Despite big expectations for tonight’s match between Benfica and Manchester United, the Portuguese press hasn’t been able to write many interesting stories about the clash.
The only one that stood out among them was the article in which they explained how José Mourinho ‘spied’ the Portuguese club for the past couple of months.
And today, what most of the local newspapers are doing is using the money card to show how rich Manchester United are, therefore being the most expensive squad that will be playing at the Estádio da Luz tonight.
Starting with Diário de Notícias, they show that José Mourinho has spent more money in two years at United that Benfica spent in the past ten seasons.
Since the Portuguese boss took charge of the club, the Red Devils splashed €349.4m on signings, whilst the Eagles haven’t even surpassed the €60m mark.
Not only concerned with Benfica, Jornal de Notícias shows that Manchester United have already spent €127m on transfers from Portuguese clubs.
That’s €35m for Victor Lindelof, €31.5m for Anderson, €25.5m for Nani, €20m for Marcos Rojo, and the cheapest one on the list, which is Cristiano Ronaldo for only €19m.
And finally, O Jogo makes a comparision between the teams that are expectaed to start tonight.
While Manchester United’s team cost €415.6m, Benfica only spent €68.1m to build their XI.
That gap is pretty big, and could be even more in case the likes of Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba were playing.
So in case Benfica are thrashed tonight, they already have an excuse.
