An interim looking like a regular. Nelson Verissimo, appointed in the middle of the season as provisional coach of Benfica Lisbon, has a heavy task ahead of him: to face the giant Liverpool on Tuesday in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League (9:00 p.m.). A local man, who has gone through all the functions of the club since 2012, Verissimo, 44, replaced Jorge Jesus at the end of December, who left due to poor results and disputes in the locker room.
On December 28, while traveling with the reserve team, he learned of the death of his mother, victim of a long illness. However, Verissimo decides to return to Lisbon to take the reins of the first team, 48 hours before a perilous trip against FC Porto in the Portuguese league. The “Classico” then ended in a defeat for Benfica (3-1).
This is not the first time that the former central defender trained with the “Eagles” has had to play firefighter on duty. In July 2020, he took the place of Bruno Lage, current Wolverhampton coach, to complete an extended season during the summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
️ Nélson Veríssimo na antevisão ao #SLBLIV: “Amanhã vamos contar com o 12.º jogador no estádio que vai incentivar a nossa equipa para uma grande noite europeia”.#E PluribusUnum #SLBLIV #UCL pic.twitter.com/gjbakC4g1N
— SL Benfica (@SL Benfica) April 4, 2022
Verissimo then made his debut as Benfica’s head coach after serving as Lage’s assistant for two years, during which he won the Portuguese Championship and Super Cup. His experience will last six games, including a first failure against FC Porto, in the final of the Portuguese Cup (2-1). Promoted each time when the club was in bad shape, Nelson Verissimo never complained.
“He was always a rational, professional and very studious individual. He surprised some people with the maturity he already possessed”, described in 2020 José Calado, one of his former teammates. Unexpected executioner of Ajax Amsterdam in the round of 16 (2-2, 0-1), Benfica find themselves in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since the 2015-2016 season.
This qualification, obtained when he was making his debut in C1, may however not be enough for Verissimo to retain his place at the end of the season. “It’s a subject that does not concern me. If I have to stay, I will stay. Otherwise, no. (…) My future is what matters the least right now”he said Monday at a press conference.
“My future is the least of my worries. I am the coach of Benfica with great honor and pride. I know the task and the mission incumbent on me here”added the technician Thursday at a press conference. “We know that I have a contract until the end of the season, so it is natural that names arise. It is not something that disturbs me”he added.
Among the contenders for the Benfica bench, the name of the German coach of PSV Eindhoven, Roger Schmidt, comes up insistently in the Portuguese specialized press. The 55-year-old technician is leaving PSV at the end of this season, which has just recruited former Dutch international Ruud Van Nistelrooy.