After 29 official matches in the 22/23 season, Benfica finally tasted defeat in a frustrating yet deserved defeat against Braga.

Heading into the World Cup break, the águias were flying high. Eight points clear at the top of the league, topped their group in the Champions League, and still involved in both domestic cups.

While they bowed out of the Taça da Liga during the World Cup on goal difference, even without six of their starters, Roger Schmidt’s men remained invincible.

A meeting with Braga is always tough, but when you add the first match post World Cup component, the pressure took on a whole new dimension. May we also not forget the media coverage surrounding Enzo Fernandez, and whether he will be sold in January.

With everyone but Neres available due to injury, Roger Schmidt started the strongest XI, but it didn’t appear the case shortly after kickoff.

It took only two minutes for us to realize that the team was physically present, but nothing more than that. It was as if we had cement boots on, and the Braga players had wings.

Florentino looked completely lost, and more often than not he was on the ground. Grimaldo had a variety of chances down the line but seemed to always make the worst decision. Enzo’s hair made it back to Portugal, but his mind is either still in Argentina, or already thinking about fish and chips in London. João Mário looked like he was in slow motion, and the list could go on.

I’d say the two players who stood out from a positive perspective were Rafa and Aursnes, but even their efforts were far from enough.

We were outplayed, and completely deserved to walk away with a defeat, but it was one game. Let me repeat that, it was one game!

We’ve played 29 official matches in various competitions, and we’ve lost just once. If we only lose every 29 matches from here on out, let me know where I sign the agreement.

As much as we wanted to have a fairytale season with no defeats and to win everything, let’s be honest, we knew that wasn’t going to happen. We knew that sooner or later a defeat would happen, and when it arrived, it would be a tough pill to swallow. Whether it was against a rival, a bottom of the table side, or a second division team in the taça, it was going to suck!

Well, here we are, and as expected, it sucks!

Our nearest rival remains five points back, and we have the head to head on them, so let’s call it six. Taça de Portugal is still an active goal, and we have a favorable draw against Brugge in the Champions League. The sky isn’t falling! We weren’t the best and now all of a sudden the worst! Take a deep breath, it’s going to be ok.

This is the time where the team can and must show their worth. On Friday at home against Portimonense, Benfica must show that the defeat against Braga was simply a hiccup along the way.

Let this also be a learning opportunity for the club, managers, players, and even fans.

For the club | we already knew that we needed to add some quality depth to the squad, but seeing the players we had on the bench today, it’s even more obvious. January will be important not just for moving some players on, but also for bringing in depth to attack the second half of the season.

For the manager | today Roger Schmidt saw the bad side of some of his players. Most were far from their best, and it’s now an opportunity to learn from that and to get the team back to a good place emotionally. It’s easy to manage a team that’s winning and playing well, but Roger Schmidt and his coaching staff face their first adversity this season, let’s see how they respond.

For the players | it was clear as day that some of the players weren’t up for this game. Whether it was fatigue, pressure, lack of match fitness, or whatever else, they have a week to figure it out. These players are given everything they need to be successful, and up until today they’d performed up to par and expectations. Next Friday against Portimonense in front of their own fans, they have the chance to right the ship and get back to winning ways.

For the fans | us Benfica fans seem to be overly sensitive to everything these days. When things are going well, we are on top of the world and nothing will bring us down. Just look at the euphoria and excitement we experienced up until the World Cup kicked off. Now, with our first defeat and our worst performance of the season, the critics have come out of the woodwork. We aren’t good enough, it’s the presidents fault, it’s the World Cup, players had too much vacation, this player sucks, that player sucks, etc.. I get it, we are frustrated, no one likes to lose, especially the first match back from the stoppage.

I don’t want to hear well this can be the start of whatever… sure, we could drop points next match, but we could also win and get back to where we left off. This team has given us more then enough of a sample size to believe today was more of a speed bump in the road than the beginning of a landslide of negative results. It’s easy being a fan when all is beautiful and bright. It was one game! We learn from it, and we move on!

Friday against Portimonense we go again!