2012 Taça da Liga Final

2012 Taça da Liga Final
Event 2011–12 Taça da Liga
Date 14 April 2012
Venue Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
Man of the Match Axel Witsel
Referee Jorge Sousa [1]
Attendance 23,452 [2]

The 2012 Taça da Liga Final was the final match of the 2011–12 Taça da Liga, the 5th season of the Taça da Liga. It was played on 14 April 2012 at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra in Coimbra,[3] between Benfica and Gil Vicente. Benfica won 2–1 and claimed their fourth consecutive title.[4] The winners also received €1 million in prize money, while the runners-up received €350,000.[5]

The competition involved the 32 clubs playing in the top two tiers of the Portuguese football league system – the Primeira Liga and the Segunda Liga – during the 2011–12 season. Benfica were the three-time defending champions and, as such, participated in their fourth consecutive final. In contrast, it was Gil Vicente's first-ever final in any national competition. Before this match, Benfica were on a 19-match unbeaten run in this competition, with their last defeat coming in a fourth round match against Vitória de Setúbal in October 2007.[6]

Background

Benfica will go into the match as the Taça da Liga title holder, having won the previous three finals, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This will be the first ever appearance by Gil Vicente in any final. Both teams started at different stages in the competition. Gil started in the second round, having been promoted from the Liga de Honra the previous season. Benfica started in the third round as they finished in the top eight of the 2010–11 Primeira Liga.

Benfica topped Group B with three wins from three games. In the first game of the group stage, they beat Vitória de Guimarães 4-1 at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.[7] Their next two group stage games were at home; they beat Liga de Honra side Santa Clara 2-0[8] before also recording a 3-0 win against Marítimo.[9] This qualified the team for the semi-final, in which they played at home against bitter rivals Porto. Benfica won the game 3-2. The semifinal is so far the most viewed program of the year in Portugal with approximately 4.6 million viewers.[10]

Gil Vicente started their Taça da Liga campaign back in October 2011 in the second round. They were drawn against Belenenses, where they overcame the Liga de Honra side in a two-legged fixture. Following a 2-1 away loss,[11] Gil turned the deficit around with a 2-0 win over Lisbon side at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.[12] In the third round, Gil were drawn in Group A against Moreirense, Rio Ave and Sporting. In their first group game they defeated Moreirense 2-1.[13] Their second group game saw them draw with fellow first division side Rio Ave 1-1.[14] Their last group, a winner-takes all affair against Sporting at the Estádio José Alvalade, ended 1-0 to Gil.[15] Gil Vicente topped Group A with seven points and progressed to the semi final stage, where they played Braga. Gil defeated Braga on penalties after a 2-2 draw.[16]

Route to the final

Benfica Round Gil Vicente
Opponent Result Stadium Knockout Stage Opponent Result Stadium
N/A Second round Belenenses 2–1
2–0
Estádio do Restelo
Estádio Cidade de Barcelos
Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Benfica 330091+89
Marítimo 320143+16
Santa Clara 310214−33
Vitória de Guimarães 300317−60
Group stage Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Gil Vicente 321042+27
Moreirense 31113304
Sporting 302123−12
Rio Ave 302123−12
Opponent Result Stadium Knockout Stage Opponent Result Stadium
Porto 3–2 Estádio da Luz Semi-finals Braga 2–2 (4–2 p) Estádio Cidade de Barcelos

Match

Summary

Prior to the match, referee Jorge Sousa was awarded the right to officiate the final by the LPFP, the LPFP also selected fellow referees Pedro Garcia and Paulo Soares as the assistant referees whilst Rui Costa was selected as the fourth official.[17]

The match began with Benfica starting quickest in the starting blocks, in the opening 45 minutes Benfica dominated the ball possession creating several chances. Benfica scored after creating several changes thanks to an attack by Bruno César down the left wing in which he crossed in the box for Rodrigo to open the scoring thirty minutes into the game. Benfica went into the break leading 1-0, they came back into the second half dominating again as they did in the first half. In the 78th minute Gil Vicente got a corner which they capitalized from after several blocked attempts from Benfica's defence, Zé Luís put the ball in the back of the net beating Benfica goalkeeper Eduardo. Six minutes later the winning goal came from Benfica substitute Javier Saviola after Gil Vicente's goalkeeper blocked Axel Witsel's shot which led to the ball falling to the Argentine in which he slotted the ball home into the opposition's empty goal. Benfica's Axel Witsel was named man of the match.[18]

