http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SL-Benfica-c40542 4-1 PSV Eindhoven, Fred Rutten’s side chances diminish in Europa League
PSV Eindhoven’s Europa League dreams shattered when SL Benfica thrashed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/PSV-c40281 4-1 in the quarter-final first leg at Estadio da Luz on April 7, 2011.
Fred Rutten, PSV manager, has admitted that his side has very little chance to progress to the semifinals, as the Boeren need to overturn a three goals deficit in the return leg.
The Eagles have lost the race in the Portuguese Liga title, but they have a clear intention to achieve silverware in Europe’s secondary club competition after they defeated the Eredivisie powerhouse convincingly.
The Portuguese outfit started the match with an aggressive intent and they were rewarded for it fruitfully in the opening 45 minutes of the match. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pablo-Aimar-c28938 opened the score line for the home side in the 37th minute and Eduardo Silva doubled
the lead in the stoppage time of the first half.
PSV never managed to cope with the constant pressure on their back line by the Eagles. It took only seven minutes of the second half for Salvio to make the score line 3-0 in favour of the home side when he powered his shot into the net before beating two
defenders.
Rutten sent http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcus-Berg-c23815 in the 78th minute and it paid off straight away when Labyad scored one for his side to make it 3-1.
However, the Eagles again stretched their lead to three goals when Javier Saviolo found the back of the net with a brilliant finish just before the final whistle to make it 4-1.
Rutten was utterly disappointed with his troops’ performance and that has left the Portuguese outfit well in control to progress through to the semi-finals. Rutten has admitted that there is not much chance for his side to overturn a three goal deficit in
the return leg.
Rutten said, “The tempo in the first 30 minutes was so high we could not cope with it. Their strength down the flanks was decisive. You cannot play as a winger in European competitions the same way you would in the Eredivisie”.
“We paid for two sloppy moments, which both led to goals. We had our chances and could have scored three goals. We have a very small chance now”, he concluded.
PSV will take on the Portuguese outfit in the return leg at Philips Stadion on April 14,
2011. The Boeren would be hoping that they could somehow manage to upset the Eagles with a margin of at least three goals and try not to concede a goal to progress through to the next phase of the competition.
However, they have to give one of their best performances of the season if they have any ambition to keep their European hopes alive this season.
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