Benfica Vs Avs: Barrenechea drives midfield as Benfica win 3-0 at the Luz
The benfica vs avs meeting at Estadio da Luz finished 3-0 as Benfica extended a run of league wins and moved to 55 points, a result that shifts attention back to domestic business after a controversy-filled Champions League tie with Real Madrid.
Benfica Vs Avs at the Luz
Benfica recorded a 3-0 victory over AVS at Estadio da Luz, with Alexander Bah opening the scoring in the 11th minute, Enzo Barrenechea netting in the 30th minute and Rafa Silva credited with a goal in the 43rd minute. The win was marked as Benfica’s third consecutive league triumph and took the club to 55 points, keeping them in third place in the Primeira Liga.
Barrenechea’s decisive role in midfield
Enzo Barrenechea struck in the 30th minute from a corner, meeting a headed pass from Richard Ríos and guiding a left-footed finish into the bottom right. He finished the match with four attempts, two on target, and completed 70 of 77 passes, including 24 successful final-third deliveries, illustrating the control he supplied for the Encarnados. Barrenechea also fed Andreas Schjelderup between the lines for a driven effort that goalkeeper Adriel tipped over in the 43rd minute, and later sent a header wide in the 70th minute while a skidding effort drew another save from Adriel in the 81st minute.
Rafa Silva, Bah and the 43rd-minute entries
Alexander Bah’s 11th-minute opener set the tone before the flurry around the 43rd minute: one account records Andreas Schjelderup forcing a save from Adriel with a driven effort at 43 minutes, while another lists Rafa Silva as scoring in the 43rd minute — Rafa’s first goal and it came in his sixth appearance for Benfica. The sequence left Benfica cruising by halftime and helped seal the margin by full time.
AVS’s season and their recent boost
AVS had taken confidence into the Luz after securing their first top-flight victory of the campaign, a 3-0 win over Estoril Praia at the Estadio do CD Aves courtesy of second-half strikes from Diego Duarte, Tomane and Angel Algobia. That result delivered Joao Henriques’s first win since his December appointment after eight previous outings without success (D2, L6). Despite the boost, the Vila das Aves side remain rooted to the foot of the table and are described as being 12 points adrift of safety, having scored just 18 times (the third fewest in the division) while conceding a league-high 54 goals; 31 of those shipped goals have come on the road, and AVS have lost eight of their 10 Primeira Liga away fixtures this season. One report lists the bottom club as AFS on 8 points. AVS have been beaten in three of their previous four meetings with Benfica (D1) and conceded nine across the last two encounters without reply.
Controversy, discipline and the immediate schedule
Benfica arrive at this domestic fixture still digesting a 1-0 defeat in Tuesday’s fiercely contested Champions League first leg against Real Madrid at the Estadio da Luz, a match that saw Vinicius Junior’s celebration provoke a reaction from sections of the home support and the visitors’ players. Gianluca Prestianni was at the centre of the controversy after the game was briefly halted amid allegations that he directed a racial slur towards the Brazilian forward; investigations are set to follow and Benfica have publicly backed Prestianni. Separately, Benfica will be without Prestianni in the league match after he picked up his fifth booking of the Primeira Liga campaign. The wider context also notes that Jose Mourinho guided his side to a dramatic victory over his former club three weeks ago to clinch one of the final qualification spots at the expense of the Galacticos’ top-eight ambitions.
Benfica’s recent league form includes a 2-1 victory at Santa Clara last weekend — part of five wins in six top-flight outings in 2026 (D1) — and an unbeaten run in the competition stretching to 37 matches (W27, D10) dating back to a defeat against Casa Pia on matchday 19 last season. They have won seven of their 11 home league matches this season (D4) but have dropped points against teams fighting for survival, drawing with Santa Clara, Casa Pia and Rio Ave.
Looking ahead, Benfica are set to visit Real Madrid in the next Champions League fixture and have a league trip scheduled to Gil Vicente in the next match week; AVS (listed as AFS in one account) are due to host Estrela Amadora (listed as Estrela in another account) in their next Liga Portugal fixture.