Details

14 April 2012
20:45 UTC
Benfica 2–1 Gil Vicente
Rodrigo  30'
Saviola  84'
Report Zé Luís  78'
Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Attendance: 22,952
Referee: Jorge Sousa
Benfica
Gil Vicente
GK 47Portugal Eduardo
RB 14 Uruguay Maxi Pereira (c)
CB 33 Brazil Jardel
CB 24Argentina Ezequiel Garay
LB 38 Spain Joan Capdevila
DM 21 Serbia Nemanja Matić
CM 28 Belgium Axel Witsel
LW 8Brazil Bruno César  86'
AM 10Argentina Pablo Aimar  62'
RW 19 Spain Rodrigo  82'
CF 16Portugal Nélson Oliveira  45'
Substitutes:
GK 1 Brazil Artur
DF 3 Brazil Emerson
MF 6Spain Javi García
MF 20Argentina Nicolás Gaitán  81'  45'
FW 7 Paraguay Óscar Cardozo  62'
FW 9Spain Nolito
FW 30Argentina Javier Saviola  86'  82'
Manager:
Portugal Jorge Jesus
GK 1Brazil Adriano
RB 2 Brazil Rodrigo Galo
CB 44 Brazil Cláudio  85'
CB 54Brazil Halisson
LB 80 Brazil Júnior Caiçara
DM 10 Portugal André Cunha (c)
CM 25 Portugal César Peixoto
LW 66Portugal Luís Manuel  50'  56'
AM 58Brazil Luis Carlos  67'
RW 70 Portugal Hugo Vieira
CF 89Brazil Richard  76'
Substitutes:
GK 21 Portugal Jorge Baptista
DF 16 Brazil Paulão
MF 20Brazil Éder
MF 40Brazil Guilherme  67'
FW 77 Portugal João Vilela  76'
FW 9Portugal Tó Barbosa
FW 99Cape Verde Zé Luís  56'  56'
Manager:
Portugal Paulo Alves
2011–12 Taça da Liga Winners
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
4th Title

Match officials

  • Assistant referees:
    • Pedro Garcia
    • Paulo Soares
  • Fourth official: Rui Costa

Man of the match

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

See also

References

  1. "Benfica 2-1 Gil Vicente INFORMAÇÃO" [Benfica 2-1 Gil Vicente INFORMATION]. A Bola. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  2. "Benfica 2-1 Gil Vicente". A Bola. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  3. "BWIN CUP - 2011/2012 - 3.ª FASE" [2011-12 - Bwin Cup - Third Round] (in Portuguese). 27 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  4. "Taça da Liga: Benfica conquista quarto troféu consecutivo" [League Cup: Benfica win their fourth consecutive trophy] (in Portuguese). 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  5. "Taça da Liga: vencedor ganha um milhão de euros" [League Cup: the winner wins one million euros] (in Portuguese). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  6. "Águias somam 19.º jogo consecutivo sem perder" [Eagles added 19th consecutive game without losing] (in Portuguese). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  7. "V.Guimarães 1-4 Benfica" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  8. "Benfica 2-0 Sta.Clara" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  9. "Benfica 3-0 Marítimo" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  10. "Clássico da Taça da Liga foi o programa mais visto do ano" [Clássico of the League Cup was the most viewed program of the year] (in Portuguese). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  11. "Belenenses 2-1 G.Vicente" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  12. "G.Vicente 2-0 Belenenses" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  13. "G.Vicente 2-1 Moreirense" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  14. "Rio Ave 1-1 G.Vicente" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  15. "Sporting 0-1 G.Vicente" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  16. "G.Vicente 2-2 Braga" (in Portuguese). 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  17. "Benfica 2-1 Gil Vicente INFORMAÇÃO" [Benfica - Gil Vicente INFORMATION]. A Bola. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  18. "Witsel foi o Man of The Match" [Witsel was the Man of The Match]. LPFP. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, January 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.