Jesus content with efficient Benfica
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
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Jorge Jesus explained why SL Benfica could not further exploit their two early strikes in the win against RSC Anderlecht, whose coach John van den Brom was far from happy.
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Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach
We know from experience that points are vital for progress in the Champions League and we have three from the first match, but we have to take things on a game-by-game basis. We are playing in the Champions League, with the best teams, the best players, the best coaches. The Champions League is a competition that has so much quality; the players and the clubs in it like to play.
We are now a more experienced team. When we made it 2-0, we had to control the game. The Champions League is different from the Liga; we have to keep concentration and tactical discipline so that the team can manage what is happening in the game.
Benfica were far better in the first half, in the second Anderlecht did their job better and evened up the tie. People must understand that we cannot massacre opponents for 90 minutes or score lot of goals – we are not Barcelona.
We felt it was the right moment to use [Filip] Djuričić as a starter, he didn't play on Saturday as I was thinking about this match. We have a big, top-quality squad.
John van den Brom, Anderlecht coach
You can plan all you want, but you do not count on falling behind after four minutes. If it had been a fantastic goal from them then you can live with that; but if you fall behind so early after an individual mistake from Silvio [Proto] – who drops the ball, which is then turned in on the rebound – then you see that Benfica, who had been waiting for something like that, have already delivered the uppercut and that is the hard conclusion of this evening.
It is not that you have already lost the match because of that, but obviously it made it more difficult for us. Then you see that the second goal also follows pretty fast and you know it will be extremely tough to get back into the match here. To be honest, the game was already over at half-time.
Olympiacos lost 4-1 at home, so they also received a big blow. But against PSG that is not too bad, I think. We had hope and wanted to see where we stand – but we have lost our first match. The game against Olympiacos will be crucial to see if we can secure third place at least.
