Ahead of Benfica’s trip to Maccabi Haifa in midweek, a photo emerged on social media showcasing Florentino Luis with a sweeping brush photoshopped into his hand.
The implication being, of course, that there are few footballers better at ‘sweeping up’ danger than a player who averages the most interceptions per game in the Champions League group-stages (WhoScored).
A record Florentino maintained as a Benfica side unbeaten in all competitions since the appointment of Roger Schmidt hit Maccabi for six at the Sammy Ofer stadium; ensuring that they would qualify top of Group H ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.
Florentino made five tackles and three interceptions during arguably Benfica’s finest performance of an already outstanding campaign. He also showcased the other side of his game with a 91 per cent pass completion rate.
It was, in short, a complete midfield performance on the biggest of stages.
Champions League masterclass from Liverpool target Florentino Luis
“We think Florentino still has a lot of improvements (to be made). He can be one of the best in the world,” agent Bruno Carvalho said in October.
Benfica will certainly come up against stronger opposition than Maccabi Haifa in the knock-out stages. But reports linking Florentino with a big-money move to Liverpool, via Record, should come as no surprise. Not when you consider the form of Fabinho, Liverpool’s out-of-sorts enforcer, coupled with Florentino’s emergence as one of Europe’s most effective defensive midfielders.
Florentino averages 3 tackles and 3.2 interceptions per game in the Champions League. Compare that to Fabinho; 1.2 and 1.3 respectively. His form, domestically, has been equally impeccable.
“Florentino is a young player. (He) has exceptional talent,” former Benfica coach Joao Tralhao once told Bernabeu Digital of the one-time Leeds United target.
“From very early on, we realized that Florentino was on the road to becoming an elite player. He has a profile very similar to that of Casemiro. And in Europe he is, without a doubt, one of the best in his position.”
Those comments, made back in 2020, felt a little premature at the time. Two-and-a-half years later, however, and suggestions that Florentino is ‘one of the best in his position’ anywhere on the continent now longer seem quite so optimistic.
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