Benfica boss Jorge Jesus has hailed his side’s victory over Russian giants Zenit St. Petersburg and claimed that he would like to face an English team in the quarter-finals.
The Eagles welcomed the Zenitchiki to Estadio da Luz and were able to grind out the required win, after scoring two without reply.
In the first leg, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luciano-c22574 Spalletti’s men emerged victorious in a thrilling 3-2 encounter and set up a nail biting 2nd leg in Lisbon. Going into the game, the visitors were favourites due to the poor form of the home side, but they let complacency
get to them.
Benfica were able to subdue their opponents for the vast majority of the ninety minutes and at the stroke of half-time got the first strike of the match, which they undoubtedly deserved.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Maxi-Pereira-c25004,
who had no trouble converting.
The 2nd half saw the Reds pile the pressure on their opponents but without scoring and it seemed that the game was destined for extra-time. However Nelson Oliveira had other ideas and after latching onto a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bruno-c8098 Cesar through ball, he finished
calmly to spark joyous celebrations at the Stadium of Light.
After the game, Benfica boss http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jorge-c19120 Jesus was rightfully delighted and revealed that his side had got definitely utilize the right tactics for this one.
"Our tactics and strategy went well tonight. We were up against a great team, the best in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Russia-c2991."
He also reiterated the importance of finding the back of the net before the Russians, as they were able to hit them on the counter after that.
"It was important to score first as we knew they could cause us problems if we didn't. Once we went ahead we were able to hit them on the counterattack."
Lastly, the tactician claimed that the away team were better in the 2nd half but his side deserved to win late on.
"In the second half, they had more possession but we could have made it 2-0 earlier. I was pleased that Nelson Oliveira was able to finish the match off,” Jesus was quoted as saying.
Benfica now play Pacos de http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ferreira-c13712 on the 11th of March in the Primeira Liga.
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