Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse

Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse

Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse
Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse “ By Dominic Vieira
”
There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman Curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago...
Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse “ By Dominic Vieira
”
There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman Curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago...
Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse “ By Dominic Vieira
”
There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman Curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago...
Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse “ By Dominic Vieira
”
There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman Curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago...

Benfica hopes to fly away from the Gutmann curse

By Dominic Vieira

There’s a curse in Lisbon known as the ‘Guttman Curse’, named after the Hungarian manager who led Benfica to back-to-back European titles in the early 60s. That was 51 years ago in Amsterdam, where the legendary quadruple consisting of Aguas, Coluna, Eusebio and Simoes, sunk Real Madrid 5-3, to place Benfica as one of the leaders of world football. And following Bela Guttman’s second trophy, he left the club.

Benfica went on to become one of the clubs that has lost the most European finals, 5 to be precise. But their last presence in a final was the 1990 European Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan - which was arguably viewed as the best team in the world at that time. Despite qualifying for their eighth European final, it was evident that Benfica were not at the level or quality that won them greatness in the 60s.

23 years later and the club is back on a stage that they used to visit much more often. Much has changed since their last visit; a new stadium, Porto rising and dominating the domestic football, overcoming their financial troubles and having a much larger South American presence amongst their squad.

But one thing never changed: Benfica’s desire to win, which is strongly advocated through manager Jorge Jesus, who’s becoming quite an entertaining character. He’s moulded Benfica into a hungry team, one that’s always eager to attack, but conservative and organised at the back. A team that plays with no fear and true to their style. But the most impressive work by Jesus is that he’s made Benfica into a collective unit; there’s no star player and there’s not one evident weak link. Jesus has managed to balance flair, aggression, speed and fluidity.

The biggest question on fans’ lips is how will Benfica bounce back following their last minute defeat to Porto? Their first domestic loss of the season last Saturday night was a pounding blow, one that knocked them out of first place and now minimised their chances to win the much desired league title as one game remains.

But what happened on the weekend is the past to Jesus and he calls this match “the most important in his career”, his first European final.  And not just on a personal level, but for the club. He continued, "Benfica created a name for itself in the 60s and has been recovering it’s lost prestige over these past years - we’ve regained our international prestige and that is what the club is working on: giving Benfuca a better and bigger reputation in Europe"

Tonight could be a night where Benfica and Portuguese football once again flies high, in the past years we’ve seen Porto carry this flag and its now time for Benfica to continue this tradition. And so, 51 years later, they return to Amsterdam.

Boa Sorte.