SL Benfica V Villarreal CF PRESS KIT
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SL Benfica v Villarreal CF PRESS KIT A Luz, Lisbon Wednesday, 2 November 2005 - 20:45 CET Group D - Matchday 4 SL Benfica forced a 1-1 draw in the first match with Villarreal CF, and are now looking to utilise home advantage against the UEFA Champions League newcomers, who had never played a Portuguese club before Matchday 3. The Spanish side scored their first goal in the competition in the 18 October meeting, and, after three successive draws, are still searching for their elusive first victory in the competition. Back in big time •Benfica, the 1961 and 1962 European champions, have returned to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1998/99. They began with a home 1-0 win against LOSC Lille Métropole, followed by a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United FC and the draw at Villarreal. Spanish first for Benfica •The reigning Portuguese champions played the first European game in their history against a Spanish club. In the 1957/58 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round, Benfica were drawn against Sevilla CF, who won 3-1 in Spain before a 0-0 draw in Portugal. Two final successes •The Lisbon club won both their European Cup finals against Spanish clubs – defeating FC Barcelona 3-2 in 1960/61 and Real Madrid CF 5-3 the following year. The Eagles also have an unbeaten record against Spanish visitors to protect. No defeats at home •In five previous games against Spanish opposition in Lisbon, Benfica have won two matches and drawn on three occasions. •The best performance against a Spanish club was undoubtedly the 5-1 defeat administered to Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 1964/65 European Cup. Two goals from Eusébio led the way with José Augusto, Antonio Simões and captain Mário Coluna also on target. Madrid won the return leg 2-1, but the Portuguese team went all the way to the final, where they lost 1-0 to FC Internazionale Milano. Good away record •This is only Villarreal's fourth season in UEFA action, and their first in Europe's premier club competition. The previous campaigns have seen the Spanish side start in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and in the past two seasons, Villarreal qualified for the UEFA Cup. The El Madrigal club reached the semi-finals in 2003/04 and the quarter-finals last term. •Villarreal have remained unbeaten on their travels in their brief European Cup history. The club reached the UEFA Champions League group stage with a 4-2 aggregate win against Everton FC, whom they overcame 2-1 in both legs. Luciano Figueroa and Josico scored the goals at Goodison Park in the first leg, and Juan Pablo Sorín and uefa.com 1/29 SL Benfica v Villarreal CF PRESS KIT Diego Forlán found the net in Spain. •Then the Spanish team went to LOSC Lille Métropole on Matchday 2 for their first away game in group competition and achieved a goalless draw at the Stade de France. Villarreal will be keen to maintain their unbeaten record and press for their first win, having broken their scoring duck in the competition proper with Juan Román Riquelme's penalty on Matchday 3. Team facts: Benfica •Benfica are competing in the UEFA Champions League for the third time having missed out on the group stage on each of the past two seasons following elimination in the qualifying round. •Although five of Benfica's seven finals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup came during the 1960s with two victores, the Portuguese club added two further appearances in the late 1980s albeit in defeat. Their last appearance came in the 1989/90 season when AC Milan prevailed 1-0, while two years previously, PSV Eindhoven defeated the Lisbon-based outfit on penalties after the match had remained scoreless after extra time. The opening penalty scored by PSV that night came from the foot of Ronald Koeman, now coach of Benfica. •Last season, Benfica won the Portuguese SuperLiga by three points from FC Porto. •The Portuguese champions got off to a flying start on the opening matchday as Italian striker Fabrizio Miccoli scored the only goal of the game at home to LOSC Lille Métropole two minutes into added time at the end of the second half. They looked to have built upon that result on Matchday 2 at Old Trafford when Simão's 59th-minute goal cancelled out Ryan Giggs' opening goal six minutes before the break. But United were to have the last laugh as Ruud van Nistelrooij scored the winning goal five minutes from time. •Despite scoring their first-ever UEFA Champions League goal, Villarreal CF were denied their inaugural victory in the group stage as Benfica battled back to snatch a 1-1 draw on Matchday 3 in Spain. After their first two encounters finished all