Benfica is experiencing the best start in its history
Four games, four wins, six goals scored, and zero conceded. This marks Benfica's best-ever start to a season, a record that Bruno Lage broke in 2025/26, as the Reds had never before started a season with four clean sheets. For now, only André Villas-Boas' FC Porto is better, having achieved four wins in their first four games in the historic 2010/11 season with a 9-0 goal difference. Interestingly, that team conceded their first goal shortly after, in the fifth match, but achieved an 11-game winning streak at the start and only lost in the 27th match.
HISTORICAL!!!
It's the first time in 110 years that Benfica has had a 100% record in the first four games of the season without conceding a goal. pic.twitter.com/cinsDZlLpD
— Playmaker (@playmaker_PT) August 16, 2025
In Amadora, Benfica faced a tough match against Estrela, which began with Amar Dedic, Richard Ríos, Enzo Barrenechea, and Franja Ivanovic making their Primeira Liga debuts and continued with the first stalemate between the Tricolores and the Reds since 2007/08, which was also the first stalemate at halftime that José Gomes has seen in the last four seasons, counting in the Championship. As has been his custom, Vangelis Pavlidis was once again decisive, scoring his 20th goal in 35 Portuguese League matches, giving the Eagles their first victory in the opening match of the Championship season three years later. Benfica hadn't won a League match away from home for seven years, with the decisive goal coming from a penalty.
"We know it was a tough game. The pitch wasn't the best. We tried to play football, but it wasn't possible. We had to fight. In the end, we took the three points, which is the most important thing. A striker duo? That's good. We have more aggressive players who attack space. We need players who can score a lot of goals. We have to improve; when we find the right communication and spaces to attack, it will be great. The most important thing is to take the three points. Last year, we dropped some easy points. It was difficult to score, but the most important thing is that we didn't concede and took the three points home. Everyone understands how big the club is and that we have to win, win, win. We want to continue, and we have crucial games ahead. Fenerbahçe? We know it's important for Benfica to play in the Champions League. They're a good team, with a good coach and great players. It's going to be tough, but we'll do everything we can to be in the Champions League," Pavlidis shared in the SportTV flash interview .
"It's a victory for Cruz, the two-time European champions who left us today [Saturday], for our fans who supported us from start to finish, and for the players. We were a solid, gritty team; we wore our overalls. Here, it's about winning, period. What I said to the players at the end, even jokingly, in English, was 'Welcome to the Portuguese League' . They have to understand that Portuguese teams are very strong and good, especially playing on their own pitches. Estrela played a good game, and we had to be a solid team. When I look at what we've done in the last four games, we've won four and conceded zero goals. What was missing? Understanding the moment of each game. We even created opportunities and could have scored. Estrela created them too. We have to understand that there are games like that, like those of a champion, and today was that," Bruno Lage began by telling the same channel.
????️ Bruno Lage: “I jokingly told my players, Welcome to the Portuguese League” #sporttvportugal #LIGAnasporttv #LigaPortugalBetclic #EstrelaAmadora #SLBenfica pic.twitter.com/NHjpPOwAdA
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) August 16, 2025
"Starting lineup? This was the most important match, and we wanted to start the Championship well. This team has more minutes in its legs... In a normal week, we'd have tomorrow [Sunday] off, but we'll train to recover and give the other players time to train. We're doing preseason with official matches. The team can already last longer in the game, and we need everyone. When we looked at the game, the team's dynamics, and the confidence in the game, we opted for the same team. Aktürkoglu? In the last game, Andreas [Schjelderup] had a great performance, and we needed someone to add more speed in dribbling situations on the wing. We opted for Prestianni. Aktürkoglu is happy to be here. We have another game on Wednesday, and he can play as long as he's ready to help. And he is. We sense that. He started the season very well, scored goals, and helped the team win the Super Cup. I feel he's happy, with a clear head, and he's a Benfica player," concluded the coach.
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