distance of leaders and eventual league champions FC Porto, as the former went on to rank second in that and the following seasons, achieving direct qualification to the UEFA Champions League. He was responsible for bringing youth products Nani, João Moutinho and Miguel Veloso into the spotlight. Bento signed a new two-year contract in June 2007. His side had a turbulent pre-season in preparation for 2007–08, with defense mainstays Rodrigo Tello and Marco Caneira leaving the club while Portuguese international goalkeeper Ricardo was sold to Real Betis. With little resources to invest, the club brought Eastern promises – Marat Izmailov, Vladimir Stojković and Simon Vukčević – aboard. After a very irregular season, Bento managed to lead the team to an unprecedented third consecutive qualification for the Champions League, with another second-place finish in spite of spending most of the year below third, pipping Guimarães and Benfica in the final matchday. He also retained the Taça de Portugal, beating Porto in the final (2–0 after extra time) after knocking-out eternal rivals Benfica in the last-four stage with a 5–3 win. Bento's team broke a number of long-standing club records, including the first season without home defeats since 1987, the first capture of back-to-back Portuguese cups since 1974 and the first time since 1962 that Sporting finished three consecutive campaigns in the top two league positions. At the age of 38, he also became only the sixth manager in the history of Portuguese football to win back-to-back Portuguese cups, alongside the likes of János Biri, John Mortimore or José Maria Pedroto. On 15 July 2008, The Sun and The Daily Telegraph reported that Manchester United were planning to hire Bento (reportedly Cristiano Ronaldo's friend and former teammate) as manager Alex Ferguson's new assistant after the departure of previous number two Carlos Queiroz to manage the Portugal national team. He quickly denied any speculation, and reaffirmed his intention to stay put. On 16 August 2008, Bento managed Sporting to a 2–0 victory in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira over champions Porto, at the opening of the new season. One of the players that were kept in the team despite heavy criticism, Rui Patrício, was a key element and saved a penalty from Lucho González during the second half; this win raised the manager's tally in cup finals against counterpart Jesualdo Ferreira to 3–0 (2007 and 2008 Supercups, and the 2008 Portuguese Cup), and