Listed friendly - Benfica v Leeds, is it for real?

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HarryofOz
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Listed friendly - Benfica v Leeds, is it for real?

Post by HarryofOz »

I see on the front forum page that our next fixture is listed as friendly against Benfica on 10 July.

Is this for real? The World Cup will still be on, and it seems a strange time to play a friendly match. Not that our squad will be decimated - though theirs may be.

But even so, I would have thought that we's only start our pre-season matches once the World Cup is over.
Un Marcelo Bielsa, solo hay un Marcelo Bielsa. Gracias Marcello. Marsching on together.
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YorkshireSquare
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Re: Listed friendly - Benfica v Leeds, is it for real?

Post by YorkshireSquare »

Benfica are returning to St George’s Park for part of their preseason preparation work, report O Jogo on Wednesday.

The Portuguese giants have had similar plans previously, although the first time they cancelled at the last minute, after agreeing big money US friendlies, and sent their B team instead.

Travelling to England will form the latter stages of Benfica’s plan, with them being at the FA facilities from July 15th to the 20th.

Before that they’ll face Leeds United on July 10th in Portugal, but unfortunately the match won’t be at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz. Instead, Leeds will travel to the Estadio do Bonfim, which has a 15,500 capacity.

The ground is in Setubal, where Vitoria play. It sounds like a nice trip to the seaside city, which isn’t too far away from Lisbon.

Leeds United will be Benfica’s first opponents of pre-season, with the club starting early this year to get ready for Champions League qualifiers at the beginning of August. They also have two US friendlies booked for late July.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/leeds-united- ... -revealed/
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HarryofOz
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Re: Listed friendly - Benfica v Leeds, is it for real?

Post by HarryofOz »

Thanks - I still find it odd
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Re: Listed friendly - Benfica v Leeds, is it for real?

Post by YorkshireSquare »

HarryofOz wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 8:45 pm Thanks - I still find it odd
It is, and I can't find out much more about it, possibly a 'development' squad game rather than a first team game.
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