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Rafa Molina (Documentation)
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Rafa Molina (Documentation)
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Rafa Molina (Documentation)
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Rafa Molina (Documentation)
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Rafa Molina (Documentation)
E
l Benfica dominated the Old Continent with Eusebio on the pitch and Béla Guttmann on the bench. European Cup Champions in 1961 and 1962 cutting the domain of the Real Madrid of Di Stéfano, the Hungarian coach was fired after winning the Orejona when requesting a salary increase. “Without me, in 100 years, the Benfica won’t win a European Cup,” he said, turning his words into a curse that still resonates with Da Luz.
Since then, and60 years have passedthe Incarnated have played eight European finals -five from the European Cup/Champions (1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990) and three from the UEFA Cup/Europa League (1983, 2013 and 2014)- losing them all. The Benfica it has not tasted continental glory again. He is one of the forgotten historical figures that is today measured against another great relegated like the Ajax.
The power of classics What Real Madrid,Barcelona,Manchester United,Liverpool,Juventus,Milan y Bayern and the rise of nouveaux riches like Chelsea, PSG and Manchester City has relegated two teams with a total of six Orejonas to the background! Between both –two Portuguese and four Dutch– what will they look for fourth in this edition of the Champions League.
The Benficawho has not been among the top eight in the Champions League since 2015-16 with Rui Vitória as coach and Jonas as scorer, took out Barcelona in the group stage and they want to do the same with Ajax with Darwin Núñez (23 goals) as a great offensive reference.
The Ajax’s continental successes are more recent. Four times champion of the European Cup/Champions (1971, 1972, 1973 and 1995), one of the Recopa (1987), another of the UEFA (1992) and two of the European Super Cup (1973 and 1995), the Ajax player They haven’t strayed that far from coconuts. His penultimate golden generation, in which De Ligt, Van de Beek, De Jong shone… lost the Europa League final in 2017 against United (0-2) and astonishment in the 2019 Champions League, beating Real in the round of 16 Madrid (1-4 at the Bernabéu), in the quarterfinals against Juventus (1-2 in Turin) and only succumbing to Tottenham in the semifinals.
Three years later, Erik ten Hag has shaped another great team in which Tadic, Blind, Mazraoui, Onana, Tagliafico survive… who have refreshed Berghuis, Antony, Gravenberch, Lisandro Martínez, Timber... and a Haller who is the top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals. “We have a growing team and we want to disturb the elite. No club in Europe likes to play against the Ajax“, pointed out a technician who managed to get his team to go, together with the Liverpool and Bayernthe only one who won all the group stage matches. Full.
