Rewrite this content
308 games and 12 titles later, André Almeida said goodbye to Benfica, in an emotional ceremony on the pitch of Estádio da Luz, on Saturday, before the match against Casa Pia.
Well, the right-back also said goodbye in an interview with BTV, in which he confessed that the biggest regret he takes from his experience with the Reds is not having won the Europa League.
«Maybe it’s the biggest regret I take, but it’s hard to win a European competition. Unfortunately, we were unable to bring them to the museum, but Benfica fans saw the games, we were a Benfica team, dominant, wanting to win», recalled the Portuguese international, regarding the defeats in the 2013 and 2014 finals, against Sevilla and Chelsea , respectively.
«Benfiquistas remember those games for the way the team fought throughout the competition. In both games I felt that Benfica was going to win, but I’m very happy with the team’s path to the finals, because it was beautiful and with a lot of competence », he added.
On the other hand, André Almeida confesses that the title won at Estádio da Luz that most marked him was the 2013/14 championship, under the command of Jorge Jesus: «All [os títulos] they had a special flavor, but, I don’t know if it was because it was my first title, this one turned out to be very remarkable.»
«All had a special flavor. The first, the ‘tri’, because they already thought we were dead and that click of the supporters, pushing us in the 0-3 with Sporting, catapulted us into a season of excellence. And the reconquest. It was probably my best individual season. We had some delay and ended up smashing some goals and points records», he said afterwards.
André Almeida, it should be noted, rescinded with Benfica after a 12-year connection and is now a free player to sign for another club. This season, the 32-year-old footballer has not been used by Roger Schmidt.
