Lisbon's "Benfica" club continues its inconsistent performances in the Champions League group stage, failing to collect any points in four rounds. In the fourth round, "Benfica" hosted Leverkusen's "Bayer" and suffered a narrow defeat – 0:1.
The German club's winning goal was scored in the 65th minute by Patrik Schick's shot. Journalists criticized "Benfica" coach Jose Mourinho for some of his team's players, naming them as reasons for the defeat.
In their opinion, three players in particular made serious mistakes. Vangelis Pavlidis won only one duel throughout the match.
Half of his passes in the opponent's half were inaccurate. Pavlidis's play seemed sluggish, and he failed to finish attacks effectively.
Dodi Lukebakio, meanwhile, wasted "Benfica"'s best chances. Although he had 0.85 xG and 0.51 GOT stats, he was unable to score.
The rainy weather might have negatively affected Lukebakio's actions, but this cannot be used as an excuse for his performance. The third player is Samuel Dal, who had positive stats such as winning five tackles and prevailing in all duels.
However, it was his mistake that led to the opponent's winning goal. Instead of clearing the ball far, Dal passed it inaccurately to Schick, and "Bayer" scored its only goal.
