According to Portuguese media outlet Record, Benfica chairman Rui Costa analyzed his team's defeat at Estádio do Dragão. In an interview, Rui Costa pointed out "double standards in refereeing" by the officiating team led by Miguel Nogueira.

The Benfica chairman believes Lenglet's red card in the 35th minute also hampered his team's performance, arguing that the team's display in the first half was "excellent."

"Benfica made a very good start. Following Marco Silva's tactical plan, the team controlled the match. Our performance in the first half was quite excellent, despite conceding a goal from a minor mistake. Nevertheless, we maintained our competitive edge. Clearly, playing with one fewer player at this stadium is completely different from both teams having full strength. I believe that if the score remained 11 versus 11, with the competitive spirit we demonstrated at that moment, the course of the match and possibly even the final result would have been different," Rui Costa told reporters in the mixed zone at Estádio do Dragão. Speaking about the moment the French center-back received his red card, he stated that André Silva only made "light contact to the neck," but the defender "should not have attempted such a risky challenge."

"Even before Lenglet was sent off, several Porto players committed fouls that should have been punished. Preciado was bleeding on the face when he complained to the referee but received a yellow card; this contact barely involved the ball, yet the foul went unpunished. On this matter, I do not deny the mistakes we ourselves made — we certainly made errors during the match. But the double standards in refereeing, particularly regarding disciplinary measures, are simply excessive," the Benfica club chairman emphasized.

Rui Costa stated: "The season is far from over."

Despite trailing Porto by 5 points, Rui Costa remained confident: "I have no doubt that Marco Silva's efforts and the players' work will ultimately be rewarded. Admittedly, we did not want to be 5 points behind at matchday 7. But just as we were not champions when we arrived at Estádio do Dragão — even if we had won this match, we would not have been crowned champions — nor will we conclude that the championship has been decided because of this defeat. The season's journey is far from over. In the periods where we can perform well, what we have demonstrated proves the team's strength and that we can compete to win in any away fixture. Losing these 5 points does not make the league standings meaningless. Everyone also knows that we dropped 2 points against Académico de Viseu, in addition to the points lost in this match. But these will not diminish the team's hunger, nor prevent us from pursuing all our objectives. We did not lose the championship today; on the contrary, there is still a long way to go, and the team's current performance deserves the confidence of our supporters."

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