Away On Saturday: Away at Benfica!

Benfica 0-2 Basel
UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Tuesday 5th December 2017

Anyone who knows me relatively well will probably be aware that I believe Lisbon is the finest city on the planet.

With it's pastel coloured buildings, chilled atmosphere, brilliant all-year round weather and numerous sights; so many in fact that even I was unable to visit them all during a five-day stay, it's a destination everybody should visit at least one just to enrich their life.

Nevertheless, when it comes to football, Benfica - Portugal's most well-known club, just aren't what they once were and Europe's Elite have long since left them lagging behind.

A dominant force in the 1960s, the Águias haven't had much cause for celebration since as occasional appearances in European finals; the last of which was in May 2014, have been intertwined with years of mediocrity, below par performances and disappointment on the continental stage.

The gulf between Benfica and the very top of European football was never more apparent than in this disappointing 2017/18 campaign.

In a UEFA Champions League group which also contained Manchester United, Basel and CSKA Moscow, the Portuguese outfit crashed to defeat in all of their group games - thus meaning that by the time Basel rocked up to Estadio Da Luz on matchday six, the hosts were already consigned to bottom spot and had nothing to play for other than pride.

Tickets were very straightforward, simple and easy to buy - as is usually the case for 99.9% of games in Portugal, and I'd got mine several weeks beforehand when it wasn't so obvious that Benfica would utterly capitulate.

By the game itself, the attendance was shocking as thousands of Benfica supporters chose, probably quite sensibly, to stay at home and give the game a miss!

Officially, 22,470 spectators were there, but I can only assume this figure must have been based on tickets sold rather than 'bums on seats' as there were vast swathes of empty seats. It's also the only time where I've ever heard a water-sprinkler system make more noise than actual home fans - such was the diluted, very polite and almost 'pre-season friendly' type atmosphere.

UEFA's corporate mafia, keen to focus on themselves as usual, had clearly also requested that the club cover up signage/literature in and around the stadium promoting Benfica's own sponsors such as Sagres and Fly Emirates.

As a result, flags were strategically positioned over seats spelling out the name of a sponsor, but the person I really felt sorry for was whoever had been charged with the task of going around the large-scale posters in the club shop and on the concourses, etc, with a roll of duct tape and sticking a bit over any shirts which had the 'Fly Emirates' name on it.

I know that UEFA only care about themselves - the 30,000+ tickets they snaffle under the 'sponsors and hospitality' guise for the Champions League Final every year is proof, but this was taking their corporate guidelines to the extreme and it looked pretty damn ridiculous.

On the pitch, Basel knew a victory would secure a place in the Last 16 and they made easy work of the challenge before them with Mohamed Elyounoussi firing them into an early lead.

As if watching a game in a near-empty stadium wasn't weird enough, the 2,000 or so visiting fans from Switzerland, came to life just before half-time and began to showed some vocal support - despite having spent well over half-an-hour pretty much silent.

Dimitri Oberlin doubled Basel's lead in the second period, despite the hosts having shown snippets of promise in parts, and their passage to the knockout phase from hereon was quite comfortable.

Reaching the Estadio Da Luz from Lisbon city centre is very straightforward. Colégio Militar/Luz metro station is located between a major shopping centre and the stadium and is easily reached from most parts of the city.

If anyone is still reading and has got this far, then congratulations. Here's my guide to Lisbon. Get a trip booked - you won't regret it!