By UEFA Youth Leagueang Champions of youth categories Sub 19, Benfica beat Salzburg 6-0 in the final and won its first Cup like this which could mean a break in the history of the club for over The 60 -year -old was carrying a backpack full of bad vibes that no element like garlic or the typical red ribbon against envy can be turned away.

This is the curse of bela guttmannwhich is not a horror movie to be released on platforms next week but it is a story that crosses the life of the Luso group for more than half a century and that, for manyended on Monday with a win against the Austrian team.

A life without a title

If it’s really a somewhat hackneyed Hollywood production full of mediocrity, the film will start with the uplifting phrase of the person who gave the title to this story and knows how to be Benfica’s technical director in a few years: “Not even in 100 years will Benfica win the European Cup again”.

Guttmann was a coach born in the melted Austria-Hungary in the last years of the 19th century and knew how to be one of the most famous football strategists of the last century, especially in exactly what he did at the Portuguese club, which according to his vision, It did not reward him in the best way after leading the team when it lifted the European Cups in 1961 and 1962.

Benfica decided to terminate his contract despite his successes and the Austro-Hungarian got angry and launched that phrase at the leaders who, over the years and the failures that followed each other, began to take of the nickname of a curse. At first it seemed just coincidental: the Portuguese lost in the European finals in 1963, 1965 and 1968 …

If the three seem many after the time of glory, malaria will continue over time and Benfica will stop occupying the privileged areas that gave it the nickname El Glorioso to move to a stage of mediocrity at least at the continental level. just coming in 1983 He played another final, the UEFA Cup, and the curse clearly continued because he didn’t win the title.

Five years later he returned to the definition of Champions League and like in 1990 he couldn’t beat Bela Guttmann’s legacy. In 2013 and 2014 Nor could he stay in the Europa League and after half a century many began to believe that it was not a coincidence, but a real sorcery made by the coach who had died more than 30 years ago.

But the reason many gave up was that in 2014, 2017 and 2020 black magic was extended to youth categories. Yes, also in men the prophecy was fulfilled and Benfica failed to win the UEFA Youth League despite reaching three finals in six years.

Only in 2022 did he finish 60 years without European titles and celebrate in Europe after Guttmann’s curse, although many emphasize that it is a youth contest and that witchcraft continues in force for adults. Time will tell if he has 40 years of malaria left and if Benfica, once and for all, has removed the negative burdens.