The incredible starting XI of players sold by Benfica
Benfica is the most successful club in Portugal. The Lisbon based club has won the league title 36 times which is eight more than the number of titles won by FC Porto in second place.
The club has also won two European Cups before the curse of Bela Guttmann struck them.
The Portuguese giants are renowned for their excellent academy which has produced players like Goncalo Guedes, Renato Sanches and Joao Cancelo in recent years.
Also read: The incredible starting XI of players sold by Chelsea
In addition, they have an excellent scouting network, particularly in South America. Argentine international Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Gaitan, for example, were signed from Argentine Primera División clubs Rosario Central and Boca Juniors respectively before they left Benfica to play for other European giants.
Benfica have signed, groomed and sold numerous superstars over the years and we can name a fantastic starting XI of such stars currently plying their trade.
Goalkeeper - Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Very few goalkeepers would have kept Manchester City’s Ederson Moraes out of this XI but his competition is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
Jan Oblak transferred to Benfica in 2010 from his first professional club Olimpija Ljubljana. He spent his first three seasons at Benfica on loan before spending the 2013/14 season at the Lisbon club as the second choice goalkeeper.
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Midway through the season, he was given a starting role due to the poor form of Artur Moraes. He was stupendous in goal once he was given the chance and after just half a season, he transferred to Atletico Madrid.
The Slovenian shared keeping duties with Miguel Angel Moya in his first season with Atletico Madrid but became the undisputed number one from the 2015/16 season.
Oblak’s performance for Atletico Madrid has earned rave reviews and placed him among the best goalkeepers in the world. In 2017/18, he had the best save success rate (85.8%) of all goalkeepers in Europe’s Top 5 leagues.
Honourable mention - Ederson Moraes (Manchester City)