A green love that made them vibrate again
SLB: https://media.slbenfica.pt/-/media/benficadp/images/departamento-de-comunicacao/2024/modalidades-de-pavilhao/futsal/masculino/competicoes/liga-plac ard/play-off/final/jogo-1-sporting-benfica/game/diego-nunes-festejo-new.jpg?h=725&w=1208&v=638856140080000000&hash=54F01101639149C89C4EFDD6EA61A54C
SCP: https://www.fpf.pt/Portals/0/1RA_0665.jpg
One game was enough for the home advantage to be nullified. Contrary to what was expected and what has been usual in the recent past of the sport, Benfica arrived at Pavilhão João Rocha and beat Sporting, although the victory only came on penalties (4-4, 3-5). In fact, the eagles had already warned the lions in the two matches of the regular season, in which they managed two draws, and the inconsistent form of Nuno Dias' team at the end of the season seems to be bearing fruit for Cassiano Klein's men. Thus, the reds knew that they "only" needed to win the matches at Pavilhão da Luz to regain the title that has eluded them since 2019. Conversely, the team from Alvalade was obliged to triumph at their rival's home ground to maintain the home advantage on the path to their fifth title.
Despite the balance and yet another great show put on by the Lisbon rivals, what followed the derby was an exchange of accusations in the form of statements, with Benfica accusing the refereeing team of “disparate disciplinary criteria and to their own detriment”, “favouring the Sporting team” in a “tendency to alter the sporting truth”. In response, Sporting accused their rivals of promoting a “cry of despair, marked by the creation of a narrative that only they themselves can believe, if they truly believe it”. “Sporting considers it healthy and necessary that its dominance in futsal be challenged in sporting terms. This challenge should only take place on the pitch and not through statements that undermine the truth”, concluded the Lions. The derby thus continued to be played outside the courts.
“I believe that all games will be decided by the smallest details. And we have to compete hard. It’s an expression we use a lot: push yourself to the limit. There’s no other way to compete against your opponent than to give it your all. We’ve done that well in the last few games, which has been positive. Now we have a new game, a new chapter, and we have to go beyond that. The big change will always be the commitment. It’s something that can’t be palpable, it’s inside the athlete, in their intrinsic part. You can study what the opponent does, and that’s an important part, but behavior, commitment, that can’t be measured,” said the Brazilian coach.
“All derbies have high and low moments for both teams. There are moments when we will be on top, there are moments when we will not be on top, and when we are not on top, we have to overcome ourselves and be prepared for difficulties. We have to unite so that Benfica, in our less good moments, cannot score. When it comes to the better moments and when we will be on top, which will certainly happen, we will have to be more effective and take advantage of our opportunities. These derbies, these final games, are like that. There will be moments of highs and lows. In the low moments, we will have to overcome ourselves so as not to suffer, and in the high moments, do everything in our power to achieve the advantage and the result we want”, said the Portuguese counterpart.
Today is derby day, in the ????????????????????? of the Placard League ????
???? Watch game 2 on #Canal11 , starting at 5:30pm! #FootballInPortuguese pic.twitter.com/0Nu3Vp2chH
— Canal 11 (@Canal_11Oficial) June 19, 2025
In a Pavilhão da Luz that was bursting at the seams from both sides, Klein started with Léo Gugiel, Afonso Jesus, André Coelho, Arthur and Lúcio Rocha in the starting five, while Dias was deprived of Taynan and Pauleta and had Henrique Rafagnin back, but kept Bernardo Paçó in goal, behind Diogo Santos, Alex Merlim, Tomás Paçó and Zicky Té. The reds had a more assertive start again and, in the opening moments, Jacaré took advantage of a blatant error by Merlim to open the scoring (3′). However, the response was almost immediate, with Paçó leaving the goal and advancing up the field, setting up Rocha for the equalizer with a half-turn shot. Shortly afterwards, Silvestre Ferreira scored another goal, but the move was disallowed by video support , as Paçó had saved on the goal line (10′).
From then on, the Lions grew in the challenge and, after Rocha hit the bar (10′), Tomás Paçó put Sporting ahead for the first time in this final, with a great shot following a short free kick by Merlim (12′). In the last minutes of the first half, Wesley Reinaldo tried from distance, but Gugiel saved with his leg, before Merlim, in a play from outside to inside, forced the Brazilian to make another save (15′). After the technical breaks for both coaches, the game calmed down and only got lively when Paçó benefited again from a free kick in the same area where he scored, but this time Gugiel got the better of it (20′), keeping the deficit by the minimum margin at half-time (1-2).
#FutsalSCP | ⏸️ The Lions return to the locker room with the advantage on the scoreboard. ⚽️ Rocha and Tomás Paçó.
???? 1-2 ???? // #SLBSCP pic.twitter.com/gfjUI7dG77
— Sporting CP – Modalities (@SCPModalidades) June 19, 2025
After the restart, Nuno Dias' team came out on top again and came close to scoring through Diogo Santos (22') and Merlim (23'). The response came from Arthur, with Paçó making a save (26'), and Ivan Chishkala, who tried to pass to Silvestre in the middle, but the Portuguese player arrived too late, wasting his excellent position (27'). With the game becoming more balanced and entering the decisive part, the green and whites once again proved to be lethal on the counter-attack, with Zicky breaking through and setting up a goal for Diogo, who only had to tap it in (33'). Cassiano Klein responded immediately and sent Chishkala on as a goalkeeper and, in the most blatant occasion, Arthur missed the goal in a scandalous fashion, on the line and with the goal at his mercy (37'). The result did not change and Sporting drew the tie, before returning to João Rocha (1-3, 1-1).
#FutsalSCP | ⏹️ The Lions beat SL Benfica 1-3 and drew the ????????????????????? of the Placard League ???????? Game 3, at Pavilhão João Rocha, on 22/6 at 6:00 pm.
⚽️ Rocha, Thomas Paçó and Diogo Santos.
???? 1-3 ???? // #SLBSCP pic.twitter.com/UqenChzKKd
— Sporting CP – Modalities (@SCPModalidades) June 19, 2025
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