Joao Félix, who with Benfica lost the final of the 2016-17 Youth League precisely against Salzburg, asked his brother Hugo, along with his teammates, to avenge that defeat against the Austrian team in the final of this edition. So it was.
Joao Félix turned to Twitter this Monday to seal the fulfillment of the promise of his brother Hugo, 18 years old and an offensive midfielder. “Said and done,” wrote the Atlético striker even before the referee carried out the final whistle. Benfica was already winning 0-6 against Salzburg, which was the final result.
Thus, Benfica won the Youth League for the first time and, albeit on a small scale, ended the curse of Bela Guttman. It was in 1962 when said coach prophesied that, without him, Benfica would never be European champions again.
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The truth is that, between the first team and the youth team, the historic Lisbon club lost eleven European finals before once again lifting a continental title, in this case the Youth League. Youth Benfica had lost three finals in that competition: the 2014 one against Barcelona, the 2017 one against Salzburg itself and the 2020 one against Real Madrid.
Hugo Félix won the Youth League EFE/EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON
Hugo Felix substituted in the 80th minute for Martim Neto (scorer of the first Benfiquista goal) and was subject to a penalty that in 89′ gave rise to the sixth and last goal for the Lisbon team, the work of Henrique Araujo (scorer of a hat trick ‘).