The 'Encarnados' are enjoying a great moment of form: the last stop dates back to more than a month ago at Bayern's home (1-0). Benfica is running fast between the league and the cup

Eight wins in the last nine, with 27 goals scored.

Bruno Lage's Benfica, tomorrow's opponent of Bologna in the temple of Da Luz, presents itself with the features of a battleship, where the Portuguese are building their fortunes in the championship and in the two Portuguese cups, with ten wins in as many games.

Perhaps the worst time to meet them, given that the last stop dates back more than a month and came in the lair of the Bayern giants (1-0), interspersed with another hat-trick of convincing successes.

In detail, the 'Encarnados' streak is five wins in a row, three of which are in the league (against Guimaraes, Arouca and Porto), one in the Taça de Portugal (the 7-0 win over Estrella), plus one in the Champions League, the blitz on 27 November in the Principality against Monaco: a 3-2 comeback that became reality in the final minutes with the winning goal by Amdouni, preceded by that of the former Viola player Cabral and the temporary 1-1 scored by the Greek Pavlidis, a long-time transfer target for the Rossoblu summer.

And, with the exception of the aforementioned stop in Bavaria, Benfica had already gotten rid of Farense and Rio Ave (another goleada, 5-0) in the league, as well as Santa Clara, 3-0 in the League Cup, just to make sure they didn't miss out on anything.

Numbers that in their homeland would be worth the first place alone, if it were not for the unexpected defeat in the debut against Famalicão (on the now distant 11th August), which today nails the red and whites of Lisbon in second place behind their rivals Sporting, but with still a lot of time ahead to try the assault and take the top of the Liga Portugal. For the rest, if on the one hand the path in the cups remains clear, where Di Maria & co are already halfway there, Benfica is still looking for the right continuity in the Champions League, also to seal access to the next phase as soon as possible.

To date, the Portuguese have won 9 points from their first 5 games, beating Red Star Belgrade and Monaco away from home, and Simeone's Atletico Madrid (who were defeated 4-0 without appeal).

But at Da Luz, a month and a half ago (23 October), Lage and his team also experienced their darkest night of the season, crushed 3-1 by Feyenoord.

An almost impossible feat awaits the rossoblù, who in Lisbon know well how to win, see the 2-0 inflicted on Sporting in the UEFA Cup in '98. And so, it is right to continue dreaming.