Luisão takes solace in Benfica's bottle

A 1-1 draw against AC Milan ended SL Benfica's hopes of a knockout place, but Luisão was proud his side "played against the best team in the world and attacked them".

Late disappointment
It looked like the 1-1 draw against the holders at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica would leave all four Group D teams with a chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds going into Matchday 6, but Massimo Donati's last-gasp goal for Celtic FC means that the best Benfica can hope for is a UEFA Cup place, even if they beat FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their final group stage game.

Narrow margins
The fine margins involved in both group games were not lost on 26-year-old defender Luisão. "All we needed was another goal," the giant Brazilian said of his side's dominant display after Andrea Pirlo had put Milan ahead. "After conceding an early goal we played a good game and we can congratulate ourselves on that but we couldn't manage a victory."

Different approaches
Luisão said Benfica would take confidence from the performance into their league campaign and the final Group D match: "It's a good thing for our season." His young side's progress can be measured by the different approaches in last night's aggressive display and the more cautious 2-1 Matchday 1 defeat at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Luisão said: "We played against the best team in the world and we attacked them."

'A beautiful goal'
The defender also praised the contribution of Maxi Pereira after the Uruguayan's terrific equaliser. "It was a beautiful goal by Pereira," he enthused. "I'm very happy for him, because he does not always get much attention but he is a player who makes a big difference to our team."

Milan memories
Team-mate Angel Di María spoke of how the younger players in the side rose to the occasion. "It was a beautiful feeling [to play against Milan]," he said. "We had been looking forward to it all week in training, and it turned out to be a great match." Celtic's win somewhat spoiled the mood, but the 19-year-old remained philosophical. "We thought Celtic had drawn, but now we're just looking toward the UEFA Cup," added the Argentinian.