Taça de Portugal Final Preview: Braga v Benfica
Tonight, will see the final of the Taça de Portugal take place at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra between Braga and Benfica.
Road to the Final
Braga won 2-1 against Trofense in the third round of the competition. The fourth round saw them win comfortably with a 7-0 win over Olímpico Montijo. The fifth round saw more goals with a 5-0 victory against Torreense. The quarter final saw Braga face fellow Primeira Liga side Santa Clara. Braga won 2-1 with goals from Ricardo Horta and Abel Ruiz. The semi-finals were played over two legs where they faced defending champions Porto. The first leg, Braga played at home and managed to score a late equaliser with Fransérgio scoring to level the game at 1-1. The second leg saw Braga win 3-2 with two goals from Abel Ruiz and another from Lucas Piazon to help Braga to a 4-3 aggregate win.
Benfica won their third-round game 1-0 away at Paredes. They then thrashed Vilafranquense 5-0 in the fourth round and they strolled to a 4-0 win away at Estrela de Amadora. In the quarterfinals they won 3-0 against Belenenses with goals from Darwin Núñez, Rafa Silva and Franco Cervi. In the semi-finals Benfica faced Estoril. They won away in the first leg 3-1 with Darwin Núñez scoring two and Haris Seferović getting a goal. In Lisbon, the second leg finished 2-0 with Gonçalo Ramos and Luca Waldschmidt scoring to lead Benfica to a 5-1 aggregate win,
Team News
Brage are without Francisco Moura, Iuri Mederios and David Carmo who are all injured.
Benfica are without the injured Lucas Verissimo, Andre Almeida, Andreas Samaris and Jardel.
Head-to-Head
The sides have faced each other three times this season. The first league match was played in Lisbon, with Braga winning 3-2. Braga won the league cup semi-final against Benfica 2-1 and then the league fixture in Braga finished in a 2-0 Benfica win.
Form
Braga: DWDDL
Benfica: WWWDW
Final Thoughts:
The games this season between the sides have involved quite a few goals, though the pressure of final might make the game more conservative. Braga are looking for their third Taça de Portugal trophy, while the most successful side in the competition are Benfica who are looking for their 27th Taça de Portugal win.
