Benfica
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SL Benfica is one of the most successful clubs in Portugal and is also a two-time winner of the European Cup. However, despite all their achievements, Benfica like many other Portuguese clubs, is known for grooming some of the most talented players to grace the game.
Benfica like their rivals Porto and Sporting have an extremely efficient scouting network in South America. David Luiz, who is the world’s most expensive defender and Angel Di Maria, who holds the British transfer record, are both former employees of the Lisbon-based club.
In addition to the likes of David Luiz and Angel Di Maria, some other prominent players who left Benfica in recent years include Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Nemanja Matic (Chelsea), Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid), Ramires (Chelsea), Javi Garcia (Manchester City), Ezequiel Garay (Zenit), Axel Witsel (Zenit) and Lazar Markovic (Liverpool).
Even after the sale of so many quality players Benfica have won three league titles in the last decade. They are the two-time defending champions in Portugal at the moment and are on the road to making it three in a row. They also reached the finals of the Europa league in 2013 and 2014, but failed to win on both occasions –blame it on the Bela Guttmann curse.
