Jesus thrilled with Benfica progress

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus was pleased with a job well done after his team defeated Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 in the Champions League.

Hosts Benfica trailed 3-2 on aggregate going into the round-of-16 second leg at Estadio da Luz.

But goals from Maxi Pereira and Nelson Oliveira sealed victory, sending the Liga Sagres side through to the quarter-finals.

“Our tactics and strategy went well tonight,” Jesus said.

“We were up against a great team, the best in Russia.”

“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.”

“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.”

“If possible we would like to face an English opponent in the next round, maybe Chelsea. I wouldn’t like to face Real Madrid, they have many Portuguese – and former Benfica – players.”

Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti felt his team were undone by their lack of experience in Europe’s elite club competition, particularly away from home.

“We must admit that Benfica deserved the victory,” Spalletti said.

“We underperformed and we still lack experience at this level.”

“It has been a feature of our away games that our opponents have shown more quality and we have encountered a mental barrier that we need to overcome.”

“We did not perform as well as we can tonight. After the break we tried to control the game and created a number of chances that could have earned a result, but Benfica were simply better than us this time.”

“Reaching the last 16 is a major achievement for us and we performed solidly all season. Today we weren’t so good but we’ve had great wins during this campaign – against FC Porto, for example.”

“When you are in the knockout stages you can’t expect opponents to make mistakes that will make life easier for you. You need to be at your peak.”