square, Juan Román Riquelme's 72nd-minute penalty seemed to have earned the Spanish side three valuable points. However, an extraordinary long-range volley from Manuel Fernandes five minutes later restored parity, with Benfica's substitute goalkeeper, 19-year-old Rui Nereu, producing a brilliant debut display to help the away team to a draw. •Benfica need to score four goals to reach 300 in all European Champion Clubs' Cup matches. Currently they have found the net on 296 occasions in 156 matches with 75 wins, 36 draws and 45 defeats with 169 goals conceded. •Overall, the Portuguese side have played 262 matches in UEFA club competitions with 126 wins, 66 draws, 70 defeats, 460 goals scored and 275 conceded. uefa.com 2/29 SL Benfica v Villarreal CF PRESS KIT Team facts: Villarreal •Villarreal have gradually advanced through various UEFA competitions in the past four seasons, reaching the UEFA Intertoto Cup finals in 2002, a competition they would enter in 2003 and 2004 to help sustain a long campaign in the UEFA Cup as qualification for semi-finals and quarter-finals in back-to-back seasons proves. •Their best performance in advance of qualifying for this season's UEFA Champions League came during the 2003/04 season when they qualified from the UEFA Intertoto Cup to eventually play in a UEFA Cup semi-finals only to exit 1-0 on aggregate to Valencia CF. •Villarreal ’s first match in UEFA club competition came on 6 July 2002 when they defeated Icelandic side FH Hafnarfjördur 2-0 in a 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round tie. •Villarreal finished third in last season's Spanish Primera División, 19 points behind champions FC Barcelona and 15 points adrift of second-placed Real Madrid CF. Real Betis Balompié followed three points behind in fourth place. •Thus entering the UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round stage, Villarreal dispatched Everton FC in a 4-2 aggregate success, winning both legs 2-1. Villarreal took the lead in the opening leg on Merseyside through Luciano Figueroa after 27 minutes and though Everton equalised after 42 minutes through James Beattie, the visitors scored the winning goal on the stroke of half-time through Josico. The scoring followed a similar pattern in the return – Villarreal going ahead through Juan Pablo Sorín after 20 minutes, Everton equalising via Mikel Arteta after 69 minutes with the Spanish side going on to win, bagging the winning goal two minutes into stoppage time through Diego Forlán. •Making their first appearance in the group stage proper against the side with the most matches under their belt in the competition, namely Manchester United FC with 113 before Matchday 1, did not deter Villarreal as they held their English rivals at bay to record a creditable scoreless draw. The same result followed on Matchday 2 at Stade de France against LOSC Lille Métropole. •Despite scoring their first UEFA Champions League goal, Villarreal were unable to earn their inaugural victory as Portuguese visitors SL Benfica battled back to snatch a 1-1 draw on Matchday 3. After their first two encounters finished all square, Juan Román Riquelme's 72nd-minute penalty seemed to have earned the Spanish side three valuable points. However, an extraordinary long-range volley from Manuel Fernandes five minutes later restored parity, with Benfica's substitute goalkeeper, 19-year-old Rui Nereu, producing a brilliant debut display to help the away team to a draw. •Villarreal have played 51 matches overall in UEFA club competition, winning 24, drawing 21, losing six while scoring 70 times and conceding 31 goals. •Overall in the UEFA Champions League/European Champion Clubs' Cup, they are unbeaten in all of their five matches to date with two wins and three draws. In those uefa.com 3/29 SL Benfica v Villarreal CF PRESS KIT games, the Spanish side have never trailed an opponent. Match facts: Benfica v Villarreal •The weekend's encounter was the first match between Naval 1º de Maio and SL Benfica in the Portuguese top flight. The 1-1 draw ended Benfica's run of five consecutive league wins. •Goalkeeper Rui Nereu, 19, made his second start for Benfica at the weekend, quickly following his full debut in the Portuguese Cup match against Leixões SC last Wednesday with his first appearance in the Portuguese Liga. •Rui Nereu will become the third Benfica goalkeeper to start a UEFA Champions League match this season, donning the gloves in the absence of José Moreira and Quim. •Sim ão played every minute of 44 consecutive Portuguese Liga games for Benfica but his impressive run was curtailed by a thigh strain which ruled him out at the weekend. The forward, who turned 26 on Monday, had previously only been sidelined through suspension since returning to his homeland from FC Barcelona in 2001.