Arsenal: Benfica’s strengths, weaknesses, style, form and key men

Benfica Weaknesses

There are areas of their side that can be exploited. While their experienced central defensive pairing will be familiar foes to many of the Arsenal players, both are in their latter years and awareness covering deep runners and pace are not their strongest areas.

It’s an approach Arsenal shouldn’t adopt, as playing on the front foot and aiming to take as many away goals into the second leg is desirable, but Benfica struggle against sides who look to sit in, soak up pressure and strike on the counter-attack. That is partly due to the lack of speed at centre-back, and also down to the diamond system Jesus likes to adopt, leaving them susceptible to overloads and pace in wide areas.

While not certain, first-choice right-back Gilberto missed their last two outings with a muscle injury and has been replaced by right-winger Diogo Gonçalves, who does not possess the positional awareness his Brazilian counterpart does. For that reason, Nicolas Pepe‘s explosiveness could be a valuable asset down the left flank.

Not so much a weakness and more so a potential lift is the form of striker Núñez who having enjoyed a prolific start to the season has just one goal in his previous eight league outings. If Arsenal do keep Benfica pinned back they will nullify his best strengths, which are pressing high and relentlessly running in behind.

Benfica Style of Play

Throughout Jesus’ career he’s acknowledged the work of one of the greats, Johan Cruyff, seeking to instill similar levels of identity and intensity that made the late Dutchman one of the finest who ever lived. That attacking ethos is evident in his Benfica side, who always seek to play out from the back.

His preferred setup is a 4-4-2 that can morph into a diamond. In keeping possession, his sides like to compact the central areas and keep shifting the ball, which creates the space in wide areas for the full-backs to overload and stretch the opposition.

In having neat, technical players such as Adel Taarabt, Everton Soares, Franco Cervi and Pizzi, they can rotate around those positions and keep the ball for extended periods of time. Due to their lengthy spells on the ball they can defend in a mid-block and Julian Weigl and drop in to form a triangle with the centre-backs to add protection.

This is not their only system, as Jesus even adopted a 3-4-3 setup this term prior to Jardel’s injury to match whomever he faced. There is tactical fluency in the way Benfica operate, but Arsenal can expect the 4-4-2 system with a strike duo working in tandem with one another and full-backs running the channels when the midfield diamond invite extra bodies infield.