Benfica Eagles fly to the title... 50 years later!
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In a thrilling and all-important fifth game scheduled for the championship series of the Liga Solverde.pt played this Thursday at the Pavilhão da Luz, Sport LISBOA e Benfica defeated Sporting Clube de Braga by the narrowest margin (3-2; 25-23, 28-30, 25-15, 23-25, 15-13), after nearly 3 hours of intense battle. With this victory, sealed in the fifth set, the Eagles were crowned national champions, thereby winning the 10th title in their history, and the first in 50 years since the 1974/1975 season!
Isidora Ubavic, with 21 points, and Alice Clemente, with 19, were SL Benfica’s top scorers, while SC Braga’s most prolific player was Margarida Maia, with 17. The final was intense and closely contested, with Benfica managing to turn the series around after SC Braga had been leading 2-0.
Under the command of Rui Moreira, who had already won a Portuguese Cup, also half a century after the last one, and the 2024 Super Cup, the ‘Reds’ showed much determination and grit to achieve this long-desired title, thus succeeding FC Porto as national champions.
At the end, Rui Moreira, SL Benfica coach, highlighted: “It was a very difficult journey. It was Benfica-style, with fight, desire, and ambition. We could have closed it out 3-0. We could have closed it out 3-1. Braga was a very difficult opponent in this series. We started behind, but we never gave up and I think that feeling prevailed even in this fifth set. We once again managed to make history for Benfica, which is the most important thing: to win, to win titles, to make history.
“The players deserve congratulations. We worked very hard. We went through a lot this year. We really deserved this. Congratulations to everyone! I did not have the opportunity to witness that glorious journey that the Marias [the team responsible for nine titles in the 60s and 70s] went through, but we talked a lot about it this year. They are a reference for us. And the fans gave us a lot of strength. It is indescribable. Trailing 10-12 in a set that ends at 15, feeling their energy helped us a lot. Thank you to those who came, thank you to those who watched from home. And finally, after 50 years, that trophy is back where it belongs, which is in the Cosme Damião Museum.”