After Round 7 of the Macau Elite League, Benfica are the undefeated leaders.
Until recently Monte Carlo were still on top of the table, two points ahead of Benfica Macau, but a match between both teams turned the standings. Benfica trashed Monte Carlo 6-0 and even Benfica’s coach Henrique Nunes was impressed by the gap between the two teams, with both being considered the main title candidates.
After that, Benfica took over the lead, with one point more than Monte Carlo and C.P.K. Eventually, last round Benfica faced C.P.K in a match that ended 4-0 for the Macau champions, proving that the team in red has no rivals at the moment.
“Benfica have a better squad than last season, not only the starting eleven, but the entire team. If Benfica don’t win the Macau Elite League, it will be a bad season for us”, said Henrique Nunes after the win against C.P.K. Much of the success is related to their two strikers, Carlos Leonel and Nicholas Torrão, who together scored 24 goals in only seven matches.
The current table sees Benfica on top, followed by Monte Carlo with two points less. C.P.K. are on third, already four points behind. Aside from them, Kei Lun, Chen Fung, Ka I and Policia find themselves in the middle of the pack, ranked 4th to 7th respectively.
The relegation battle still involves Sporting Macau and Macau U23, with 4 points each, and Lai Chi at the bottom with just 2 points, but the standings may still change since Sporting is currently under investigation by the FA for using an illegal player in the match against Lai Chi that ended in a 1-1 draw. Sporting fielded Brazilian goalkeeper Juninho who is also registered with a team in Hong Kong’s 2nd Division. Although the Macau Elite League is an amateur league, teams are not allowed to field a player that is already registered by another team elsewhere. The most probable outcome is that the FA will count this game as a win for Lai Chi.
Nevertheless, next weekend will be another big game among the relegation candidates, with Sporting facing Macau U23 in a six-pointer.
After that, the Elite League will have a break, as the Macau national team will take on Kyrgyzstan in the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
