Benfica Lisbon qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year, crushing Club Brugge (5-1) on Tuesday March 7 in Lisbon. Chelsea also made it to the quarter-finals by beating Borussia Dortmund (2-0).
Benfica, easy winner of FC Bruges 5 to 1 in the round of 16 second leg, this Tuesday March 7 at the Da Luz stadium in Lisbon, after winning 2-0 in the first leg, will return to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second year in a row. Benfica broke at the end of the first period, thanks to two goals in less than ten minutes from Rafa Silva (38) then Gonçalo Ramos, passer on the first goal (40 + 2). Gonçalo Ramos (57), Joao Mario (71 sp) and David Neres (77) inflated the score in favor of the Eagles in the second half. Meijer, with a superb goal (87), allowed the Bruges to save the honor.
Chelsea have found the resources to overthrow Borussia
Far from being among the leaders of the competition, the Lisboetes, who prance at the top of the Portuguese League with eight points ahead of Porto, continue their good course in C1 when they had already managed to finish at the top of the classification of their pool, ahead of Paris SG 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.
Chelsea, dominated 1-0 in the first leg to Dortmund, found the resources to overthrow Borussia 2-0 in the return and reach, as in 2022, the quarters by brutally stopping the German series of ten victories in 2023. in the league and rarely effective lately, the Londoners pushed and made the difference around half-time by Sterling (43rd) then Havertz (53rd), who took it twice to convert the penalty which buries the Germans, poorly rewarded for their intentions.