'Nothing to fear' for Benfica

By Patrick Hart in Lisbon

SL Benfica played their best football of the season and have nothing to fear from FC Internazionale in a fortnight's time. That was the verdict of the Portuguse side's assistant coach Álvaro Magalhães following tonight's 0-0 draw in the UEFA Cup fourth round first-leg tie at the Estádio da Luz.

Benfica dominance
After a game in which the Portuguese side dominated their Italian opponents, both territorially and in terms of goalscoring opportunities, Magalhães said: "I am very proud of our players, they were fantastic. This was our best display of the season and we are just sorry we couldn't get a goal."

'Play to win'
"We are satisfied that the tie is open for the second leg," he continued. "We created a lot of chances and I am very confident for the return. We will go to Italy to win. We are playing very well at the moment and if we keep up this attitude we have nothing to fear."

Happy with a draw
"The Italians just came to defend, they didn't really threaten us," Magalhães said. "But they showed respect for Benfica – the way they played was proof of that. Now we will go to Italy to give our supporters something to celebrate."

Improvement required
Meanwhile, Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni warned his players that only an improved performance in the return leg would be enough to claim a quarter-final place. "For the second leg, the tie depends on how we play, on our attitude," he said. "It will be very difficult if we play like we did tonight, if we concede possession as we did. It depends on the whole team. This draw could yet be a very good result for us. But we have to do better in attack, and win more of the second balls in the return leg."

'Show of character'
Zaccheroni did, however, praise the character his team showed in the face of constant Benfica pressure. "It was a show of character from this Inter side," he said. "We managed to keep a clean sheet, but I expected a better reaction from my players and more from us on the break. But Benfica didn't let us play, they put a lot of pressure on us."

'Technically strong'
Of the home side, the coach added: "From the middle of the pitch going forward, they are a very strong team technically. They have some very dynamic players in the middle of the pitch [Tiago and Petit], and two very dangerous wingers who excel in one-on-ones [Simão Sabrosa and Geovanni]. We had a few chances with Recoba in the first half, and then Martins in the second. But we didn't win enough balls and we defended too deep. We didn't attack as we wanted to."