Taça da Liga 2024-2025: Sporting-Benfica, the likely formations

Sporting-Benfica, the probable formations

The first trophy of the calendar year in Portugal will be awarded on the evening of Saturday, January 11, 2025: contending for the Taça da Liga will be Sporting and Benfica, in a derby between two Lisbon teams that will però face each other in Leiria, the venue of the final, at the stadium dedicated to Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa.

Recovering from the semifinal won 1-0 against Porto, with the decisive goal by the "usual" Viktor Gyokeres at 56', Sporting led on the bench by Rui Borges, the third coach of the season after Amorim (moved to Manchester United) and Joao Pereira (exonerated) is looking for its fifth success in a relatively recent trophy, introduced in the 2007/2008 season: the last final for the green-and-whites dates back to 2022, with a 2-1 victory precisely against Benfica.

Instead, in the penultimate act, the green-and-white Eagles overcame Sporting Braga with a clear 3-0 win: practice solved already in the first half thanks to goals by Di Maria at 26', Carreras a minute later and Di Maria again at 36' in the second half it was enough to control also because Braga was left in ten for the red card to Noro at 77'. Benfica has won the Taça da Liga seven times: è the all-time record, but the last success was in 2016, 6-2 in the final at Maritimo.

Probable lineups:

Sporting (4-4-2): Israel; Fresneda, Diomande, St. Juste, Reis; Catamo, Morita, Hjulmand, Maximiliano Araujo; Trincao, Gyokeres. All. Rui Borges.

Benfica (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Tomas Araujo, Otamendi, Silva, Fernandez; Aursnes, Florentino; Di Maria, Kokcu, Schjelderup; Pavlidis. All. Bruno Lage.