Sports writing, Jul 21 (EFE)
The Portuguese league champion ended the sky-blue resistance in added time. A penalty committed by the youth player Gael Alonso, which the referee did not see live, allowed the Argentine international to put Benfica ahead, who he sentenced as soon as he took a cross with a goal from Musa.
Benítez repeated the same eleven from the match against Al Nassr, with the novelty of Larsen accompanying Aspas in place of Paciencia, who was unable to play due to physical discomfort.
Benfica dominated, but Celta barely suffered in the first half. The Galicians threatened Larsen and Aspas, who are still far from their best level. The changes at halftime did not change the script either, despite the fact that the sky-blue coach made the Ivorian international Jonathan Bamba debut, a star signing so far.
The former Lille footballer left flashes of his quality and speed. He is called to be a key player in Benítez’s system, which he breathed when Iván Villar avoided Musa’s goal. Celta held on to the result until the final stretch, when Benfica pushed again.
The crossbar prevented Antonio’s goal before former Real Madrid player Di Maria put the Portuguese ahead from eleven meters. Celta protested, and his rival killed him with Musa’s second goal.
Datasheet:
2 Benfica: Samuel; Bah, Thomas, Love, Miracle Ristic; Joao Neves, Aursnes, Chiquinho, Joao Mario, Rafa and Gonzalo Ramos. Odysseus, John Victor, Verissimo, Antonio S., Jurassic, Florentino, Kökcü, Di Maria, Neres, Tengstedt and Musa also played.
0 Celtic: Iván Villar; Kevin, Aidoo, Carlos Dominguez, Fontan; Fran Beltrán, Sotelo, Carles Pérez, Luca de la Torre; Iago Aspas and Strand Larsen. Mingueza, Unai Núñez, Carreira, Franco Cervi, Swedberg, Bamba, Tapia, Baeza, Rubén Blanco, Gael Alonso and Hugo Álvarez also played.
Goals: 1-0 Di Maria (p), min.90; 2-0 Moses, min.91
Referee: Carlos Teixeira (Portuguese). He admonished Baeza and Unai Núñez by Celta.
Incidents: Friendly match played at the Algarve municipal stadium before some 6,000 spectators.