Benfica Beat Brugge At The Double Away In Champions League

Benfica defeated Team Brugge 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 match on Wednesday in Belgium thanks to goals from David Neres and Joao Mario. The result gives the Portuguese club a significant edge for the second leg next month. Benfica controlled the away game and guaranteed they had a lead to protect at home in the return to Lisbon on March 7 by scoring on a penalty kick by Joao Mario in the 51st minute. Goncalo Ramos was dragged down by a reckless challenge by Scottish defender Jack Hendry of Brugge, and a penalty was granted. In the 88th minute, Neres tucked away the second goal by taking advantage of a defensive blunder. Bjorn Meijer, a defender for Brugge, failed to clear, and the replacement Neres snuck in to steal the ball and score. He had another goal-scoring attempt in stoppage time ruled out for offside. Joao Mario was one of many Benfica strikers who spurned excellent opportunities in the first half as the two-time European Cup champions overcame Club Brugge's strong start to create a number of chances.Ramos and Antonio Silva wasted the greatest opportunity while putting all of their focus into winning the game. Tajon Buchanan and Noa Lang both had shots stopped in the first 20 minutes of the game at the Jan Breydel Stadium as Brugge had the support of the whole crowd. However, the visitors quickly gained control after that and were able to break past the home defence, despite their terrible finishing. A minute before halftime, Brugge had the ball in the Benfica goal, but Denis Odoi was offside as he touched the back of Lang's free kick. The Belgians were expecting the Champions League would provide them an opportunity to break out of a slump under their new English coach Scott Parker terrible home performance but now must fight to stay in the game. They defeated FC Porto 4-0 in September when they unexpectedly qualified from the group stage, and they will need another unexpected victory to get to the quarterfinals. Benfica increased their best-ever Champions League winning streak to eight games.