Benfica’s head coach, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jorge-c19120 Jesus thinks that Chelsea stand no chance of beating Barcelona in the semi-final of the Champions League, and was critical of some of the refereeing decisions that went against his side, during the game at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese side lost the second leg of the quarterfinal away from home, after going down 2-1. Chelsea, who had already won the first leg 1-0 at Estádio do Dragão, secured the tie 3-1 on aggregate.
The Benfica boss believed that Chelsea did not deserve to go through, as his side had played better football when compared to the London side.
While talking to reporters, he said, "We have defeated better sides than Chelsea in the Champions League"
"We are the ones who deserved to play against Barca."
In the second leg, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 scored in the 21st minute to put the Blues ahead on the night. However, the home fans were seen restless after Javi Garcia’s 85th minute strike put the Portuguese side just a goal away from a semi-final
berth. But http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-Meireles-c30678 steadied the ship for the hosts, by scoring a stoppage time goal to set up the Blues meeting with Barcelona.
During the game, Benfica’s defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Maxi-Pereira-c25004 was sent off after picking up a second yellow card in the 40th minutes, with the player already cautioned by the referee in the 20th minute of the game.
Jesus lashed out on the refereeing standard during the game, and believed that the Blues first goal, which came from a penalty kick, was also not justified.
“We were clearly damaged by the referee." He said.
"I want to congratulate my players because they played against Chelsea and the referee"
The 57 year old heaped praise on his side for putting up a good fight against Chelsea, despite the fact that they played with ten men for the entire second half. He pointed out that his side took a lot of risks in the closing stages, as they went in search
for the winner.
"Even with 10 men, we were always the better team. We always believed we could turn the score around… We did not lose this game because http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 were better, because they were not"
Talking of the Blues semi-final fixture against Barcelona, the former Portuguese player thought that the Stamford Bridge side stood no chance against Pep Guardiola’s team, and predicted that the Camp Nou side will simply walkover their opponents.
"When you reach the quarter-finals, anything is possible, but Chelsea will have no chance against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604.”
Chelsea will take on Barcelona on the 18th of April, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will feature in the other semi-final. The final will be played on the 19th of May at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
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