In these new circumstances we are all living, everything is very different from what we are used to, and the football world is not exempt from that. With a hectic calendar ahead, Benfica and all the other clubs participating in European competitions will have their ups and downs maybe more so than usual, that’s just the reality.

When Jorge Jesus was presented at the Seixal this past summer, we knew it was going to take some time for him to impose his ideas. Just because we had a good run up to the Boavista match doesn’t necessarily mean the cake was already baked. Close the oven, take a step back, and let’s give it a few more minutes. With that, we also cannot overreact because of one poor performance, or a negative result.

One thing that’s interesting is to see people saying – well Benfica’s squad cost significantly more than Boavista’s, or, Jorge Jesus makes significantly more money than Boavista’s manager, etc..

Have we lost a sense of reality? Just because Benfica made a significant investment in the offseason means that we now aren’t able to have a poor performance?

Liverpool conceded seven goals against Aston Villa, a side that if goal line technology hadn’t failed last season, they’d be in the Championship right now. After smashing Schalke with eight goals, Bayern Munich lost away to Hoffenheim 4-1. For context, Hoffenheim have yet to win another Bundesliga match since that triumphant victory over the European Champions. Do Bayern Munich and Liverpool not have far more resources available to them in order to defeat those two teams?

It wasn’t because of those defeats that their fans will have gone into a complete frenzy. It happens, it’s part of the sport. Does it suck? Sure, obviously! The value of your squad isn’t what is out on the pitch kicking the ball around. Yes, it helps to ensure you have better resources, but putting the pieces on the pitch isn’t all that’s needed.

Obviously Benfica is far superior to Boavista’s squad, no one denies that. Obviously Benfica was expected to win the match, especially given the difficulties that the hosts had run into early on in the season.

Yes, tactically we were poor, and the team as a whole, collectively and individually was off. Loads of misplaced passes, and when you’re chasing the match so early on, things become far more difficult.

With such an early two goal deficit, Jorge Jesus made changes and essentially threw caution to the wind. The outcome would either be we’d score the next goal, or we’d concede taking into consideration the amount of offensive players that were on the pitch.

At times, there are those matches that even if you were out there for 180 minutes, it’s just not going to go right.

The key piece here though is, let’s focus on this match and just this match. There is no point in bringing the elections into this, or whether you like Jorge Jesus or not, or if you think LFV has done a poor job, etc.. This match, we were poor, period! The manager came out and owned it, Otamendi who was our captain at the final whistle came out and owned it, let’s understand where it all went wrong, fix it, and move forward.

Let’s stop with the overreactions as if we just lost the title. If your expectations going into the season was that we’d just steamroll everyone because we made a large investment, maybe you should reassess your expectations. I’d be willing to say that of the top leagues in Europe, none of the teams that win the title will finish with less than three defeats, and that’s probably lower than reality.

Those same fans who are quick to criticize the manager in the difficult moments will be the first ones to light the fireworks when we win. Let’s relax, take a deep breath and understand that it was one match, the sky isn’t falling!