Avenida do Mar, in downtown Funchal, was ‘painted’ red this Saturday with the presence of thousands of Benfica supporters who gathered in the heart of the city to celebrate the title of champion of the I Liga.
The conquest that Benfica had missed three seasons ago, which it had last celebrated in the 2018/19 season, brought together around two thousand people in Avenida do Mar, located in downtown Funchal.
The beginning of the celebrations caused some surprise due to the absence of police at the scene, which only arrived 30 minutes later, as well as the fact that the road was not cut off to traffic as in previous years, leading to some confusion on the road with celebrations between cars and ‘shakes’ on buses, with no damage or injuries to report, in a situation controlled after the arrival of the authorities.
At the center of the festivities, Leonor Costa, accompanied by her family, told Lusa that “the wait for the title was long, but the conquest was deserved, because Benfica was superior throughout the championship and it was the team that always showed more will in winning”.
The 20-year-old Madeiran, currently studying abroad, chose João Neves as the highlight of the season, not only for what he did as a player, but for the club’s commitment to training.
“I have to highlight not only the player but also the great investment in him, which proved to be up to the challenge, and the club showed that it is not afraid to invest in training”, he stressed, emphasizing that Benfica also owes a lot “to the great competence of Roger Schmidt, the right choice for the job”.
For Bernardo Gonçalves, the only Benfica fan in his group of friends who made a point of accompanying him in the celebrations, “it was clearly noted that this squad feels the shirt they wear, especially the coach, who was the greatest example of that and that was the aspect different from other eras”.
Supporter Joana Martins, 35 years old, recalled the anxiety of the last days, “with FC Porto waiting for a slip up”.
“We could already have the title issue resolved three days ago, but the anxiety at the end of the championship was notorious in the squad. We cannot criticize, the team was under pressure, even now with FC Porto ‘glued’ in the standings, but it knew how to find the right path to give us the 38th championship”, he underlined.
As for the rain that was felt throughout the day in Madeira, the cook by profession assured that even if it persisted “the party would be the same, because the wait was long and that would not be what was going to stop it”.
check out here all about the competition.
Source: Futebol 365 by www.futebol365.pt.
*The article has been translated based on the content of Futebol 365 by www.futebol365.pt. If there is any problem regarding the content, copyright, please leave a report below the article. We will try to process as quickly as possible to protect the rights of the author. Thank you very much!
*We just want readers to access information more quickly and easily with other multilingual content, instead of information only available in a certain language.
*We always respect the copyright of the content of the author and always include the original link of the source article.If the author disagrees, just leave the report below the article, the article will be edited or deleted at the request of the author. Thanks very much! Best regards!
