The break for the national teams was not at all beneficial for Benfica, but also for other leaders of the European championships.
The most obvious example of a crisis of results, after the return of FIFA dates, is even that of the reds.
Roger Schmidt’s team, who recently renewed their contract until 2026, saw their advantage at the top of the League fade from 10 to just four points in just two days, in addition to seriously compromising their passage to the semi-finals of the Champions League .
April even started well for the championship leaders, but it is now proving to be a nightmare. The victory over Rio Ave by the smallest margin was followed by three consecutive defeats. First, with FC Porto, in Luz, in a turnaround in the scoreboard, and now in Chaves, with a goal in added time, which reopens the fight for the title.
In between, Benfica lost 2-0 at home to Inter, in the first leg of the Champions League, and is seriously at risk of what many saw as an affordable passage to the Champions League semi-finals.
The crisis of leaders across Europe
These negative post-selection cycles affect, however, other European teams, particularly in the «Big-5».
In the Premier League, Arsenal, which already before the stoppage was removed by Sporting from the Europa League, recorded two consecutive draws and saw the advantage over Man. City to reduce from eight to four points (having one more game than the opponent).
In Italy, Napoli recorded a victory, a draw and a defeat against Serie A in April and the punctual cushion for Lazio, second placed, reduced from 19 to 14 points, being, even so, quite comfortable.
However, the Neapolitans were thrashed by Milan, 4-0, in the League. And they lost again to the nerazzurri in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, now having to turn the tie at home to reach a historic qualification for the semi-finals.
Also thrashed by 4-0, but for the King’s Cup, was Barcelona, which thus was eliminated in the semi-finals. In LaLiga, the advantage is equally comfortable, but it has been reduced from 12 to 11 points in relation to the madridista rival, after two consecutive draws.
Different are the contexts of Bayern and PSG, which have dominated the Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Even so, the Parisians, already removed from European competitions, registered a defeat, against Lyon, for the French League, but due to two other victories increased from seven to eight points the advantage for rival Marseille, which is in second place.
In Germany, Borussia Dortmund opened the month losing two games: they handed over the leadership to Bayern after being defeated by the Bavarians (4-2) and then were eliminated from the Cup by Leipzig.
Bayern, who drew in the last round with Hoffenheim, even moved to the top of the Bundesliga, with a two-point advantage over Dortmund. However, the team that in the meantime replaced Nagelsmann with Tuchel in the technical command was also eliminated in the quarterfinals of the German Cup, after losing at home to Freiburg, and is in bad shape in the Champions League: it was defeated by City in Manchester by 3- 0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
