Benfica will begin their quest to win back the Primeira Liga title with a trip to Estadio Municipal 22 de Junho to face Famalicao in their season opener on Sunday evening.
The hosts ended last season in eighth place with 42 points, while the visitors were league title runners-up with 80 points, 10 behind champions Sporting Lisbon.
Match preview
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Famalicao ended a third consecutive season in eighth place in 2023-24, though they did earn two fewer points than the previous campaign, but were two points closer to the top six teams.
Undoubtedly, the main goal will be to pull closer to European qualification this term and they have had a solid pre-season, going unbeaten in six matches, including wins over Casa Pia and Moreirense in the last month.
While facing Benfica is never an easy task, Fama will have fond memories of the last time they came up against the Eagles in gameweek 32 of last season, when they secured an against-the-odds 2-0 win at this venue.
Indeed, the three points would have been plenty to celebrate against the league giants in itself, but to make the victory that much sweeter, the result confirmed that Benfica would not win the league, as it left them 10 points behind Sporting with two games to play.
Armando Evangelista's side won six, drew six and lost five of their home games last season, but only managed to score 21 goals on their home patch, which was the worst return of any team in the top half of the table.
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Meanwhile, Benfica will likely write off last season as a disappointment, as they were forced to hand over the league title, and ended trophyless after bowing out in the semi-final of both domestic cups.
In Europe, the Eagles finished third in their Champions League group and got to the last eight in the Europa League before losing to Marseille on penalties after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
Roger Schmidt has been busy over the summer as the side look to bring in players that will help them challenge Sporting, but they have also seen a notable departure in the form of Joao Neves, who was snapped up by PSG last week.
However, Benfica have managed to extend the contract of World Cup winner Angel Di Maria and have also managed to bring Renato Sanchez in on loan, adding another layer of experience to the squad.
The visitors have already seen Sporting romp to victory in their opening match of the new campaign and they will need to respond to ensure they do not fall behind this early in the season.
Team News
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Famalicao have just one reported injury absentee at the start of this new season in the form of Lucas Calegari, who is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained in pre-season.
Evangelista secured the signings of Gil Dias from Stuttgart, Rochinha from Kasimpasa and Mario Gonzalez on loan from Los Angeles FC, and all three will be in contention to make their debuts this weekend.
Benfica will get the season started without the services of Tomas Araujo due to injury, while David Neres and Marcos Leonardo are flagged as doubts for this season opener.
Paulo Bernardo also departed during the offseason to join Scottish Premiership giants Celtic, which should see Leandro Barreiro and possibly Florentino Luis or Sanchez operating in the engine room.
Casper Tengstedt moved to Hellas Verona on a season-long loan, but the Eagles acquired Vangelis Pavlidis from AZ Alkmaar as his replacement and the Greek international should lead the line here alongside Joao Mario.
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Cunha; Pinheiro, Mihaj, De Haas, Moura; Topc, Youssouf; Rochinha, Sa, Assuncao; Aranda
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Otamendi, Morato, Carreras; Barreiro, Luis; Aursnes, Mario, Di Maria; Pavlidis
We say: Famalicao 1-2 Benfica
Benfica will be determined to make a positive start to the new campaign here, especially having seen Sporting already bag their first win of the new season. Fama are never an easy side to beat on their home patch, but we feel the Eagles will be able to outscore their opponents in this one.
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Devesh Jaganath
