The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Federico Coletta did not need any: 8.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Benfica B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Benfica B, 3‑2 the final word against Leixões in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Benfica B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Rêgo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rodrigo Rêgo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Olívio Tomé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Benfica B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Benfica B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Benfica B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Rêgo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 4.00. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bernardes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Benfica B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.