I guess it depends on your definition of world class. Is he the best striker in the world? No. However, he was on the Spain squad that won internationally, one of the best I can remember in history; and I don't think anyone would blink if he made the current squad. His lack of playing time at Bilbao really hurt his standing with the national team; however, he certainly has the quality to be there playing for one of the best sides in the world--so in that sense, he is world class.
SKY: Will you call Benitez and ask him for advice on how to beat Benfica? Conte: Well, looking at his record against Portuguese clubs I think I won't.
And don't forget both teams have the most fans in their respective leagues. On field, the games should be very exciting. Benfica vs Tottenham was pure action.
I watched Benfica against Frankfurt and Napoli (they got lucky in both legs) ... and they didn't really impress me, even though they surely are a good team (reaching the EL semis again). Having the 1st leg away, should be quite some advantage for Conte's guys.
Benfica has 10 consecutive seasons of european experience with a number of semi and final appearances
no what im saying is how do you conclude that i said llorente is world class ? LOL i never said such thing, im just saying it seems like in today's world, you're either messi/ronaldo or you're crap. llorente is not trez. but he's decent enough for now. we need him next year, along with tevez, but we need to get rid of gio, vucinic, quags and osvaldo....and bring in another striker along with one or two youth. i'd love it if we sell the players i mentioned and really spend on manzukic (if he's really 25 mil) its a good deal.
meh...rumors literally mean nothing these days. how many times have we seen vidal, pogba and marchisio being linked? lol
JUVE, PROBABILE FORMAZIONE (3-5-2) Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Pogba, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah; Tevez, Llorente.
I saw the same line-up but with Osvaldo replacing Llorente. Benfica is listed as 4-4-2: Moraes; Pereira, Garay, Luisao, Siqueira; Markovic, Amorim, Perez, Gaitan; Rodrigo, Lima. Can't say I've heard of any of them but their cb's.