(Football news) Benfica thrashed Club Brugge 5-1 with two goals and an assist from striker Goncalo Ramos knocked out the Belgian side out of the Champions League and reached the quarter finals 7-1 on aggregate at the Estadio da Luz. Joao Mario scored a late penalty as Benfica showed exactly why they are touted as the best side in Portugal since Jose Mourinho’s Porto who were crowned European champions almost 19 years ago.
Benfica from the get go took control as they pressured their rivals in the heavy rain in Lisbon. Joao Mario had a goal ruled out by VAR in the first minute for offside in the build-up as Benfica wasted several clear chances while the visitors looked well out of their depth. Brugge were coming off an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Oostende at the weekend and are currently languishing fourth in the Belgian league standings, having now won only two of their last 15 matches in all competitions ever since Scott Parker took over the side.
The defending Belgian champions were completely outclassed by a well organised Benfica team who are still unbeaten in this season’s Champions League and have lost only two competitive games this season and both were to Braga and one of those were on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Portuguese Cup. They are currently on a seven-game winning streak in the Portuguese Primeira Liga as they have scored 18 goals and conceded only one goal. The goal came in the 38th minute through Rafa Silva, who dribbled past two defenders and fired it with his outer foot into the net after a counter-attack.
Ramos then turned up the heat by scoring on either side of the break, the first goal came after a brilliant individual effort where he dribbled past three players inside the box before slotting the ball in the goal. In the 57th minute, Ramos again extended the lead with a first-time shot from Alex Grimaldo’s low cross. Joao Mario got his much deserved goal when he scored the fourth from the spot in the 71st minute after a foul by Abakar Sylla and seven minutes later he turned provider for David Neres who netted the fifth goal before Bjorn Meijer scored the best goal in the tie as they did score a consolation goal for Brugge three minutes from time.
“We have one objective and it’s to win every game we play going forward,” Rafa Silva, who had opened the scoring late in the first half, told Eleven Sports.
“Things are going well because the team is working hard,” added Rafa Silva, whose side are top of the Primeira Liga. “We will go game by game, first think about what is next in the Portuguese league on the weekend and winning it. That’s what matters now and we will think about the (Champions League) quarter finals when the time comes.”
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