Benfica and Leixões record impressive victories in Portugal’s Super Cup
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Benfica and Leixões have claimed the first domestic trophy of this still young season, Portugal’s Super Cup, after triumphing in straight sets against Fonte do Bastardo and Sporting, respectively, in games played at the Santo Tirso Municipal Hall.
Benfica lifted the trophy for the 11th time in their history through a comprehensive 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-14) victory in their clash with Associação de Jovens da Fonte do Bastardo at the event organised by the Portuguese Volleyball Federation in collaboration with the local City Council in Santo Tirso. As they scored as many as nine aces versus none for their opponents, Benfica further cemented their status as the most decorated side in the competition with 11 titles, well ahead of Castêlo da Maia GC and SC Espinho with five apiece, followed by Sporting CP with three, and Leixões SC and AJ Fonte do Bastardo with one triumph each.
Pablo Nathan Machado, with 14 points, Felipe Banderó, and André Aleixo, both with 12, top scored in the match for Benfica, while José González, with eight points, was AJF Bastardo’s most prolific player.
Marcel Matz, coach of Benfica, highlighted: “It was our service that ended up making the difference. We had a very strong, very aggressive serve, which allowed everything to go well because the team was able to play with greater peace of mind in the other areas of the game, as the serve was so strong. The team was playing well, and we did not need to make any major changes, despite Felipe (Banderó) arriving recently. The season has just begun, but you can already see that we have a strong and broad group and that when things do not go well, there are other players ready to step in and help. It is good to start the season by winning a trophy, unlike what happened last year. Winning is always good, and we work for it. We build the team; we develop the players, but we also work to win. And the guys deserve congratulations on what they did today. I am very proud of them.”
Ivo Casas“I think we were superior throughout the entire game. We served well, we created many difficulties for Fonte Bastardo, our side-out worked well, and our break point was even better. When that happens and our service comes in, it is very difficult to play against us, because we have good block/defence work. We started off on the right foot. It is always the best way to start the season, with a victory and by winning a trophy.”
Libero of Benfica
Leixões Sport Club claimed the women’s Super Cup for a fifth time following their 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-21, 26-24) over Sporting Clube de Portugal. Thayná Soares and Marlene Pereira, of Leixões SC, top scored with 22 and 13 points respectively, while Liza Kastrup recorded 10 for the losing side.
Team captain Juliana Antunes, who lifted the trophy for a sixth time in her illustrious career (four times with Leixões SC, one with AJM/FC Porto, and another with AVC) said: “I feel just like I felt when I won the Super Cup for the first time. It is an incredible, unique feeling to be able to start the season with a trophy. Nobody knows what is going on here, at our club, and the difficulties we go through. This is proof of overcoming them and that, with good work and a lot of dedication, trophies can be won. As I said at the press conference for the presentation of the competition, this game was going to be very emotional and so it was. It ended up finishing in our favour because I think we were more psychologically prepared than our opponents. We had the same pressure as them, but we like to play with that pressure, and I believe that tactically we were superior throughout practically the entire game.”
In the women’s competition, Castêlo da Maia GC lead the way with six titles from 22 editions contested this far; Leixões SC follows next with five and AJM/FC Porto have four; Boavista FC with three, CR Estrelas da Avenida with two and PV 2014 and AVC Famalicão with one each are all previous winners of the Super Cup.