Two of three possible titles in danger: Coach Roger Schmidt is in crisis with Benfica Lisbon. On Sunday, the Portuguese champions experienced a 0:5 (0:3) debacle at FC Porto and had to hand over the league lead to Sporting Lisbon. Three days earlier, Benfica had also weakened in the cup and lost the semi-final first leg against their city rivals 1-2.
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After the 5-0 defeat, in which Schmidt’s former Leverkusen protégé Wendell was hit, the Portuguese newspaper Record wrote of “suicide”, while Correiro da Manha wrote of “humiliation”.
And Schmidt? He remained calm. “We don’t have to apologize, we didn’t do it intentionally,” he said.
“This evening was catastrophic for everyone,” said club president Rui Costa. But he defended the German coach: “What he says makes sense.” When asked about his future, Schmidt replied: “I think I’ve said everything.”
On Thursday, the 38-time Portuguese champions will be aiming not to lose sight of their third title: Angel di Maria’s team will face Glasgow Rangers in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League.