Benfica, Porto and Sporting have perfected a model that would work well for Rangers and Celtic
By Paul Grech for Nutmeg magazine
It was business as usual. A couple of weeks earlier, they had just concluded the sale of their main striker, who had scored 26 goals in 28 games the previous season. Other clubs would be scrambling to find a replacement capable of filling such a gaping hole. Any other club except Benfica. Their first game without Darwin Núñez could have been tricky, especially coming in early August against an FC Midtjylland side that specialises in causing upsets. Yet Benfica overcame the challenge with disarming ease, winning 4-1 to ensure qualification to the next Champions League qualifying round.
More important than the score, however, were the scorers. One goal was scored by Enzo Fernández, their new Argentinian midfielder who would be holding the World Cup aloft six months later before igniting a transfer frenzy among Europe’s leading clubs. The other three were scored by Gonçalo Ramos, a youth product who had been Núñez’s deputy the previous season and has since been sold to Paris Saint-Germain.
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