Neither Benfica nor Sporting in best fettle for Lisbon derby

“We’re 90% focused on this game.” The pre-match words of Sporting Clube de Portugal coach Jorge Jesus were hard to get out of one’s head after watching the Lisbon club crash out of Europe on Wednesday night. By losing at Legia Warsaw, Sporting sacrificed a potential Europa League place to opponents who, after last night, conceded 24 times in six Champions League group stage matches. 

Plus ça change, many will say, with the flop in keeping with Jesus’ rather ambivalent attitude to European competition, which has been evident since his days at Benfica. Unlike previous European sorties with both Lisbon clubs, the coach did choose a strong side in Poland, four days before the crucial derby trip to Benfica, but the lack of total application on the task in hand was evident in the opening 45 minutes of the game when Guilherme gave Legia a shock lead on the half-hour.

By the time that Sporting got their house in order - and they ultimately had 18 shots at goal compared to Legia’s 10 - it was too late. Jesus is known as an innovator but his decision to go into the match with an untested three-man defence was a curious one. Bruno César, a left-footed midfielder who can just about be pressed into service at full-back, was used a right wing-back, with the only available specialist right-back, Ricardo Esgaio, on the bench, though he came on in the second half as Sporting switched to a back four. As Alexander Prijovic wriggled in from the other side of Sporting’s defence to create Guilherme’s winner, the general disorganisation was clear. 

On the other hand for Sporting, Sunday’s opponents were hardly dazzling in their own Champions League outing. Benfica were outclassed by Napoli in the second period of the pair’s match at Estádio da Luz, though it should be noted that by then, both sides already knew they were all but assured of progression to the last 16 with news filtering through of Besiktas’ spectacular crash at Dynamo Kiev.  

Just how much Rui Vitória’s side were saving themselves for the derby is clear from the major duels of the game. Napoli won 21 tackles to Benfica’s 14, and the visitors also emerged on top in 14 out of the match’s 18 aerial duels. The encarnado tail wagged a bit during the match’s coda, as Raúl Jiménez - who had a starting place to play for on Sunday - pulled one back after a bad error by his Napoli namesake Albiol.  

What must have hurt Vitória and his players, though, is that it was the first time that they had lost successive games since October 2015, following Friday’s night’s first Liga loss of the season, away at Marítimo. Little can be read into either defeat in isolation - losing a match on the island in Madeira is pretty much a rite of passage for any title contender in recent seasons, and Vitória’s side would have approached the second period against Napoli very differently had there been some greater consequence involved.  

Yet the real concern for Benfiquistas is the manner of those losses. Kostas Mitroglou’s poor performance at Marítimo led to him being dropped in favour of Raúl for the potentially decisive European match - he had managed just 10 touches in 90 minutes, for two off-target shots. Raúl, reportedly the most expensive purchase ever by a Portuguese club at €22m after Benfica bought up the remainder of his registration in the summer, has waited patiently for his chance, having made just two Liga starts before making his first of the season in Champions League action against Napoli.  

One imagines he will again be given a chance against Sporting, having scored a Liga goal once every 93.3 minutes this campaign in his limited window of opportunity. Mitroglou, on the other hand, has gone 486 minutes without a goal since opening the scoring at Belenenses in late October. Raúl also represents the pacier option - ideal, you would think, for the hurly burly of a clash between neighbours. 

The other main question for Benfica is if Rafa will be given an opportunity to start. The summer’s biggest signing has started just one Liga match since arriving from Braga, mainly due to injury, and one hoped that he would seize his opportunity in the second half against Napoli. Yet he only had two shots and completed just 75% of his passes during his 34 minutes on the pitch to earn a rating 6.04, with his difficulties emphasised by Dries Mertens, who came on at exactly the same time, turning the match for the visitors.  

So Benfica face the prospect of looking for inspiration from two players who are yet to really find rhythm this season. There is little sense that Sporting are really firing as a unit, though the three successive wins that have returned them to within two points of the summit - and meaning a win at the Luz takes them top - have been built on defence. They had kept four successive clean sheets in Liga action, and the last goal they conceded was in the surprising draw with Tondela in late October. Sebastián Coates, the loanee from Sunderland who Sporting are trying to tie to a long-term deal in the face of apparent interest from Dortmund and Milan, has been a big part of that, playing every minute this season and making 2.4 tackles and 2.9 interceptions per game.  

In the other direction, the goals have hardly been flowing for Sporting, but they do have a few rich sources of promise. 21-year-old winger Gelson Martins rates highest of the current squad this season at 7.53 and has six assists to his name, including two in the last two Liga fixtures. Bas Dost, signed to replace Islam Slimani, has seven goals in eight Liga starts for his new club, though has scored just three since late September. 

With Benfica’s biggest threat Jonas, who netted 32 Liga goals last season, expected to make a return on the bench after playing just once this season through injury, we may have to be patient for fireworks in this one. Neither side is quite at its strongest, but the derby atmosphere might inspire. We can be sure of full focus, certainly.