Sheffield Wednesday got a huge confidence boost after they beat the Portuguese champions Benfica 1-0.
The feeling around Hillsborough had turned a bit negative over the last week with many fans not liking the new shirt which gets rid of Wednesday’s traditional broad stripes and the announcement of high ticket prices for their opening game of the season against Aston Villa.
That negativity seemed to feed into the start of the game as Benfica took complete control. For the first 15 minutes, the Portuguese giants constantly attacked and kept trying to break through the Wednesday back four. The person looking most likely to unlock the defence was Chuky, who was usually able to beat Jack Hunt to get a cross in, though the defensive pairing of Tom Lees and Sam Hutchinson were never troubled by them. The closest Benfica came when Wednesday failed to clear a free kick and Junior had the goal at his mercy, only for him to miskick and the chance to go begging.
However as soon as Wednesday weathered the storm they started a few attacks of their own, and would eventually get the opener and then only goal in the game. On the left wing, Marco Matias was able to turn his full back completely, giving him acres of space to pick out Fernando Forestieri. The Italian maestro then took a touch to put the ball into the box before pivoting to hit the ball past Paulo Lopes.
And after the goals, the Owls weren’t resting on their laurels. A free kick was poorly cleared and Barry Bannan managed to hit it sweetly and it fizzed past the near post.
The second half wasn’t as lively as both teams started to make changes, with players such as Pizzi and Kostas Mitroglu coming on for Benfica and Wednesday fans getting a chance to glimpse youngster George Hirst and the anonymous Felipe Melo.
Both sides did have chances to score though. Bannan curled another shot wide of the goal while Benfica were forced to make some last ditch tackles to prevent Forestieri going free on goal again after he had some good play with Lucas Joao. It was also a last ditch touch from Lees that stopped Pizzi from leveling the game late on.
But for Wednesday, this would be a huge pre-season win after claiming a victory over one of the biggest teams in Europe and they will hope to carry this on into next season.
