The Lisbon derby is one of the most ferocious in Europe and before the fans of the away team march the couple of miles through the city until the opposition land.
It is a rivalry that dates back to more than a century, with the parties that would have become officially known as Sporting Club de Portugal and Sport Lisboa and Benfica meeting in 1907 at a time when there was a great class division between them.
Sport, bankrupt with Alvalade’s Viscount, had already annoyed their rivals by taking eight of their players with the promise of better structures and won 2-1.
The image of Benfica as the club’s people was, in the meantime, encapsulated in 1954 by their fans who helped to build an Estadio from Luz original, a stadium that boasted his record frequency of 135,000 for a game against Porto in 1987 and was their home until the new land had been built before the Euro 2004.
Then there was the legendary Eusebio, who played for the Club De de de de de Lourenço Marques of Sporting’s Feeder Club in Mozambique, but ended up signing for Benfica and helping them to 11 championship titles and a European Cup in 15 seasons, also winning the Ballon d’Or.
This will be their third meeting this season, with Benfica who has beaten sport for penalties in the final of the Lega Cup in January, and will meet again at the Jamor National Stadium in the final of the Portuguese Cup on May 25.
“Of course, the whole country is very enthusiastic about this,” said Ingles.
“About 90% of Portuguese support Benfica, Porto or Sporting, so this is not only a Lisbon derby, but a national derby.
“Two thirds of our population support Benfica and sport, so the country will literally stop to see it.
“Imagine Manchester and Liverpool, or a meeting from Arsenal and Tottenham at the game 37 and anyone who wins the game, wins the League,
“It is enormous and the atmosphere in the stadium and in the country will be electrifying”.