well, the defense was well organised and Suazo is at his best when the defenders move up in the pitch or attempt the offside trap often..
Yebda was the "midfield engine" during the start of the season, connecting defense and attack, but he too was losing himself in dumb plays. without a number 10 and with Yebda in a bad day, there was a big gaping hole in offensive midfield, with only the wingers creating any trouble... and Reyes was substituted while Di Maria played as usual (1 play where he wreaks havoc and 9 where he stupidly loses the ball).
Benfica will probably beat Metalist in Lisbon, the tricky part will be Olympiakos. Greek and Turkish away games suck, the crowds are fucking crazy and intimidating. i'm still hoping Galatasaray slip, because like i said anything less than 1st place is a gamble and could land us one of the giants in the draw.
EDIT - about the "fancy new team". i didn't expect magnificent changes right from the start anyway. Benfica is fielding 7-8 new players in the starting XI every match, and considering that then yes the results are still mostly positive. we really needed a revolution:
- upper management: we had no sporting director, now Rui Costa is in charge. besides his unquestionable love for the club, he has huge credit with other clubs and players and was decisive in signing players like Pablo Aimar.
- technical staff: we were working with a caretaker, Fernando Chalana. he's a legend at the club as a player, but clearly he didn't cut it when it came to managing. Quique Flores is young, ambitious, modern and competent. kind of like your coach, actually.
- players: nothing to be said. most of the guys from last season either didn't give a fuck or were crap, so the purge was more than welcome. individually we have good players for every position except maybe right-back, now we just have to make a team out of them.