The brand new winner of the Samba Gold Under-23 award, forward Marcos Leonardo, surprised everyone and everyone by accepting Benfica’s offer at the beginning of the year. In principle, the footballer trained in Santos was wanted by some of the biggest clubs in Europe, with rumors of alleged interest from Real Madrid or Newcastle United.
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However, Benfica tempted him with something that neither Real Madrid nor Newcastle could offer him: a sporting project in which, progressively, he would become more and more important.
Marcos Leonardo has already accumulated three goals in four games with Benfica
Since his arrival, Marcos Leonardo has been adding a good handful of minutes, averaging about 15/20 minutes in each game he has played. However, despite being a game-changer, the striker born in Itapetinga has proven to be a sure goal scorer for Las Águilas.
🔴⚪ O GOLO de Marcos Leonardo a 𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬!#CFEASLB • #LigaPortugal
📺 @sporttvportugal pic.twitter.com/UoSX2J3HGx
— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) January 29, 2024
The footballer who already knew how to stand out in Brazil with his goals, had a dream debut with Benfica on January 14 in a match against Rio Ave corresponding to matchday 17 of the Portuguese League. Although he only played 27 minutes, Marcos Leonardo managed to hit the net in his European debut in a 4-1 victory for his team.
On January 19, on the next date of the league tournament, he played 20 minutes again and scored again. However, his scoring streak would have a small blip in the Allianz Cup semi-final against Estoriol Praia, a match in which he failed to score and missed a key shot in the 5-6 penalty shootout defeat against the aforementioned equipment.
However, he returned to the Primeira Liga and was reunited with the goal on matchday 19 against CF Estrela. The Brazilian played only 15 minutes and scored in three league games.
Although it is still too early to know whether or not Marcos Leonardo will have a long career in Europe, the truth is that this beginning allows us to see the outlook with considerable optimism.
Marcos Leonardo’s figures in Benfica
In total, Marcos Leonardo has added some very notable statistics since his official debut with Benfica, accumulating just a total of 83 minutes in four games played.
If we analyze these numbers, we can understand that Marcos Leonardo is averaging a goal every 27′ minutes. The sky seems to be the limit for the emerging star who has already claimed his first Samba Gold U23 and who aims to fight for the individual award again this year.
Marcos Leonardo (05/02/2003 – 20 years)
- Portuguese League: 3 PJ – 3G – 0A
- Allianz Cup: 1 PJ – 0G – 0A
