da leao： The Portugal star has been enjoying a 'breakthrough' year and will hope to continue that form as her side play a first-ever UWCL quarter-final
da esport bet： When Barcelona faced Benfica in late January, there were not many who gave the Portuguese side a chance. Barca had won all 22 of their games so far in the season, scored 105 goals in the process, and conceded on just four occasions – yet, Benfica fought for an unforgettable 4-4 draw, only salvaged for Barca by Lucy Bronze’s 96th-minute equaliser.
“It was one of the most incredible games I've ever played,” Lucia Alves, one of Benfica’s rising stars, tells GOAL. “Barcelona have players who are real references and the privilege of playing against them is undoubtedly a huge motivation. Benfica showed what they are and the quality they have. We left everything on the pitch and didn't give the game away. Everyone knows that there are no impossible things in football.”
It's a glimpse at the spirit that the Portuguese champions will take into their first-ever UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final this week against another giant of the game, Lyon. Benfica will again be the underdogs, facing the eight-time European champions, but they have players who can hurt the French side, such as the electric Kika, former Lyon star Jessica Silva, and Alves, the assist-machine who has attracted interest from Women’s Super League clubs in what she herself describes as a “breakthrough year”.
GettyNation on the rise
Portuguese women’s football has been on the up for a while now. Professionalism is growing within the domestic game, the national team qualified for its first Women’s World Cup last year, and Benfica have often caught the eye in the Champions League, getting results against the likes of Barca and Bayern Munich.
It means that the opportunities for players to improve are greater, and Alves is one of many to have benefitted from that. She arrived at Benfica as a 21-year-old and became a professional footballer for the first time in doing so. That her big year has come aged 26 is perhaps not surprising then, as it was only when she was in her twenties that she could fully focus on nothing but football.
“It was complicated in the beginning,” she remembers. “First professional club, different people, different nationalities, different personalities… But in the end, it was everything I had hoped for and it made me grow as a player, but more importantly as a person.”
AdvertisementGettyPatience is a virtue
Putting everything together was going to take time, and Benfica’s first experience in Europe was a baptism of fire. The women's team had enjoyed a meteoric rise after being founded ahead of the 2018-19 season, setting record after record as they secured promotion from the second division, but their first Champions League knockout tie ended in an 8-0 aggregate result for English giants Chelsea.
They’ve come a long way since that round of 32 exit. Less than a year later, the Eagles held Bayern to a goalless draw in the UWCL group stages, and a year after that they came close to beating the German giants, only to lose a two-goal lead thanks to Georgia Stanway’s dramatically late double. This season’s incredible draw with Barca was just another step in the right direction.
GettyClosing the 'big gap'
As well as improvements within Portugal, the regular games against these top sides in Europe is no doubt playing a part in Benfica’s improvements, and it is helping each individual to take strides forward too, Alves prime among them.
“I found it difficult at first because there was such a big gap,” she admits of that Champions League exposure. “I knew that any individual mistake would hurt the team. I had extremely fast and unpredictable players in front of me, but with time I gained experience. At the end of the game, I'd go through all the moves I'd missed and try to find a solution so I wouldn't make those mistakes again. I still do that today. There isn't a single game that I don't watch again.
“I've definitely improved a lot as an athlete. I think this has been my breakthrough year, without a doubt. I can see it in a lot of training and match situations. The difference as a player and as a person has completely changed the way I see things on the pitch.
“I'm not saying I was a bad person or a bad athlete,” Alves laughs. “But I feel a lot more calculated, a lot more responsible and a lot more tactically intelligent.”
GettyAssist-machine
As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Alves has racked up 14 assists and 10 goals from a wing-back role in all competitions this season, and it’s no wonder clubs in England are interested in her. Asked if there is any specific work she has been doing to produce these numbers, the 26-year-old says not, but adds: “I think the mental aspect counts for a lot and at the moment I feel very good on a personal and professional level.”
A tweak in her position to give her more “freedom” to roam and “make use of all my skills” has also paid dividends, and it is benefitting the team massively, such is the service the forwards are getting. “I'm working every day to become an outstanding full-back,” Alves says. “I love setting goals and I feel that this is the beginning of everything.
“I have ambitions, I've never hidden that. One of my biggest dreams was to play for Benfica. My family are all Benfica supporters. But I also want to play in the best leagues in the world.”