Benfica's Matić hoping for Anderlecht help

SL Benfica midfielder Nicolás Gaitán is confident the Portuguese club can reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, boosted by their last-gasp victory at RSC Anderlecht. Nemanja Matić scored Benfica's first in a 3-2 win and witnessed enough quality from the Belgian champions to think Anderlecht will "give us a little help" on the final matchday when they visit the Eagles' qualification rivals Olympiacos FC. Condemned to finish bottom of Group C, Anderlecht captain Guillaume Gillet nevertheless promised his team will give their all in Greece, where an away success would see Benfica qualify with a draw at home to section winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Nicolás Gaitán, Benfica midfielder
It was important to win, but both teams played with that in mind. Luckily Rodrigo gave us the three points in the closing minutes. We believe we can get to the next stage, even though we depend on others. We did well tonight and deserved to win. Being selected man of the match is secondary for me because we achieved our primary goal, which was to win. 

Nemanja Matić, Benfica midfielder
I scored but the most important thing was the win. Let's see what the last round of matches has in store for us, not only in our game but also in the match between Olympiacos and Anderlecht. The Belgian outfit are a good one and have the qualities to hurt Olympiacos and give us a little help.

Guillaume Gillet, Anderlecht midfielder
It is very frustrating to have lost in the 90th minute as we gave everything to try and win. I think we proved we were as good as Benfica – but we lost and that is very disappointing. It is incredible as they did not have many chances and still scored three. It is just like what happened against Olympiacos here and it is very frustrating. Last season we got five points in the group, but we still have a game to play and I hope we finish our campaign well against Olympiacos.

Apart from when we lost 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain we have shown we have got the quality to play in this competition – but small things make the difference, like our lack of experience which has contributed to us conceding so many goals. Our final match is important for us even though, to be honest, I do not mind whether it is Olympiacos or Benfica who go through. We want to take revenge on Olympiacos for what happened here when we did not deserve to lose. 

Chancel Mbemba, Anderlecht defender
I am proud of having scored because when you look at the great players, they all score in this competition, and I said to myself 'why not me?'. It was an important game and we lost it. We are going to keep learning from the errors we have made. We made too many mistakes, all the defenders, and I am going to work hard so I do not repeat the errors I made. For the own goal I scored, I messed up my clearance and it went straight in – it was a mistake from me. In the last game we will defend Anderlecht's colours. We will aim to get three points and give it everything.