Completely acclimatised at OM now, Lucho will make his return to Portugal on Thursday for the match against Benfica. He warns: we will "have to be careful" in Lisbon.
If he was an icon at Porto, Lucho will not arrive in conquered territory the Luz on Thursday. During his four years in Portugal, the Argentinean played in a number of passionate matches between Benfica and FC Porto and he often scored just like last season in Lisbon (1-1). So, better than anyone at OM, the discreet player knows where he is putting feet on Thursday in the Europa League. And just like Benoît Cheyrou stated, he hasn’t avoided warning his colleagues. This season, Benfica are a great side. “They are in great form at the moment, he says, they play good football and have some great players”.
If the names of Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola or the new star Angel Di Maria stand out, Lucho puts his patriotism to one side, announcing: “There are not just the Argentineans. The defence is really good as well, in any case there are only internationals in the side. They are in good form and a player like Di Maria is on fire at the minute, just like Saviola, Aimar or Cardozo. There are a lot of classy players at Benfica”.
So, OM will have “to be careful” as he has said: “We mustn’t change our way of playing and our desire to win. These two matches will probably be tight as the difference between OM and Benfica is not very great. It will be a good match as both sides play similarly, with an attacking style. We will have to remain focused to bring back a positive result from Portugal”. If the FC Porto of Mourinho then of Lucho reigned over the Portuguese Liga during the last decade, Benfica want to get back on the right foot for this new decade. Just a question of reminding everyone of the 31 national titles and the two European Cups that they have won.
"The coach always wants me to be in the right place at the right time"
The new motor in the OM midfield will not be a luxury consultant on Thursday. He will be an actor and, over the last few months, he has been carrying his second name (Oscar) in style. If he still doesn’t speak much when talking about himself, he states that he "feels better now" and that he and his team-mates had to "adapt" to each other. Before falling back into his old habits: “I don’t like talking about myself, I prefer speaking about the team. When a team plays well, the individualities automatically come out. The back bone of the team has been there for all to see over the last few months and that is very important. Not only at my level but for the whole side. The level of our play is a lot higher and everything is a lot easier in that case”. The fact of the matter is that his statistics have rocketed over the last few weeks (7 goals, 6 passes).
So will he manage one of his famous goals at the Luz, one of those where he just seems to always be in the right place at the right time? "Each footballer has his own characteristics. Luckily enough for me the ball often arrives in the zone where I am standing … But the coach also asks me to be in the right place at the right time. Afterwards, sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. What is important is that the team continues to play as it has done recently" he hopes, all the time avoiding putting himself at the forefront.
