Schmidt reconciles with Benfica in a crazy derby
Roger Schmidt celebrates an important derby win with Benfica Lisbon thanks to a crazy final phase and gives himself a little breathing space. Schmidt is under pressure due to the team's poor performance in the Champions League.
Roger Schmidt clenched both fists and roared his delight. That alone is extraordinary, because the 56-year-old normally follows Benfica Lisbon matches calmly and without much emotion. But at this moment, even the coach couldn't hold back. Schmidt pulled his hands out of his pockets, cheered with happiness and then the first of his assistant coaches threw their arms around his neck.
The Estádio da Luz shook, a few meters away from Schmidt some Benfica supporters ran onto the pitch in joy. Some fans in the stands even had tears of joy in their eyes. They were all celebrating the goal by Casper Tengstedt, substituted by Schmidt, which had given Benfica a 2-1 victory in a crazy derby against Sporting Lisbon in the ninth minute of stoppage time on Sunday evening. "It's impossible to be better than today," said Schmidt after the game. "It was very dramatic." In any case, it couldn't have been much more dramatic. Even for himself.
This crazy duel could be a kind of turning point. Benfica are now heading into the international break - and for Schmidt a much more relaxed time-out than it had seemed before the derby. He himself has never seen the situation at Benfica as particularly worrying. However, it is also true that the critical voices around the Portuguese record champions have become louder since their early exit from the Champions League. In recent days, Schmidt has been asked more than once whether the match against Sporting could decide his future. He denied this, but not everyone believed him. But Schmidt remained calm. After the last-minute goals from Tengstedt and João Neves (90.+4), Benfica are now suddenly top of the table and everything seems fine again for the moment. That's soccer. Schmidt knows that. But what does that mean? And how did he come to be criticized so quickly?
The summer of transfers ends on a sobering note
If you want to understand Schmidt and Benfica's complicated season so far, you first have to take a look back. It was less than half a year ago when the German coach was loudly celebrated by more than 10,000 Benfica fans on the Praça do Marquês de Pombal. The former Bayer Leverkusen coach had brought Benfica their first league title in four years and the supporters were at the German's feet. The tenor was almost the same everywhere. Schmidt's soccer? An offensive spectacle! His tactics? Exciting! The performances of his team? Spectacular! Then came the summer transfer window, and not everything went as planned for the proud club. Benfica were unable to adequately replace top scorer Alejandro Grimaldo, who had left for Leverkusen. After the late transfer of goalscorer Gonçalo Ramos to Paris Saint-Germain, the Portuguese club also lacked an attacker of Champions League caliber. These transfers provide an initial explanation. Then comes the first game of the season.
Benfica lost 3:2 at Boavista Porto, after which Schmidt publicly criticized the previous regular keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, who then took his coach to task. Schmidt takes the former Germany international out of goal and Benfica sells him to Nottingham Forest shortly before the end of the transfer window. Despite the goalkeeper's histrionics, Benfica then delivered in terms of results in the league. The problem is the Champions League. Schmidt's team lost each of their first four games, only scoring their first goal of the season in the recent 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad San Sebastián. After that, they were eliminated early in the preliminary round. In view of the strong group with the Basques and Inter Milan, this is no drama. The problem is the expectations. After reaching the quarter-finals in the previous season, fans and club president Rui Costa had dreamed of even greater things this season. Especially as the club had also invested a lot of money in new players following the departures of Grimaldo and Ramos.
"If you can't handle the pressure..."
"If you can't handle the pressure, you can't be coach of Benfica," said Schmidt late on Sunday evening after the derby win against Sporting. His team deserved to win from the very first second, he said. "We have to make the fans happy, and today we made the fans very happy." However, that was far from always the case in the weeks leading up to the derby. Last season, the fans had long celebrated the Sauerland native as the "great Schmidt". The adoration for the 56-year-old had to do with Benfica's impressive attacking style and even more so with an even more impressive run of success. Benfica delivered results, Schmidt was cheered for them.
This had little to do with personal affection; many supporters still don't know much about the German. Schmidt is not a great PR specialist and does not want to be. The coach is rational and intelligent enough to know that in soccer, ultimately only the results count. However, if these fail to materialize, as they did in the top flight, his credit with the demanding supporters quickly evaporates.
Schmidt puts his foot in his mouth
One example of the complicated relationship between Schmidt and the fans this season is the disappointing 1:1 at home against Casa Pia at the end of October. Afterwards, quite a few whistles echoed through the Estádio da Luz and Schmidt was asked about it by journalists. "To be honest, I didn't even notice any protests after the game," he said. "Maybe that's one of the advantages of not speaking Portuguese." An unfortunate statement, which some Benfiquistas resent because they would like the coach to speak their language. The sports newspaper "A Bola" subsequently published a commentary with the ironic headline: "How do you whistle in German?" Schmidt doesn't care about such things, he does his thing. Because only one thing counts for him: Victories. He subordinates everything to this goal and instills this mentality in his players. The highly emotional success against Sporting proves him right, despite all the discord.
However, he did not want to overrate the victory. "No, this is not a new life," he replied to a question to that effect. "It's a great victory, that's what it is." No more and no less. Typical Schmidt. "We've shown so far in the Portuguese league that we're playing a very good season. Our performance in the Champions League wasn't top. But you have to look at the big picture." In any case, the big picture shows that Benfica are now back in first place in the league. Even if it doesn't feel that way for some supporters despite the jubilation on Sunday evening. Schmidt, on the other hand, knew immediately, because he is aware that in soccer it is ultimately all about the bare results and not the emotions. Although for a few seconds he couldn't help but shout out his joy with clenched fists.
Roger Schmidt acknowledged the importance of Casper Tengstedt's goal in the derby win, as the substitute had been brought in by Schmidt himself. This critical strike sealed Benfica Lisbon's 2-1 victory over rival team Sporting Lisbon in the final minute of stoppage time.
Despite the intense pressure on Schmidt due to Benfica Lisbon's poor performance in the Champions League, the 56-year-old coach remained committed to his team and implemented changes aimed at achieving better results. Since the derby win, Schmidt and Benfica have been riding a wave of success, gaining a much-needed boost of morale and confidence.
Source: www.ntv.de
