LISBON, PORTUGAL — Alexander Bah set the tone early and Benfica never looked back, dismantling a hapless AVS side 3-0 at the Estádio da Luz to cement their position in third place in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The Eagles controlled 65.1% of the ball throughout and peppered the AVS goal with 22 shots, turning in a performance of relentless attacking intent against the division's bottom side.
Bah opened the scoring in the 11th minute, his left-footed effort from the centre of the box arrowing into the top left corner to give the home crowd exactly the start they craved. The right-back's surge forward caught AVS's defensive shape completely off guard, and from that moment the visitors were chasing shadows. Benfica's pressure was immediate and suffocating, with Vangelis Pavlidis and Andreas Schjelderup combining dangerously in the opening exchanges — Pavlidis seeing a right-footed effort saved by Adriel in the same minute Bah struck, a sign of the relentless wave that was to follow.
AVS goalkeeper Adriel was kept busy throughout the first half, denying Rafa in the 29th minute after a clever headed pass from Pavlidis, and then turning away Pavlidis himself in the 35th minute following a perfectly weighted through ball from Schjelderup. The Brazilian shot-stopper was performing heroics, but he could only delay the inevitable.
The floodgates truly opened in the 43rd minute when Rafa broke the deadlock further, rifling a right-footed effort from the centre of the box into the top left corner after a slick combination with Sidny Cabral. It was a finish of real quality, and it put the game firmly beyond AVS's reach before the interval. Benfica had gone into the break with three goals to their name, the third arriving through Enzo Barrenechea, whose left-footed strike from the centre of the box found the bottom right corner after Richard Ríos delivered a precise headed pass from a corner in the 30th minute.
The second half was a more measured affair, though Benfica never took their foot off the gas. Sidny Cabral rattled the left post in the 67th minute after a neat exchange with Pavlidis, a moment that summed up the home side's relentless attacking intent even with the result long settled. Substitutes Dodi Lukébakio and Franjo Ivanovic entered the fray in the 71st minute, injecting fresh legs and keeping AVS pinned deep inside their own half. Barrenechea added his name to the scoresheet again in the 81st minute, his right-footed drive from outside the box forcing yet another save from the overworked Adriel — the goalkeeper's sixth stop of the evening.
The statistics told the full story of Benfica's dominance. They launched 22 shots at goal compared to AVS's meagre three, won 10 corners to AVS's one, and committed just seven fouls to the visitors' 14. Adriel's six saves were the only thing preventing a more emphatic scoreline, and his performance was arguably the one bright spot for a side rooted to the foot of the table on just eight points from 23 games.
Tactically, Benfica's midfield engine — anchored by Barrenechea and Ríos — controlled the tempo with authority, recycling possession quickly and creating overloads across the pitch. AVS, struggling for any foothold in the match, managed just three shots all evening and failed to register a single attempt on target, a damning reflection of the gulf between the two sides.
Contrasting emotions fill the air as both clubs prepare for what comes next. Benfica can approach their blockbuster home clash with Real Madrid on February 25 with genuine confidence, while AVS must dust themselves off before hosting Estrela on March 1 in desperate need of points in their relegation battle.
