LISBON (Reuters) – Porto and Benfica face the daunting task of rebuilding their sides for the new season after losing influential players Hulk and Alex Witsel to big-spending Russian side Zenit St Petersburg.
Portuguese champions Porto said goodbye to Brazil forward Hulk, the league’s best player in the last two seasons, while Benfica lost all-round Belgium midfielder Witsel, each signed by Zenit for 40 million euros (31.7 million pounds) this week.
As the Portuguese transfer window closed behind the pair, fans were left wondering if their teams had the depth and strength to sustain good runs in the Champions League and at home.
The two rival teams will scramble for alternatives in their squads and, if that fails, wait anxiously until the January transfer window for reinforcements.
“These are two extremely influential players they lost. Only the future will tell if they will be able to maintain the same quality and results,” said former Sporting and Braga coach Domingos Paciencia.
During a four-year stay, Hulk helped Porto to win three championships, three Portuguese cups, two Super Cups and one Europa League trophy, scoring more than 50 goals in the process.
Last season, after a shaky start to coach Vitor Pereira’s tenure, the Brazilian was hugely important in spearheading Porto’s successful defence of the league title with a six-point margin over Benfica.
UNBALANCED SQUAD
Benfica’s challenge to rebuild is just as great.
Witsel, a box-to-box midfielder, left shortly after Javi Garcia’s departure to Manchester City and, with the two midfielders gone, Benfica’s transfer strategy has come under fire. Critics say they are too biased towards attack.
“The squad is unbalanced: there are too many players from the midfield onwards, and too few in the back,” said former Benfica player and Morocco international Hassan Nader.
Benfica were left with 10 forwards, between wingers, strikers and attacking midfielders, and only two defence-minded midfielders in Carlos Martins and Serbian Nemanja Matic.
Concerns were also directed at the left back and right back positions, with Paraguayan Lorenzo Melgarejo and Uruguay’s Maxi Pereira the only obvious choices.
Benfica fans, despite being excited about an upcoming Champions League clash with Barcelona, fear any injury spell could be ruinous.
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In Porto’s case, although Hulk’s pace and fearsome shots are hard to replicate, the squad offers more alternatives.
The departure of the goal-savvy Brazilian clears the way for rising talent such as Colombian winger James Rodriguez, left-footed Ghanaian Christian Atsu and Argentine Juan Manuel Iturbe, all of whom were overshadowed by Hulk.
Porto also managed to retain classy midfielders Joao Moutinho and Lucho Gonzalez and, with their defensive wings equipped with the Brazil duo of Danilo and Alex Sandro, they remain favourites to claim the Portuguese title.
Porto are drawn in Champions League Group A, along with Dinamo Kiev, Paris St Germain, and Dinamo Zagreb. Benfica are in Group G with Barcelona, Spartak Moscow and Celtic.
(Editing by Clare Fallon)