truth is that, at least, so far, fans have no reason to ‘cry’ José Mourinho’s departure to Real Madrid.
All in all, with the Lisbon native at the helm, the Reds won 79% of the matches played (15 out of 19), drew 10.5% and lost another 10.5% (two out of 19, in both cases), numbers much higher than those of their predecessor, which had a record of 60% wins (27 out of 45), 22.2% draws (10 out of 45) and 17.8% failures (8 out of 45).
With Marco Silva, the Eagles also have an average of 2.95 goals scored per game (59 already), which gives them the best attack, not only in the I League, but also in the Europa League. With the Special One, this average was substantially lower, at 1.91 goals per match (there were 86 in the 45 made in the position).
In fact, Sadino only wins in the defensive chapter… but barely, since, under his orders, the team based at Estádio da Luz conceded, on average, 0.87 goals per game (39 out of 45), a figure that increased to 0.89 (17 out of 19), since the former Fulham coach took his place.
In the I League, remember, José Mourinho did not suffer any defeat, having started with an average of 2.3 points per game (20 wins and ten draws). Marco Silva, for his part, has already ‘fallen’ against FC Porto (at Estádio do Dragão, 3-1), but here he is also coming out on top, given that his score is 2.4 points per game (nine wins, one draw and one defeat).
In the remaining chapters, comparison is… impossible. This is because, unlike Benfica’s current coach, his predecessor played in the Champions League, not the Europa League. Furthermore, he led the eagles towards the semi-finals of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup, competitions that have barely begun, in the 2026/27 sports season.
Marco Silva unlocked Benfica’s attack
Playing in his favor, Marco Silva also has the fact that Benfica’s success is based, above all, on players who, despite already being at the Estádio da Luz, were not able to have the same impact as José Mourinho. The most visible case is that of Gianluca Prestianni, who, at 20 years of age, is already having the best season of his career.
All in all, the Argentine international has ten goals and six assists after 17 games, being one of the main ‘culprits’ for the good moment the Reds are going through, along with players like Vangelis Pavlidis (17 goals and four assists in 17 games) or Rafa Silva (five goals and two assists in 17 games).
‘Revolution’ conditions defense
The number of goals conceded by Benfica so far can be largely explained by the departure of Nicolás Otamendi (to River Plate, at ‘zero cost’) and António Silva (to Bournemouth, for 25 million euros), which forced Marco Silva to restructure this sector around summer reinforcement Clément Lenglet and the ‘home-grown boy’ Tomás Araújo.
In between, the Lisbon native also chose to relegate the until now undisputed starter, Anatoliyi Trubin, to the bench, to the detriment of Samuel Soares, who, at 24 years of age, is experiencing the best moment of his career, which has already earned him a call-up to Portugal’s main team, through the ‘hand’ of Jorge Jesus.
