With a brace from Gonçalo Ramos, Benfica Lisbon qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year, crushing Club Brugge (5-1) on Tuesday in Lisbon after already winning in Belgium in the first leg (2-0). Far from being among the leaders of the competition, the Lisboètes continue their good course when they had already managed to finish at the top of the classification of their group, in front of Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus Turin, without conceding a single defeat.
Last season, Benfica eliminated Ajax Amsterdam in the eighth round before falling in the quarter against eventual finalist Liverpool. Tuesday evening in Lisbon, in a packed Luz stadium, the Eagles showed as much mastery as in Bruges three weeks ago. Back from injury after missing Benfica’s last outing in the league, Portuguese midfielder Chiquinho tried in particular to make people forget Enzo Fernandez, Argentinian world champion transferred to Chelsea this winter for a record amount.
Talented threesome
But it was the talent of the trio formed by Joao Mario, Rafa Silva and above all Gonçalo Ramos, who unlocked the game in favor of the local team. Joao Mario, to whom the VAR had refused a goal from a Madjer heel for offside at the very start of the game, first served Florentino in the middle of the box but the young receiver did not frame his shot (15th ).
Then he himself saw his shot with the flat foot being pushed back on the goal line in two stages, first by Bjorn Meijer then by the goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (20th). The Portuguese international then launched a counter led by Gonçalo Ramos and concluded by Rafa Silva, who opened the scoring by freeing himself from Nielsen to adjust the doorman from outside the right and send the leather into the side net (38th) . Just before the break, Ramos doubled the lead by getting rid of four defenders to place an impeccable cross shot from the right (45 + 2).
Lack of experience for Bruges
In the second period, the 21-year-old striker widened the gap with a new precise shot in the middle of the penalty area (57th). If he had struck the spirits at the World Cup-2022 by signing a hat-trick against Switzerland after having relegated Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench of the Portugal team, Ramos had so far not shown in the Champions League the qualities of finisher which make him the top scorer in the Lusitanian championship at this stage.
Joao Mario, from the penalty spot (71st), and substitute David Neres (77th) further increased the score. Opposite, Bruges saved the honor at the very end of the game with a superb strike from outside the left of Bjorn Meijer which ended up in the top corner (87th). In the end, the Blauw en Zwart will have paid the price for their lack of experience because it was the first time that the club reached this level of the competition in ten appearances.