Rui Costa sets the tone for Fenerbahçe v Benfica: very... | OneFootball

Rui Costa says he is confident for the next challenge of Benfica. The club from Luz plays today the first leg of the Champions League qualifying play-off. Already in Istanbul, the Eagles face Fenerbahçe, in a match that kicks off at 8:00 PM. The Benfica delegation left Humberto Delgado airport late last Tuesday, with the President leading the way.

When asked about his expectations for the match against the team coached by José Mourinho, Rui Costa was quite succinct, simply stating that he was “very confident”, while waving to the Benfica fans present at the location to support the squad.

Benfica’s coach, Bruno Lage, called up 24 players for the match against Fenerbahçe, among them João Veloso. The youngster is not unknown to the Turks, considering that he was a starter against the Istanbul side in the Eusébio Cup, played at the end of July this year.

On the other hand, Tomás Araújo stayed at Seixal after playing 45 minutes last Sunday for Benfica’s B team. The central defender continues to gradually regain match fitness, after being left out of the Club World Cup to recover from a pubalgia that affected him throughout the end of last season.

This is of utmost importance for Benfica. If they succeed in eliminating Fenerbahçe, the Eagles will secure a multi-million euro financial windfall, around 50 million euros.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.