Shame! Belenenses forced to play with 9 players against Benfica

Shame in Portugal. The Portuguese team of Belenenses, suffering from a Covid outbreak, has had to take the field with 9 players to face Benfica at home.

In the last 48 hours, infections within the squad have multiplied and this morning there were already 17 positives, among which were 13 footballers, the head coach, his assistant and two other members of the coaching staff.

Despite the situation, the General Directorate of Health of Portugal did not proceed to suspend the match, so the match began at the Jamor Stadium as planned.

The locals, with only 9 players, came out with a defense of 5 and 3 ahead, in addition to the goalkeeper. However, they succumbed to the first change to the superiority of Benfica, who already won 0-7 at halftime, three from Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, two from Seferovic, one from German Weigl and another from Eduardo Kau’s own goal.

After the break, only 7 Belenenses players resumed the match and in the first minutes they were left with six since one was injured, so the referee whistled the end of the contest.

At halftime, the president of Belenenses, Rui Pedro Soares, starred in one of the images of the day, appearing crying on the pitch.

With this result, Benfica is the leader of the Portuguese League with two more points (31) than Porto and Sporting, who will play their respective matches this Sunday.