The Reds’ boss believes that his side deserved to win last night and despite the loss will go into the 2nd leg with confidence.
Chelsea were the visitors to the Stadium of Light yesterday but given the European form of the home side many expected that the draw would be a fair result for both the teams.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 but put in a performance which was much more composed and calculated rather than an emotional or grueling one.
The Italian tactician opted to leave most of his senior players out and kept his faith in the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523, who duly repaid him with a wonderful display.
Torres, in particular, looked very lively and it was his sublime effort on the flank that eventually handed the Blues the initiative. The Spaniard drifted pass the Benfica defence with ease and found http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Salomon-Kalou-c32266 with a low cross, which the Ivorian forward
duly converted.
On the other hand, the hosts looked out of their comfort zone and were mainly restricted from testing Petr Czech from outside the box. Even the Eagles’ leading scorer http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Oscar-c28720 Cardozo could not find a way through, although he almost had his name on the score
sheet, only to be denied by the goal line heroics of his former teammate http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Luiz-c10542.
All in all, it was dreary outing for the Lisbon giants, but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749.
"We were mature, played well and did not let http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 create a lot. I don't think we deserved to lose tonight. But there is still a game to play and we feel we have the quality to score in London," he said.
He also said that while the Primeira Liga giants were decent in attack, they were unable to take their chances, which eventually cost them the game.
"It was a good match, as expected. Chelsea are a strong side with a lot of experience in European competition. We dominated for almost the entire game and created more scoring opportunities but ultimately luck was not on our side,” the trainer was quoted
as saying.
Benfica now play the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge on the 4th of April, but have a clash with title chasing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Braga-c40460 on the weekend before that.
Tags: