pablo aimar and javier saviola claim a unique understanding on the pitch and the sl benfica attackers aim to put that to use on wednesday in their crucial trip to hapoel tel-aviv fc.
sl benfica's argentinian international duo pablo aimar and javier saviola claim a near-telepathic connection on the pitch which they hope to put to good use in wednesday's vital trip to hapoel tel-aviv fc.
a thrilling 4-3 win against uefa champions league group b leaders olympique lyonnais on matchday 4 – in which benfica were four up before a late rally by the visitors – has moved the eagles to within three points of the french side and one behind second-placed fc schalke 04. victories in israel and at home to schalke on 7 december could now take benfica into the last 16 for the first time in five years.
"we were getting concerned but the home game against lyon revitalised us," forward saviola said. "hapoel are next and now the group is really open so it is a massive match. we are lucky that things are in our hands again. however, we are playing a team that surprised us even though we won [2-0 in lisbon in september]. they surprised us with how they played in possession as a team, they have very skilful players. teams play differently home and away but they will be very tough in tel aviv."
playmaker aimar, back from the gastroenteritis that sidelined him against lyon, arrived at benfica a year before saviola in 2008 and knows just how hard it can be for sides from outside europe's biggest leagues to make the uefa champions league knockout phase. the summer departures of ángel di maría and ramires, for example, hardly helped the benfica cause.
"the club finds itself in the same situation every year as teams from bigger leagues are looking for youngsters who are doing well," the 31-year-old aimar said. "it is good for those players to try other leagues to see if they can play in countries that may be more competitive than the portuguese league. that makes it difficult for a portuguese team to win the champions league but we are one of the 32 teams involved and someone has to win it."
when saviola, 28, joined benfica in 2009 it revived a club partnership with his compatriot that had thrived at ca river plate before aimar's january 2001 transfer to valencia cf. saviola said: "i have never played with another player who knows where i'm going to be or just lifts his head knowing where i'm going to."
aimar agreed: "we always see the same things, he's always moving where i thought he would go and i think the same happens for him. that is why we have an understanding of each other and that is why we really like to play together. we enjoy being on the same pitch."
eran zahavi struck twice either side of a douglas da silva effort as hapoel recorded a first group b win and benfica were eliminated.
two goals from eran zahavi either side of a douglas da silva effort gave hapoel tel-aviv fc a european lifeline as sl benfica's near-relentless pressure came to nothing and their uefa champions league hopes ended.
the portuguese champions came forward regularly but were unable to apply the decisive touch in front of goal, allowing hapoel to secure the first israeli uefa champions league group stage win since 2004 and the club's debut success in the competition. fc schalke 04's 3-0 victory against olympique lyonnais now leaves benfica unable to finish above third and hapoel can even snatch that on matchday 6 if they defeat the french side and the eagles fail to overcome the section leaders.
eli gutman's side could consider themselves reasonably fortunate not to go in at half-time with the match already beyond them. benfica put them on the back foot from the off and won 11 corners in the first 45 minutes compared to none for the home team.
early on, da silva had to hook to safety as a header from luisão had team-mates queuing up to score. nicolás gaitán then had a shot deflected wide and vincent enyeama saved from both javier saviola and eduardo salvio, before dedi ben-dayan – perhaps unwittingly – fended away fábio coentrão's overhead kick.
when shay abutbul stepped up to take a 24th-minute free-kick, his side had barely strung two passes together inside the opposition half. however, his sweeping delivery found the head of zahavi, with a deflection off benfica defender david luiz sending the ball just inside roberto's right-hand post.
alan kardec almost replied within a couple of minutes but stroked wide when superbly placed and with only enyeama to beat. hapoel then defended their goal valiantly, if somewhat haphazardly, until the interval, which was followed by the introduction of óscar cardozo in place of saviola.
benfica poured forward again and abutbul made a divine but desperate clearance from a luisão header, as well as a more fortuitous one to keep out javi garcía's goal-bound flick. fábio coentrão's drive was nodded over by da silva, enyeama smothered a javi garcía effort and kardec somehow nodded wide from maxi pereira's cross.
by the time hapoel won their first corner on 74 minutes, benfica had had no joy with 18 of their own. however, the israeli side made theirs count, with the ball falling fortuitously off javi garcía for da silva to score from close range. zahavi contributed a stylish third in added time, and while the final corner count was 21-2 to benfica, hapoel cornered the market in goals.
yardımcı hakemler: françois mangen (lux), christian holtgen (lux)
4. hakem: luc wilmes (lux)
çzigi hakemleri: albert toussaint (lux), sven bindels (lux)
h. tel-aviv: vincent enyeama (gk), douglas da silva, dani bondarv, bevan fransman, etey shechter (dk. 58 yossi shivhon), gil vermouth (c), eran zahavi, shay abutbul (dk. 78 walid badier), dedi ben-dayan, avihay yadin, toto tamuz (dk. 66 ben sahar)
yedekler: galil ben-shanan (gk), victor mare, omri kende, gal shish
teknik direktör: eli gutman (isr)
benfica: roberto (gk), luisão (c), javi garcía (dk. 79 franco jara), eduardo salvio (dk. 65 carlos martins), pablo aimar, maxi pereira, fábio coentrão, nicolás gaitán, david luiz, javier saviola (dk. 46 óscar cardozo), alan kardec
