So, on 3 May 1949, Benfica and Torino took to the pitch at the Estádio do Jamor for that duel. The reds won 4-3, with goals from Melão (23’ and 29’), Arsénio (33’) and Rogério Pipi (40’), while Ossola (9’), Bongiorni (37’) and Romeo Menti (44’, gp) scored the goals for the Italians.
When it was time to return home, on 4 May, the plane carrying the Torino delegation crashed in Superga, just a few minutes after 5pm in Italy. No one survived. It was the end of one of the best teams of the 20th century. The legend of the Great Torino was born.
We will never know how far this group of players would have gone, but we do know that they all engraved their names in the hearts of Benfica and Torino. As often happens in moments of this nature, the tragedy has given rise to unbreakable bonds between the two emblems, which year after year continue to commemorate the tragedy, paying tribute to those who succumbed to such great drama.
Three quarters of a century after the Superga Tragedy, this Monday, October 14, the Benfica Museum – Cosme Damião inaugurated "Grande Torino: 75 years of Legend", an exhibition that recalls the before and after of one of the saddest moments in the history of world football.
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