Benfica 4-1 Gil Vicente: Lukébakio double sets up a League Cup semi with Porto
In the Taça da Liga quarter-final at the Luz, Benfica scored through Lukébakio (36' and 54'), Sudakov (40') and Jhon Durán (81'), with Andreas Lausen replying for Gil Vicente. The final four is in Leiria in early January: Benfica v Porto and Sporting v Famalicão.
Benfica beat Gil Vicente 4-1 at the Estádio da Luz on Thursday night to complete the four-team line-up for the Taça da Liga, Portugal’s League Cup. Their semi-final opponent is Porto.
Dodi Lukébakio did most of the damage. He opened the scoring on 36 minutes and Sudakov made it 2-0 four minutes later. The Belgian struck again on 54, Andreas Lausen pulled one back for Gil Vicente almost straight away, and Jhon Durán wrapped it up on 81.
The four going to Leiria
So the final four reads Benfica v Porto in one semi and Sporting v Famalicão in the other. Porto booked their place on Wednesday with a 1-0 over Académico de Viseu, the same promoted side that had beaten Sporting at Alvalade in the league days earlier.
The newcomers are Famalicão, into the final stage for the first time after knocking out Braga 3-1 on penalties following a 2-2 draw. Vitória de Guimarães, who won last season’s edition, will not be defending it.
A Clássico in January
The semi-finals and final are played at Leiria’s Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa between 5 and 9 January. Benfica arrive as the competition’s most decorated club with eight titles. Porto have won it once, in 2023.
In the league it is the other way round. Porto won their first nine games, and a January Clássico, even in the smaller cup, is worth a good deal more than a place in the final to both of them.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Ser! / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted by Tugadaily