Brentford once again had scouts present in Portugal at the weekend, with A Bola reporting that the Premier League side sent representatives to watch Benfica’s 3-0 win over AVS.
The match, played on Saturday at Estádio das Aves, was José Mourinho’s debut in charge of the Lisbon club. The Portuguese coach returned 25 years after his first spell, and his team responded with a solid performance that moved them up to second place in Liga Portugal.
Several other clubs along with Brentford were also credited with having scouts at the match. The list included Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, Elche and Almería from Spain, Sassuolo from Italy, Nice and Montpellier from France, as well as local sides Nacional, Moreirense, Gil Vicente, Braga, Famalicão and Penafiel.
Benfica’s goals came from Vangelis Pavlidis, Franjo Ivanovic and Heorhiy Sudakov, the club’s marquee summer signing in a €32m move from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Sudakov, making only his third appearance for the club and his first under Mourinho, was voted man of the match after opening the scoring in first-half stoppage time. Pavlidis added a penalty early in the second half before Ivanovic struck the third to secure the result.
The fixture also offered a chance to look at several emerging names. For Benfica, 21-year-old centre-back António Silva and 22-year-old left-back Samuel Dahl continue to draw attention. On the AVS side, forward Babatunde Akinsola, centre-back Cristian Castro, midfielder Pedro Lima and left-back Leonardo Rivas were all noted as ones to watch.
Brentford have frequently monitored Liga Portugal in recent seasons, and their presence at this game fits the pattern.
Which of these players might end up on the club’s radar remains to be seen, but Sudakov’s early impact at Benfica, coupled with the established reputation of Silva, are bound to generate interest.
