THE BALL – Guedes points to eleven (Benfica)

Will Gonçalo Guedes take all the competition out of the way to assume the first title since the recently consummated return to Luz in tomorrow’s trip to Paços de Ferreira? Doubt is in the air and has fueled Benfica gatherings in recent days.

After having arrived, seen, played, scored and won, it will not be surprising that the striker is Roger Schmidt’s bet against the beavers, an idea supported, by the way, by the current context of the eagles and by what was observed against Santa Clara.

Rafa is still injured and will not be an option in this anticipated game of the 20th round, Draxler left something to be desired in the Azores, leaving the feeling that he did not take advantage of the umpteenth opportunity to grab the place, and David Neres was still not in the starting lineup in the last round, keeping care in the competitive management of the Brazilian extreme. So that leaves João Mário, Aursnes and… Guedes.

Launched on the left against Santa Clara, and scoring for the first time with an interior diagonal movement, the 26-year-old Portuguese international is seen by Roger Schmidt as a kind of clone of Rafa. And on tomorrow’s match he could appear precisely in the central aisle, with João Mário on the right and Aursnes on the left.

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