FIFA Club World Cup: Benfica saved by Argentine duo in 2-2 comeback draw v Boca Juniors | OneFootball

Benfica recovered from a two-goal deficit to draw their opening Club World Cup match in a fiery encounter against Argentinian giants Boca Juniors in Miami, Florida.

The Portuguese side started brightly, surprise starter Renato Sanches firing wide and Bruma hitting the post.

But midway through the first half some excellent wing play by left-back Lautaro Blanco set up the opener for Miguel Merentiel. It was soon 2-0 as former Braga and Sporting midfielder Rodrigo Battaglia headed in after a well worked corner by the South Americans.

At this stage Boca were well on top, their aggressive approach clearly disrupting Benfica, backed by tremendous vocal support from the vast majority of the 55,574 crowd.

Ironically, it would be Benfica’s Argentine duo who got them back into the game just before the interval, captain Nicolás Otamendi winning a penalty that was cooly converted by Ángel Di María.

Tackles fly in

The second half was an ugly affair with little football played, Boca’s roughhouse tactics and constant timewasting seemingly enough to earn them the three points, especially after Benfica substitute Andrea Belotti was sent off for catching Ayrton Costa in the head with a high kick.

Even playing against ten men, Boca chose to preserve their lead with a high degree of aggression rather than push for a third goal and were made to pay when Otamendi powered in a header from a corner in the 84th minute.

Benfica’s hopes of snatching a late winner were then boosted when Nicolás Figal’s reckless studs-up tackle on Florentino Luís saw him issued with a straight red card, making it ten against ten for the closing minutes.

The referee surprisingly added just five minutes of stoppage time and no further goals were scored.

With Bayern Munich clear favourites to win the group and Auckland City making up the numbers in the section, this match was always likely to be crucial in deciding which team joined the Germans in the knockout phase. The Eagles next take on the New Zealanders with Boca facing Bayern.

Bruno Lage, Benfica coach

Lage was questioned about his decision to leave out usual starters Orkun Kökçü and Kerem Aktürkoglu – both of whom played for Turkey last week.

“As you saw, Kökçü played with a bandage. We felt Renato and Bruma had more energy. When the temperature cooled down, Aktürkoglu and Kökçü could come on and give us a boost. That’s what happened.

Ángel Di María:

“The referee let a lot of rough play go; he could have shown more yellows at the start and the game would have been a better spectacle. But it was hard-fought. Today we didn’t win but our mentality is to try and win all our games and qualify in first place.”